A continuation

This piece is a continuation of a speed writing exercise I did a few weeks ago. I used a passage that I had written while speed writing to write a "what happened next."

Next night, the man wrote the letter to himself again, only this time, when he finished, he began pulling at the sections of his hair until they came out. The man screamed in pain as a rather large clump at the back of his head was extricated. After which, he calmed down and put the clump of hair in the trash can. He then began again, pulling at his head, hobbling around the basement until the hair released.

Pulling at a rather difficult piece, the man screamed and fell against the side of the boxes in agony. This was a mistake. The box in the very center of the pile shimmied and shook until it fell from the pile. Like a Lou Goldberg machine, each box stacked on top followed, always releasing its bit of paper before falling to the ground. As the man looked up to the top of the pile, he was hit over and over again with the phrase “Am I happy?” and then the answer “yes” “yes” “yes”. This happened several times until almost all the boxes had fallen.

Peeking over to see what hid behind the boxes, the man screamed. It was a truly terrible sight. So terrible in fact, that the man passed out. This also was a mistake.

Written on the whiteboard in his basement was another note he had written to himself: “Never pass out without a dumbbell.”