The Car and the Charging Station

Somewhere in a land far, far away was the city of Alyeska. The city was right next to the sea and it was said that you could smell the salt from the sea in the air. The land was ruled by a single man that took care of his people if he had to. He was known for being the fairest king to have ever lived. The city was the home to two of the poorest men. Both of the men were hard-working and took care of their children.

One day one of the men started hover-boarding along the edge of the sea drinking his $14 frappuccino that he just bought from Starbucks. The speed of his hover-board began to slow down which indicated that his battery was almost dead. He pulled up to a charging station near the sea and began to charge his hover-board. He set his coffee on top of the charging station and sat down on the edge of the wall with his feet dangling above the sea.

After sitting there for a while, he looked back to see if his hover-board was charged enough to make it to work. As he looked back a self-driving Uber's mirror flipped over his coffee into the sea. He watched it fall all the way down and make a small splash before muddying up the small area the coffee covered.

He was very upset because he needed the caffeine to be able to complete his work and keep his child sheltered and fed.

The man in the Uber got out and said, "It could not be my fault since it is not my car nor was I driving it. It must be the charging station's fault for not being tall enough for the car to detect."

He had a fair point the man whose coffee split thought. “But how am I going to be able to work without my coffee?” he barked back.

They decided they must take it to the king for he is fair and would figure out what to do. The king sent his men out to the charging station where the wreck happened, not telling the two poor men his plan. When the men got there, they got out their tools and lasered out the charging station and set it in the trunk of the self-driving car and set the car to drive to the King's residence.

By the time the car had gotten back to the King’s residence, a crowd had formed and been waiting outside. The two poor men were shocked when they saw the crowd swarm in alongside the car and the charging station.

The King began auctioning off the car and the charging station to the crowd telling the two poor men that they would split however much money they went for. They were delighted and shocked as the prices grew higher than both men’s yearly salaries combined.

Overjoyed with their new found wealth, they went back to their children and celebrated with a joint feast.

Bibliography: The Story of the Donkey and the Rock from the Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925).

Author's Note: I kept the retelling of the story kind of similar to the original story. However, in the original story, there is a trial between a donkey and a rock rather than an auction. The donkey is carrying all of this wood and cannot see too well because of this. As it is walking by it happens to knock over the oil. The man was selling the oil as he climbed up the mountain. They argue and take the case to the king where he sets a trial. The donkey is chained up and sent to prison and the rock is taken and chained to the outside of the prison. This trial brings a crowd of people to the court because of its ridiculousness. The King makes everyone that came to the trial leave and pay the poor man that lost all of his oil.

In my story, the man is not selling oil, but rather drinking coffee. He needs the coffee in order to continue to work. The caffeine is what keeps him up and allows him to work harder and longer. The donkey was changed to a self-driving car that could not see the coffee that was set on the charging station. As you can see in the story, there is no trial, but an auction where the proceeds go to the two poor man.