infinitesimal
\ in-fin-i-TES-uh-muhl \ , adjective;
1. indefinitely or exceedingly small; minute: infinitesimal vessels in the circulatory system .
2. immeasurably small; less than an assignable quantity: to an infinitesimal degree .
3. of, pertaining to, or involving infinitesimals.
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Todd craned his neck to look at the huge man who loomed over
him. Todd wasn’t exactly a tall guy, but
this was ridiculous. It was like he was
an infinitesimal speck next to this giant.
He felt his blood run cold as the huge man stood there looking down at
him. The large man’s fist rose into the
air, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.
Todd could swear he saw his life flash before his eyes as he looked at
the fist that he swore was the size of his head. He needed to do something. He needed a way to deal with the huge man
without injury. In this case, he was
David about to be attacked by Goliath.
He just needed the sling to take down the giant.
His eyes
flitted around the scene. There was a
small group of people behind the large man, none of them looking very pleased
with what was going on. Could that be
it? Could that be the solution? It was a long shot. Really, his chances were as small as he felt
next to the giant. But, it was
something.
“W-wait
a sec!” Todd called out. He held his breath as he waited for his
assailant to respond. A sigh of relief escaped
his lips when the large man’s fist lowered.
“What is
it now?” The man’s deep, low voice said.
“Are you
sure you really want to go through with this?
I mean, I don’t think it’ll end too well for you.”
“How
so? Seems pretty clear cut to me.”
“Oh no
no no, not like that. I mean, it’s
pretty clear who’d win a fight. But it’s
that same clear cut win that’ll be bad for you.”
“Huh?”
“Well,
you seem like you pride yourself on your strength, right? And I bet you’re pretty good at fighting.”
“Both
true.”
“Well
then, I bet you really like beating guys that can put up a fight, yeah?”
“Sure.”
“Well,
what will people think if you fight me?
I’m not strong, I can’t fight, and I’m tiny. So yeah, you could break me in a second if
this happened. But what would people
think about you if you did that? You won’t
be seen as a great fighter anymore. You’ll
just be a bully, no matter how many tough guys you beat up. It’ll ruin whatever reputation you have now.”
The big
man looked behind him at the people with him.
One of them gave him a small, quick nod.
It was all Todd needed. He had
his safety now. At the very least he was
assured to not be walking out of the situation with the use of all his limbs.
“Ok, so
I don’t pound you. But I still gotta do
something to you. Matter of pride, you
know?”
“Oh
yeah, sure. What we need is a contest
where we stand on even footing. One
where I have a chance to beat you, but you’re still reasonably sure you can
win.”
“Yeah,
that sounds good. You got something in
mind?”
“As a
matter of fact, I do. It’s something I’m
kind of good at, so it should pose a decent challenge for you, but still keeps
your rep intact. And it’s low key enough
that if, by some small chance, you lose, your palls there will just be able to
laugh it off. Sound good?”
“Uh,
yeah, sure. What is it?”
“Thumb
wrestling.” Todd said. The big man looked at his friend’s. They looked back at him with a mix of
curiosity and humor.
“Ok,
sure. Why not? Let’s do this.”
“Alright
then. We just need a place to sit.”
“There’s
a café across the street.” Said one of
the giant’s friends. All were in favor
of that.
The
competitors sat across from each other and clasped hands. The big man’s completely enveloped Todd’s
hand, with just his thumb sticking up.
It was all Todd needed for this particular contest. Even so, it was a more than a little ridiculous
looking. The man’s thumb was more than
three times bigger than Todd’s, and much thicker. Most of those watching would think that Todd’s
loss was a foregone conclusion. Todd
knew otherwise though.
“Ok, let’s
do a quick three count pin for this one.
Now, let’s start this. Someone
want to give us a count?” Todd asked.
One of
the big man’s friends counted down, and the game started. Immediately, Todd’s quick, nimble fingers
lashed out with the speed of a snake striking.
He hit the side, front and top of his opponent’s thumb with lighting
quick strikes. The guy probably didn’t
even feel them, but that was hardly the point.
The big man wiggled his thumb back and forth in an effort to both avoid
Todd’s strikes and to find an opening to pin the smaller man.
Suddenly, Todd seemed to slip up,
moving his thumb low to their hands targeting the base joint. The big man took the opportunity and dropped
his thumb like a stone. Todd’s thumb
darted out of the way. He struck the big
man’s nail and knuckle with rapid hits.
The big man quickly recovered, and the game began anew.
Todd kept up his strikes, wearing
his opponent down little by little. Todd’s
eyes darted from their joined hands to the big man’s rough face. He was getting to the big man. It would be time to end the game soon. The big man attempted to pin Todd again. This time though, when Todd avoided, he
placed his thumb directly on the man’s worn out knuckle. The big man tried to pull his thumb up. Normally, it would have been easy for him to
overpower Todd’s skinny digit. But now
that Todd had been plugging away at it for awhile, it was sensitive. When the big man tried to pull his finger
away, all he got was an uncomfortable twinge.
The more he tried moving his thumb, the worse it would get.
“One.” Todd said.
The big man kept his thumb still, hoping to see an escape route.
“Two.” The big man twisted his thumb in an attempt
to wiggle out. Todd anticipate the move
though, and moved his thumb in tandem.
“Three.” Todd said.
The
onlookers looked on in amazement at what had just happened. The big man himself was just as stunned. With his far larger hand, he had been certain
he should have won. His loss made little
sense to him.
“I told
you, I’m pretty good at this.” Todd said
as he stood up. He may have won the
small challenge, but there was nothing to keep the giant from trying to get
violent again. “Well, this was fun. Have a nice day.”
He
walked off, only looking back once he felt he had put a safe distance. He saw the giant’s friends huddling around
him. He didn’t know what they were
talking about, but he didn’t really care.
He was just glad that his tiny little chance had played out in his
favor.
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So, what do you think, did I make a thumb wrestling match sound at least a little exciting? Bet nobody's ever tried that before. Who knows what I'll try and spice up next?
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