Week 10 Storytelling

"Everything is in place," whispered Danny.

Lyle cracked a small smile, and the two criminals began their walk into the jewelry store. Because both armed with semi-automatic weapons, Lyle and Danny barged in to the front door and waived them at the people inside. Two customers, a couple shopping for engagement rings, and a salesman both immediately screamed and hit the floor.

Lyle demanded the jewelry out of the cases while Danny guarded the door. The two robbers, although no one was killed, did shoot the salesman in the shoulder. Lyle and Danny fled the scene after stealing over $100,000 in diamonds before the police arrived.

Over the course of two months, Lyle and Danny began their life of luxury from their new fortune. They bought a new house and both new cars, and so many other material things.

While the investigation was underway at the L.A. Police Department, the criminals were hiding away and enjoying their new life. As time went on, even though the investigation continued, Lyle and Danny began to feel invincible.

"I think since they haven't found us yet, then they never will," Danny said with a laugh.

"Yeah! Maybe we can start spending our money in public. The women and attention we would get would make this even better," Lyle replied.

Little did they know, Chris Henry, the chief of the L.A. PD was hot on their trail. He found the stolen jewelry at a local jeweler and traced the purchase back to their accounts. Because the detectives are very skilled in this kind of search, they set up a "bait" tactic to catch Lyle and Danny. Two undercover agents, disguised as businessmen, are scheduled to enter the popular L.A. celebrity dance club on Sunset Blvd.

Just as Officer Henry suspected, the two criminals arrived with girls on each arm. When everything was in place, the detectives tackled Lyle and Danny and immediately arrested them for theft and armed robbery.

The criminals were caught when they got too confident and wanted to boast with their new riches, so this is an great example of how Dharma becomes out-of-balance when arrogance gets in the way.




Author's Note: The Girl Monkey and the String of Pearls 

 A lady went for a swim and took off her jewelry and placed it into a box. She placed her string of pearls in a box and told her servant to watch the box while they were swimming. A girl monkey was watching the lady put the pearls inside the box from a tree above. The servant fell asleep after awhile of watching the box, so the monkey came down and stole the pearls from the box. When the servant awoke, she began frantically searching for the pearls and told the chief guard they were missing. The guard reported this to the king, and they found that it was impossible for any person to steal this, so the guard set a trap to see if the guilty party was a monkey. He set lots of glass beads in the bushes, and all the monkeys grabbed the beads, except for the Girl Monkey. She was content with her pearls. She boasted to the others about how her pearls were better than their glass beads, and the chief caught her because she did not go get beads like all the others

I changed this story to be about a robbery, and I made a robbery story and the investigators find out the robber by him boasting or something like that. I could show Dharma by showing that boasting always leads to bad consequences.

Bibliography: More Jataka Tales, Ellen C. Babbitt. Main Lesson

Image: Robbery in a jewelry store Blox Images