The Bully and the Crazy Boy
Thanks to Marc Stiegler for permission to use this. I don't have his original story, so this is paraphrased. I'm typing this from memory, as oddly I can't find it online. It was part of a sci-fi story I once read, but it's often a theme for outsiders. There was once a bully and a crazy boy. Every day, the bully would threaten the crazy boy, for his lunch money. And every day the crazy boy would give it to him. One day, a homeless man saw this happening, and took the crazy boy aside, to give him the secret only outsiders to society know; that nobody wants to mess with insane people, for fear they will catch the insanity themselves. The next day, the crazy boy had no lunch money in his pocket to give, on purpose, and got beaten up. The day after that the bully asked for lunch money again, and was refused, and the crazy boy got beaten up. The day after that the bully asked for lunch money again, and was refused, and the crazy boy got beaten up. The fourth day, the ...