Budhil smiled and responded, “Just a few more minutes, Andrew. Try to have patience, child. We’ll be there soon enough.”

            Jason was relieved to go to town, and had been looking forward to the chance to call his parents. When they arrived in the small town, Budhil told the boys they could wander, but to stay nearby. Andrew saw a toy store that looked exciting, but Jason talked him into going to a comic book store first.

            When they entered the store, the clerk was busy thumbing through a small novel. The boys were browsing about the store when Jason suddenly stopped and gasped, “The Colossal Crusader!” As Jason immediately pulled down the first edition comic and flipped through its mint condition pages Andrew looked over his shoulder with interest. “You can’t even get this issue back home!” Jason exclaimed. “I want to read it now!”

            “But Grandpa Budhil said you couldn’t read any more comics until you finished reading those story books he gave you,” said Andrew. “He already took your old comics and put them away.”

            “I know, I know,” Jason said as he rolled his eyes. “Don’t remind me. He’d never buy this for us, but I want it so bad!” Jason paused for a moment. “I’ve got an idea,” Jason whispered as he looked back and forth between Andrew and the store clerk.

            Jason’s plan was simple. Andrew would distract the clerk by asking his usual barrage of questions while Jason slipped out with the comic.

“No way,” Andrew replied firmly. “We would get into so much trouble!”

            “Shhhh, be quiet,” Jason responded. The two of them argued for a while, until Jason offered to take Andrew exploring up the mountain near Budhil’s house. Andrew really wanted to go up the mountain, but was too scared to go without his brother. Andrew finally agreed.

            Later, when they got back to the cottage and sat down for dinner, Budhil asked the boys if they had enjoyed the trip. Andrew looked worried but Jason looked suggestively at him and quickly responded, “Oh, it was fine. I mean great, we had a great time.” Jason looked back down at his plate.

Budhil pulled a colorful book out from under the table and set it in front of Jason. “And how exactly did this get under your mattress?”

As Jason stumbled to think of a lie, Andrew burst out into tears. The boys confessed to their grandfather what they had done.

“Oh, boys,” Budhil responded. “Your mom and dad would be disappointed.” Both boys’ heads dropped, and Andrew was still in tears. Budhil smiled warmly and said, “I think it’s time for me to tell you another story.” Jason and Andrew’s heads both perked up.

"This story is about two young brothers named Vatapi and Ilwala," Budhil began.

"Brothers just like Rama and Lakshmana?" Andrew said excitedly as he finished wiping away his tears.

"Not quite," Budhil chuckled. "These two boys were demon brothers who were very, very bad." Jason's eyes widened as a smile creeped on his face. "Back then, people hunted wild game to feed their families."

"Really?" Andrew asked. "Would I be a good hunter, Grandpa?"

"I'm sure you would," Budhil smiled and continued. "Now Vatapi would disguise himself as a ram, one of the tastiest animals. Then he would lie still, until a hungry wanderer would find him and eat him."

"What? Why would he do that?" Andrew asked confused.

"Because his brother Ilwala would call to Vatapi, who would come right out of their victim's stomachs."

“Whoa, cool!” Jason exclaimed while Andrew cringed, holding his stomach. "Did they get away with it?" Jason asked curiously.

"Well, after they had killed thousands of people, they tried the trick on a priest named Agastya. After Agastya had eaten Vatapi like the others did, Ilwala jumped out as usual, calling to his brother. When nothing happened Agastya told Ilwala that his brother would never return."

"Why not? Where did he go?" Andrew asked.

"He digested him like a ham sandwich!" Budhil explained as the boys looked in awe.

"What did Ilwala do?" Jason asked in anticipation.

"He furiously attacked the sage, but Agastya burnt Ilwala up with fire from his eyes."

"So they both died," Jason said in deep thought. "I guess they got what they deserved."

“You bet,” Budhil responded. “You know, you boys are getting along better every day. I see the way you two work together. The way I see it you’ve got two choices. You can either use your talents for good, like Rama and Lakshmana, or allow yourselves to end up in wickedness like the evil brothers.”

The boys knew what they had to do. Budhil promised them they could take the book back and apologize first thing in the morning, but now it was time for bed. Andrew quickly fell asleep, but Jason stared out of his window at the stars, wondering what story his grandfather would tell them next.

    Cover Page
    Introduction
1. Forging the Brotherhood
2. The Right Path
3. Self Sacrifice
4. Role Model

Author’s note :

            For this story I placed a greater emphasis on the frame tale. I did this for a few reasons. I did not want to go into depth about how the evil brothers died terrible deaths because of their wrongdoings. A grandfather is not likely to share a story centered on death with his young grandsons. The idea of the story was not to make them regretful of their wrongs because they were afraid of death, but because they did not want to go down the path of wickedness. I also wanted to show development in the characters of Jason and Andrew. In this case, they more easily grasped the underlying lesson to the story that their grandfather was attempting to convey. As they grow and develop, so does their bond. Ultimately, that is Budhil’s goal, to connect the two in brotherhood. He knows if that their relationship grows strong, they will be able to accomplish anything together. In this story, he provides a guide to help them use that cooperation for good. Otherwise, they may find themselves on the path of wickedness. Budhil knows that their minds are young and impressionable, and he wants to point them in the right direction. In other words, his story is used as a tool to put them on the right path.

Bibliography:

Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.

Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic.