Proving yourself to others is one of the accomplishments in life that we all strive for. We all want nothing more in our lives than to have our friends or family that previously didn't believe in you to in turn be proud of you for something big you've strived to accomplish in your life. But the real question is, how far would you go to impress people?
My friend, Jill, and I found ourselves yet again walking through the mall on one of our off days from work. She and I work together at one of the worst fast food restaurants in town, Happy Harold's. We both went to the same school but never really talked to each other much until we met at work and hit it off, sharing our disgust for the job and how much we wanted to leave but couldn't really afford it.
Today was just another day where we'd wander around aimlessly, looking at any new things the mall had to offer while catching up with each other on what's been going on in our lives. She lives a few miles out of town on a farm, so she was always out there doing something new every day. I asked her a few times why she didn't make money working out there, she responded that the work she did out on the farm was her paying rent for living out there. That was a valid enough reason. Rough parents though.
We talked and walked together on the top floor of the mall. There weren't very many people out today. It made sense because it was a holiday, there weren't many places opened. That's one of the reasons we could actually hang out today. We continued talking until we came across this new thing that we'd never seen before in the mall. It looked like some kind of fortune teller booth, but the maniquin was in a weird pose. As we got closer to it we noticed it was actually some kind of an arm wrestling machine, labeled "The Arm Wrestler". I commented on what a lame name it was and Jill chuckled.
She said she wanted to try it. I stood a safe distance back incase she accidently threw her arm back and elbowed me in the chest. It's happened before. She approached it and rolled up her sleeve. She put her elbow on the table and her hand in the plaster mannequin's hand. She put a quarter in the slot and pressed a button.
"If you can't beat me, you become me!" The machine roared to life, lighting up and playing some creepy carnival music. The arm began to move and I could hear her grunting as she pushed hard against it. It continued to move downward and I could see behind her struggle, she wasn't able to move the machine arm at all, not even nudging it in the opposite direction.
Finally, her arm bent at an awkward angle as the mannequin forced it down to the table. "You lost!" blared out of it's speakers and the machine's music stopped. Jill came back from it, struggling to catch her breath. "Man, that thing is hard to beat." she said in between breaths. We both turned back toward the machine when it made a mechanical whirring sound before spitting out a card.
The front of the card had a picture of her face as she struggled against the machine. Beneath the cutout of her face was the hand drawn body of the mannequin in the same pose it was in. "You lost, now you become me!" was the cheesy tagline underneath it.
We talked about the experience some as we left the mall for the night, as it was getting pretty late. I asked her if she thought I might stand a chance against it. She laughed for a few minutes before saying "Please, you can't even beat me." She wasn't wrong.
That night I had a nightmare about the mannequin. I arm wrestled it but lost. The man in the machine moved from its position and got up from around the table it was sitting behind. It pinned me to the ground and I was unable to even budge. It kept calling me a weakling over and over again. There were people surrounding me in a circle, laughing as I struggled against the mannequin.
I woke up the next morning to my alarm blaring at me. I knew what I needed to do. After I got off work.
After I got off work, I told my friend Jill to meet me at the mall. She was confused as to why before she stopped and thought about it.
"It's about that machine isn't it?" she asked. I knew she had to have been rolling her eyes when she sent it. She knew me too well.
"How did you know?" I replied.
"You can try but I know you won't succeed," she said. "I heard some people talking at work. Apparently the thing has been there for a few weeks and nobody that's tried it has been able to beat it. And apparently nobody knows who's machine it is to ask them to change the thing's strength output."
I didn't care what she had to say, I knew I'd lose to it. I just wanted to try, to prove to myself that there's a chance I might be able to beat it.
So, we ended up meeting at the mall. We met up at the entrance and made our way up the stairs to the top floor, to the booth. It was a little more crowded that day, so I was nervous. I knew people would hear the losing sound go off and see me in front of it. I might never hear the end of it, how I couldn't beat the machine. But I didn't care, I needed to try it.
I had to wait for this man with bulging muscles try it. He was red in the face. He tried pushing against its arm but was able to just barely make it go back the other way before it pushed his hand down to the table. The few people surrounding him, cheering him on quieted their cheers and went to high five and hug the guy. At least he tried.
They walked away and I made my way up to the machine. I put my elbow up on the table. It was warm from the man that had been there before. I wiped the sweat from the mannequin's hand with my shirt before gripping it tightly. I slipped the quarter in the slot and pressed the red button beside it. It powered on, the music really loud in my ears.
Before I realized what was happening, I felt the arm pushing against me, only it was going down faster than I'd seen it go down before. I pushed against it with everything I had in me. I wanted so badly to bring my other arm in to fight against it but I didn't want people laughing at me. I pushed harder and harder but it was no use. It pushed my arm to the table.
Just as my hand hit the table, everything faded to black. Everything came back just as quickly as it faded. It took me a few moments to look around me and see what was going on. I was looking at myself. I looked so disoriented. My friend Jill walked up to my body and began talking to it. What were they saying?
I tried to look down but I realized I couldn't move. What was happening? I saw Jill and my body walk away and another person walk up to me. They grabbed my arm and a sound escaped my throat that wasn't mine. It wasn't my own voice either. "If you can't beat me you become me!"
My arm was forced down and the person in front of me struggled against my arm, of course losing.
I had unfortunately gotten exactly what I wanted, I was now stronger than the machine.
My friend, Jill, and I found ourselves yet again walking through the mall on one of our off days from work. She and I work together at one of the worst fast food restaurants in town, Happy Harold's. We both went to the same school but never really talked to each other much until we met at work and hit it off, sharing our disgust for the job and how much we wanted to leave but couldn't really afford it.
Today was just another day where we'd wander around aimlessly, looking at any new things the mall had to offer while catching up with each other on what's been going on in our lives. She lives a few miles out of town on a farm, so she was always out there doing something new every day. I asked her a few times why she didn't make money working out there, she responded that the work she did out on the farm was her paying rent for living out there. That was a valid enough reason. Rough parents though.
We talked and walked together on the top floor of the mall. There weren't very many people out today. It made sense because it was a holiday, there weren't many places opened. That's one of the reasons we could actually hang out today. We continued talking until we came across this new thing that we'd never seen before in the mall. It looked like some kind of fortune teller booth, but the maniquin was in a weird pose. As we got closer to it we noticed it was actually some kind of an arm wrestling machine, labeled "The Arm Wrestler". I commented on what a lame name it was and Jill chuckled.
She said she wanted to try it. I stood a safe distance back incase she accidently threw her arm back and elbowed me in the chest. It's happened before. She approached it and rolled up her sleeve. She put her elbow on the table and her hand in the plaster mannequin's hand. She put a quarter in the slot and pressed a button.
"If you can't beat me, you become me!" The machine roared to life, lighting up and playing some creepy carnival music. The arm began to move and I could hear her grunting as she pushed hard against it. It continued to move downward and I could see behind her struggle, she wasn't able to move the machine arm at all, not even nudging it in the opposite direction.
Finally, her arm bent at an awkward angle as the mannequin forced it down to the table. "You lost!" blared out of it's speakers and the machine's music stopped. Jill came back from it, struggling to catch her breath. "Man, that thing is hard to beat." she said in between breaths. We both turned back toward the machine when it made a mechanical whirring sound before spitting out a card.
The front of the card had a picture of her face as she struggled against the machine. Beneath the cutout of her face was the hand drawn body of the mannequin in the same pose it was in. "You lost, now you become me!" was the cheesy tagline underneath it.
We talked about the experience some as we left the mall for the night, as it was getting pretty late. I asked her if she thought I might stand a chance against it. She laughed for a few minutes before saying "Please, you can't even beat me." She wasn't wrong.
That night I had a nightmare about the mannequin. I arm wrestled it but lost. The man in the machine moved from its position and got up from around the table it was sitting behind. It pinned me to the ground and I was unable to even budge. It kept calling me a weakling over and over again. There were people surrounding me in a circle, laughing as I struggled against the mannequin.
I woke up the next morning to my alarm blaring at me. I knew what I needed to do. After I got off work.
After I got off work, I told my friend Jill to meet me at the mall. She was confused as to why before she stopped and thought about it.
"It's about that machine isn't it?" she asked. I knew she had to have been rolling her eyes when she sent it. She knew me too well.
"How did you know?" I replied.
"You can try but I know you won't succeed," she said. "I heard some people talking at work. Apparently the thing has been there for a few weeks and nobody that's tried it has been able to beat it. And apparently nobody knows who's machine it is to ask them to change the thing's strength output."
I didn't care what she had to say, I knew I'd lose to it. I just wanted to try, to prove to myself that there's a chance I might be able to beat it.
So, we ended up meeting at the mall. We met up at the entrance and made our way up the stairs to the top floor, to the booth. It was a little more crowded that day, so I was nervous. I knew people would hear the losing sound go off and see me in front of it. I might never hear the end of it, how I couldn't beat the machine. But I didn't care, I needed to try it.
I had to wait for this man with bulging muscles try it. He was red in the face. He tried pushing against its arm but was able to just barely make it go back the other way before it pushed his hand down to the table. The few people surrounding him, cheering him on quieted their cheers and went to high five and hug the guy. At least he tried.
They walked away and I made my way up to the machine. I put my elbow up on the table. It was warm from the man that had been there before. I wiped the sweat from the mannequin's hand with my shirt before gripping it tightly. I slipped the quarter in the slot and pressed the red button beside it. It powered on, the music really loud in my ears.
Before I realized what was happening, I felt the arm pushing against me, only it was going down faster than I'd seen it go down before. I pushed against it with everything I had in me. I wanted so badly to bring my other arm in to fight against it but I didn't want people laughing at me. I pushed harder and harder but it was no use. It pushed my arm to the table.
Just as my hand hit the table, everything faded to black. Everything came back just as quickly as it faded. It took me a few moments to look around me and see what was going on. I was looking at myself. I looked so disoriented. My friend Jill walked up to my body and began talking to it. What were they saying?
I tried to look down but I realized I couldn't move. What was happening? I saw Jill and my body walk away and another person walk up to me. They grabbed my arm and a sound escaped my throat that wasn't mine. It wasn't my own voice either. "If you can't beat me you become me!"
My arm was forced down and the person in front of me struggled against my arm, of course losing.
I had unfortunately gotten exactly what I wanted, I was now stronger than the machine.
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