Saturday's Storyteller: "Turns out Dad was the original inspiration for the Hamburglar."

by Belinda Roddie

Turns out Dad was the original inspiration for the Hamburglar. I was beginning to wonder where he always got those cheeseburgers. He claimed they were free because he was friends with the manager of the local fast food joint - but somehow, even as a clueless five-year-old obsessed with television and cool bicycles, knew better.

2015 was when Dad died, and that was also when the Hamburglar got a make-over. Now sporting jeans a five o'clock shadow, he was like me in my twenties - only probably with better aspirations than I ever had. At least the Hamburglar had good amounts illegally smuggled protein while I played video games and devoured cheetos like they actually had nutrients.

Dad also liked wearing masks and wide-brimmed hats. I don't remember him ever talking in gibberish. But hey, it was 1971, and McDonald's was going through its weird phase.

I just hope Grimace wasn't inspired by my mom.

This week's prompt was provided by Daniel Bulone.