Wooden Overcoat

“Are you going to jump?” Pierce asked his friend Connor.

“Seriously, look how high up we are?”

“If you want to win then we have to jump, Connor.”

“How badly do you want to win?”

“I want to win very much, especially against him.”

“Yeah, Connor, I know I want to win against him too. He is so arrogant. I can’t stand him. 

He thinks that he is invincible. I  can’t stand him or his attitude.”

“Well, he’s won every time since 2000.” Pierce replied.

“He thinks he is unbeatable. But, not today.” 

“So, Pierce, are you ready to do it? If we don’t do it we will lose and if we do it we might die.” 

“I know.  So, let’s do this and pray we don’t die.” Conner said as he and Pierce took that leap.

Connor knew that he had to enter the contest again. He knew it would be a risk and he knew it was a risk he was willing to take for $500,000. That was half a million bucks and he really could use that to pay off bills and pay off his mom’s medical bills too. He also knew that he had to convince his best friend, Pierce to enter with him since he needed a partner and Pierce was more of a competitor and hated to lose as much as he did. He picked up the phone to dial his friend but to his surprise before he could dial his phone rang. It was Pierce and he  had the same idea and together they made the decision to enter the contest. They were all in. He hoped that they made the right decision. 

Connor read over the invitation again that he had left open on his desk. 

You are coordinately invited to participate in the cities annual Iron Man and Iron Woman contest. This will be a contest like no other. There will be twists and turns and is not for the faint of heart. This contest can be life or death. Are you ready? For more information and to sign up please e-mail below your information and we will contact you in a few days. Remember, this contest is not for the weak of body or mind. There will only be one winning team and only one team will get $500,000 at the end. The first team to finish will win the rest of you well, will have the thrill of bragging rights that you finished and if you survive the glory of coming back next year. 

“ I hope that we don’t end up with wooden overcoats when we jump.” Connor said.

“Ready, set and jump.” Connor continued. 

When they reached the numbing coldness of the ocean water they both felt it bone-deep. But, nonetheless they both knew what they had to do if  they were going to win the contest. They both started to swim almost in unison. Connor was the better swimmer of the two but Pierce held his own in the icyness of the water. Halfway to the end of the swim the water turned warm. It was a nice change from the coldness they felt a little while ago. They swam and noticed something ahead of them. It looked like they were almost at phase three of the contest. The shores of the beach were in reach. Once they got there they only had to find the man in the yellow hat. 

“Oh no!” Connor shouted as something dragged him underwater. 

“Connor, Connor!” Pierce desperately shouted, searching the water for his friend. 

Pierce didn’t hear a thing but what he saw horrified him to his core. 

The blue water was now red. At first Pierce thought that he was seeing things. He didn’t connect the dots of what was happening for a few seconds until he heard his friend scream again. He realized the red in the water was blood, Conner’s blood. 

He turned his body around quickly in the water and saw something holding on to his friend’s leg. It was a shark. The shark had a tight grip on Connor’s leg and was not letting go. Conner kept going up and down in the waves of the water and in between screaming for help. Conner tried to punch the shark but it was not doing any good. The shark only tightened his grip on Conner’s leg and Connor knew that if he didn’t get the shark to release his leg he wouldn’t have one. 

Suddenly, he saw Pierce. Pierce appeared out of nowhere and Connor screamed and hoped that he heard him. Pierce hit the shark in the head with his bare fist several times and was hoping he wouldn’t become the next victim. All of a sudden the shark let Connor go and swam away just as quickly as he appeared. 

Pierce grabbed Connor and swam as fast as he could holding on to his friend tightly until they got to the shores of the beach. By that time a small crowd had gathered and a few jumped in the water to help. One woman grabbed a beach towel to wrap on Conner’s leg. The bite  was deep. Connor’s leg was still there but barely. Pierce tried to talk to Conner who was unconscious. He has lost a lot of blood. 

“Don’t you dare die on me!” Pierce screamed as the lifeguard came running. A few minutes later an ambulance came. It felt like an eternity for Pierce who talked to Connor all the way to the hospital.

Connor didn’t wake up until the next day and one operation later. When he woke up there was Pierce looking down at him shaking his head. 

“Man, I thought you were a goner and I would have to get you that wooden overcoat.”

“You know I ain’t ready for no coffin.” Conner said laughing at his friend’s attempt to joke.

“Is my leg still there?” Connor continued.

“Yeah, it is still there but you were in the operating room for hours. I thought they were giving you a bionic leg as long as they took.” Pierce laughed.

“Now, that would have been cool. I could be the bionic man of 2020.” 

“True. Then I would have to get one too. I can’t have you outrun me.” Pierce said.

“Well, what happened?”

“Connor, what are you talking about?”

“Did you win the race?” 

“Did you really think that I was going to continue the race with my best friend in the hospital with a shark bite?” Pierce asked.

“Knowing how competitive you are. I had to ask. Who won?”

“Someone kid, Josh something. I can’t remember his last name. But, at least our “friend” didn’t win. I think he came in third.” Pierce said matter of factually.

“Who would have thought that a contest like this one would have left you almost measuring me for that wooden overcoat.” Connor jokes.

“Thank goodness I didn’t have to. But, you better hurry up and get well because next year we are entering this contest again and this time you can’t use Jaws for an excuse.”  Pierce said, rubbing Conners curly hair hard. 

“Right on! Now, go and see if you can get the doctor to come in here.”

“You in pain?” Pierce asked.

“No, I told her all about you. I told you that I was going to find you a woman.” Connor  laughed.

“Man, I should have let Jaws eat you.” Pierce laughed.