“Spike was bad to the bone. He didn’t care what his parents thought, and he didn’t listen to his teachers. Spike had a friend named Henry who was bad to the bone but not as much as Spike. The two of them ride their bikes together and go swimming. Spike was jealous of Henry because he got an allowance. Spike never ever had cable. One day Henry bought a chocolate bar at the store and Spike wanted one too but he didn’t have any money. When the lady at the front wasn’t looking, Spike put a Mr. Big bar is his pocket and then he left the store. Henry asked him where he got his bar, but Spike didn’t tell him. But after a while, he started feeling bad about taking the bar, but he ate it anyway. When he got home, he went down to his room and sat on his bed. His mom called him up to supper but Spike said he wasn’t hungry. He thought about what he did, and if he wanted to be bad to the bone forever. He didn’t. The next day he went back to the store to say he was sorry. The girl told his mom, and his mom was mad but was proud of him too for admitting what he did. Spike never stole anything again.”
And who do you think Spike is today? That’s right – William Hall Macy Jr.
[Author’s note: The preceding is my diluted memory of the first piece of fiction I ever wrote.]