Robber asks for change, only needs $4

Sometimes it's just Weird News, but I'd love to know the back story.

GREENBURGH, New York (AP) - A knife-wielding robber in this small suburban town north of New York City needed only $4, so he refused to take a $10 bill from his victim and waited while the man made change at a pizza parlor, police said.

The story goes on to say that at first the robber - 48-year-old James Mitchell - demanded that the 18-year-old victim hand over an artificial rose he'd just bought. When he refused, Mitchell demanded money. The kid only had a $10 bill, but the robber only wanted $4, so he waited while the young man got change at a nearby pizza place.

The police spokesman said he had no idea why Mitchell wanted only $4. It seems clear to me: He wanted to buy a rose of his own.

An 18-year-old man who has a purpose for a rose so important he won't give it to a man with a knife. A man who wants a rose so desperately that he'll rob someone at knifepoint to get it - but only a rose, so his alternative is to steal $4. For whom did the young man buy the rose? What was the robber's intention once he had his own rose?

This isn't Weird News; this is the scenario for a wonderful short story. Someone should write it. Maybe I should, if you don't beat me to it. Or maybe even if you do.