Heck of a Deal

“Don’t pull that orange string. Seriously, don’t.”

“And what if I do?”

“Well, hang on to that cap on your bald little head.”

John pulled the string.

A giant KABOOM! knocked us down, leaving us in the middle of the sand dune. Walls lay on the sand around us.

“You pulled that string before, didn’t you!”

John nodded, rubbed his bald head, searched for his cap.

“How’d you know?”

“Because those who do end up with bald heads. Gerry? Bald head. Andrew? Bald head. They both pulled the orange string.”

“But, but, how does pulling that orange string cause me to have a bald head?”

I tried to remember the explanation given in our orientation. The ringing in my ears didn’t help.

“I think it has something to do with the electrical charge that travels from the big box to your hand then up to your head. It kills the hair follicles. And you go bald.”

“Huh. Heck of a deal.”

“You’ve pulled it twice now.”

John stared at me, still trying to figure out what I just told him.

“Yep. Twice.”

“So that means that since there are no more hair follicles to kill, the electrical charge now goes to your brain cells. It starts killing them. Kind of like the electric chair. Only slower.”

True? I doubted it. But it sounded ominous. Maybe John would stop pulling the orange string. Perhaps I should stop working with John.

“Huh. Heck of a deal.”

“You just said that.”

“Huh. Heck of a deal.”

I led John out of the wreckage and to the supervisor’s trailer.

“He’s all yours. He pulled the orange string.”

“Again?”

John leaned against the wall.

“Huh. Heck of a deal.”



W/C 285