Diddy Kong Racing Piano Story

There was a man named Hoover Thompson. When he was in elementary school, he bought Diddy Kong Racing for N64. He had become obsessed with that game all the way through his middle school years. When he started his freshman year in High School, he wanted to do more with the idea of Diddy Kong Racing. He felt that just playing it on N64 wasn't good enough. He signed up for piano lessons, so he could play all the Diddy Kong Racing songs on the piano. When he started lessons, he became frustrated because he was having to just learn names of keys, note spaces, treble clefs, and bass clef. His piano teacher wouldn't let him learn the Diddy Kong Racing songs yet, because he just bearly started. When he got home, he sat down at the piano crying because he felt really discouraged. He pushed a bunch of random keys down, hoping that the Diddy Kong Racing tunes would find themselves in the keys. No success, especially since he had no idea that black keys were important to the piano. He decided that the only way to learn Diddy Kong Racing songs on the piano immediately, would be to fly to Vietnam and find an illegal piano teacher, since they are willing to teach whatever the student wants as long as they get the money. He stole money from his parents, neighbors, friends, and other acquaintances, giving him a total of four thousand dollars. He told his parents that he was on the tri-city scout camp, so they wouldn't suspect he was anywhere else. Everything was perfect, his parents were fooled, he had four grand, and he was going to learn Diddy Kong Racing on the piano. When he got to Vietnam, he had no idea where to go, but he knew this place was deep in some forest. Hoover searched the nearest forest he could find. He saw a huge house in the distance. As he got closer, he realized that this was the illegal piano teacher's house. Hoover rang the doorbell with a large smile on his face. A young man that looked like he was in his late twenties answered the door. Hoover said, "I'm here for the piano lesson I called you earlier about". The man said, "Come in, I am the teacher. I will teach you whatever you want, as long as you want, as long as you pay me." Hoover said, "No problem, as long as I can film the lesson with this video camera, so I won't forget." The man said, "That is just fine." Hoover was totally ready to learn, and his attention was on full. Two hours into the lesson, Hoover knew all the songs from Diddy Kong Racing by heart, and he couldn't wait to show his friends when he got home. After the lesson, he paid 500 dollars for the lesson, and headed home. During Hoover's flight home, he started feeling partial guilt for what he had done, but he tried as hard as he could to convince himself that he didn't have to feel guilty, especially since his piano teacher was unwilling to cooperate with him. When Hoover got home, he quickly unpacked his things before his parents got home. By five o'clock, Hoover felt relieved, since his parents would never suspect he was gone. Best of all, he knew the songs from Diddy Kong Racing on the piano by heart. One week later, after practicing the songs from Diddy Kong Racing like mad, he remembered he had a piano lesson after school. He didn't want to go, because he didn't feel there was a need for more lessons, since his goal was already accomplished. He decided he would follow through anyway, since he signed a year contract. When he got to his lesson, he pulled out all his books and his teacher asked, "Did you practice this week?" Hoover really had practiced, a lot, but he only practiced one day for his lesson material. He said, "I only practiced once this week." His teacher said, "Oh dear." Hoover then pulled out his scales, and started playing them. After he was done playing his scales, his teacher said, "Wow! That was really good!" Hoover took out his performance book, and played through all of section one perfectly. His piano teacher said, "Are you sure you only practiced once this week? That was perfect!" Hoover said, "Well, to be honest, I played the piano every day for a long time, but I only practiced the lesson material once, the rest was fun stuff." When Hoover got home from his piano lesson, he sat down and played a song from Diddy Kong Racing. He started feeling guilt, and this time, it was really bad. He went to his bedroom and tried to get it off of his mind. Hoover decided that he would get a job, save four thousand dollars, and replace the money from the people he stole it from to make it up. He got a job at a telemarketing job, since that was the only job that would hire a 15 year old. He hated every minute of it, but every time he thought of quitting, the image of stolen money appeared in his mind. One year later, he finally had the four thousand dollars. He decided to add an additional five hundred dollars to every victim he stole money from to make it seem better. He then replaced the money he stole, plus five hundred dollars. He felt really good now, and he felt things were back to normal. One night, when he was going to bed, a bright figure appeared in front of him. Hoover realized that this was the ghost of Bach, a famous piano player. Bach said, "I know all about what you did, how you lied to your parents, stole four grand. I admire the fact you replaced the stolen money by every penny, but you will never be able to replace your integrity for lying to your parents." Hoover said, "Man, I hate my job, and I feel I have paid a high price, but I am so happy to know the songs from Diddy Kong Racing on the piano, and I would never have gotten that if I hadn't done what I did." Bach said, "You could have explored other options, such as making a proposal with your piano teacher, waited until the right time, which very well could have been a month later, if you had practiced enough. You will have to understand that accomplishing goals takes time, and can be very rewarding when giving the appropriate amount of time." Hoover thought, and said, "Well, I guess your right. That was a bit impulsive, and I have felt guilt all year long. There is nothing I can do about it now though." Bach said, "Yes you can, you can tell your parents, and confront the people you stole from. That way, you will be completely free from guilt." Hoover said, "What if I get in trouble?" Bach said, "At least you will know you are completely free from guilt, and you may learn a very valuable lesson in your punishment." Hoover said, "Okay, but I hope you are right about my guilt being taken away!" Bach said, "I guarantee it." The next day, Hoover told his parents about what he had done. His parents admired the fact that he worked hard to replace the stolen money, but they were disappointed that he had lied, and was dishonest to begin with. After a long discussion, Hoover's parents agreed that he had learned a valuable lesson, and would never do anything like that again, so they didn't punish him, and agreed that his guilt was his own punishment. To this day, Hoover has been honest in all his doings, and has been free from guilt. Hoover learned that he can resolve all his problems when he talks about them with his parents, and everything works out in the end.