Extreme Wind Resistance

Extreme Wind Resistance

     “Come in.” Cynthia came in – huffing and puffing. She was gasping for breath.

     “You just came from another exercise regimen. Didn’t you?” Joseph sat in a chair with a big smile on his face.

     “Yes, I did.” Cynthia continued gasping in between words.

     Joseph got up and helped Cynthia get into the chair next to him. “You need to stop doing it. It’s going to kill you before you lose the weight you don’t have to lose.”

     “I can’t stop. I’ve lost another six pounds. I’m going to lose all the weight I need to before our wedding.”

     “You do this three times a week. You’re going to be dead long before we get married. Besides, you don’t need to lose any weight. I love you just the way that you are.”

     Cynthia finally got her breathing under control. “You need to try this. If only you would try it once you would understand why I love it so much. It’s the latest, and best, way for anyone to lose weight. Everyone is doing it.”

     Joseph looked at Cynthia – and smiles. “Do you think I need to lose some weight?”

     “It’s not just a way to lose weight. You can also do it for the exercise. That’s the reason why I do it mostly. The weight loss is just an added bonus.”

     “That’s not the way you were talking a few minutes ago. What happened to ‘I have to lose this weight before we get married’ you were talking about.”

     “I thought about it, and I agree with you. If I go the same way that I have been going I won’t make it to our wedding. So from now on I’m only going there for the exercise.”

     Joseph thought about that for a minute. “If I agreed to try this, and I’m not saying I’m going to, would you do it with me?”

     “Of course, I would. At least for the first couple of times. After that, you are on your own. I’ll be joining the Extreme Wind Resistance challenge.”

     “What’s that?” Joseph asked as he suddenly looked at her.

     “Never mind about that right now. You will learn all about that in a few months. All you need to know right now is about Wind Resistance.”

     Joseph shrugged. “What is Wind Resistance?”

     “It’s exactly what it sounds like. You are running against the wind. Only this wind is in a tunnel. For fifty you run into the wind for an hour. At the end of that hour you see how far you have gotten.”

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     Joseph kept running into the wind. His hair and clothing seemed to be trying to escape his body. The hair pointed behind him, and the clothing was falling apart. When a piece of clothing came loose it sailed away behind him.

     Breathing heavy Joseph had to stop. When he did he skidded back about a hundred feet. There were small hand holds about a foot apart on both sides of that tunnel. Joseph grabbed one of them. Only that wasn’t good enough. The wind pinned him against that wall. He had to start running again or slam it again.

     While running Joseph looked over at the Wind Gauges. They were right above the hand holds. Joseph’ eyes almost popped out of their sockets when he saw one of them. He glanced at the next two also. Each one went up ten in wind speed.

     Joseph kept his eyes focused in front of him most of the time. He could see he still had a long way to run. Every minute or two he would try to look behind him. If he could have seen how far he had gotten, he would have noticed he was about halfway through that tunnel.

     The closer he got to the end of the tunnel the harder it was to run. It didn’t look like he was making any distance at all. Joseph was breathing heavy. He gasped for breath several times. His skin was acting just like his hair. It rippled as it tried to leave his body.

     Just then the wind died. Joseph fell to his knees gasping for breath. When he spoke he also breathed in between words. “Now I know why you were so out of breath whenever you came to see me after one of these hours.”

     Cynthia came into that tunnel. She walked up to Joseph - smiling. “I heard what you just said. Do that mean you like the Wind Resistance challenge?”

     Still having a lot of trouble speaking Joseph replied. “I have to admit it I do. The first few hours I hated it. Then I started liking it. Now I love it.”

     “Good. You almost made it to the end this time. Every time you have done it you have gotten a little closer. I think you are ready for the Extreme Wind Resistance challenge.”

     Cynthia pushed a button on the side of one of the Wind Gauges. Spikes about a foot long jetted out of both side wall. Several rows of them. At the back the whole wall became full of spikes.

     Joseph walked down to that wall. Then bent down to look at one of those spikes. A blotch of red was on the tip of it. “Is that blood?”

     “It sure looks like it is. Doesn’t it?” Cynthia now stood right next to Joseph.

     “Is that what you have been doing for the last three months?” Joseph looked at Cynthia with a shocked look on his face.

     “Actually, I have started accepting another challenge. It’s called the Ultimate Wind Resistance challenge.”

     “What’s that? There’s nothing that could be worse than this.”

     “There is. It involves an open airlock.”

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     A spaceship continued on. If you could get closer to it, you would see an open airlock. The body of an adult male came skidding out of it. His body looked even worse that Joseph’s when he skidded in that wind tunnel.