The Coin Flip
A dusty saloon in the middle of nowhere
A stranger slides a golden coin across the table. Heads — you win the saloon. Tails — you lose your boots. The coin glints under the swinging lamp. The stranger grins. The entire bar goes quiet.
“We flip. Imagine us owning this place!”
“We already HAVE boots. Good boots. Let's walk away.”
The coin lands tails. The stranger pockets Double's boots with a theatrical bow, revealing the coin has tails on both sides. Double walks barefoot across three miles of sun-scorched gravel back to town while the entire saloon watches from the porch, sipping whiskey.
I want you to remember this exact feeling the next time a stranger with a two-headed coin grins at you.
I needed new boots anyway — those ones were too comfortable, made me soft.