Maybe it was the way that the woman walked that first allowed me to convince myself that I could trust her. She had a certain way of putting one foot in front of the other, as if she knew exactly where she was going to and never failed to get herself there. For one reason or another, it made me feel that if I were to deposit my faith in her, I would one day know confidently where I was going as well.
Never in my life have I misjudged something so greatly.
Well, never mind, actually. I can probably think of at least seven different occasions in which I’ve made worse decisions. Allow me to rephrase my statement: Never in my life have I made such an awful decision with absolutely no reasoning behind it (I am not counting the time that I thought it would be fun to try and take a vanilla wafer from a very angry squirrel).
It was a sort of chilly day in late September; the kind of day that gives you a great longing to shuffle around in too much clothing and go out and buy a few gallons of soup. On that particular day, I had found a nice pack of stale double-stuff Oreos in the dusty recesses of my pantry, and was quite enjoying myself with them.
It was then that the fateful knock on my door sounded, echoing around my house with a confident sort of preciseness. Naturally, I stowed my well-coveted hoard of cookies under a blanket of the sofa, just in case it was my sweet-toothed older brother at the door. However, when I swung open the heavy storm door, I was instead greeted by the expectant face of the woman that would soon turn my life on its head.
“Good afternoon. Matthew Truszkowski, correct?” She even pronounced my last name correctly, which took me aback a little bit. “My name is Miranda Hall, and I’ve come on behalf of the United States Scientific Research Association.”
She was wearing some sort of professional-looking navy suit, with her dark hair cut short and a poised smile on her lips. I remember dragging my tongue across my teeth so that she wouldn’t see the black bits of cookie still in my mouth, and dragging a hand through my hair in a fruitless attempt to smooth it down.
“Uh, yeah. Do you need my dad or something?” I replied, because basic human interaction is not one of my talents.
“Actually, no.” Ms. Hall laughed right there, as if I’d said something that she found to be exceptionally funny. “I’ve come to discuss something with you. Did you receive our letter?”
“Letter?” I thought about this, and my mind went to the stack of mail I’d deemed ‘junk’ and thrown out a week earlier. “Uh, no, actually. I don’t think we got any letter here.”
“Oh, how unfortunate.” My face must have been incredibly suspicious at this point, because she pursed her lips at me in a way that seemed to say “It’s a good thing I’ve been trained to deal with idiots like you, kid.”
“Yeah, our mail sometimes gets, uh, lost.” I tried my best not to appear too conspicuous, but at this point my palms were sweating, so I doubt I looked as collected as I had hoped.
“I see. Perhaps you should consider hiring a new mailman?” Ms. Hall said with a small smile. “Oh well, I suppose it doesn’t matter. I can talk you through the contents of the letter. May I come in?”
“Yeah, sure, go for it.” I practically jumped out of the doorway in order to allow her to enter.
She strode right through the doorway, as if she’d done so a million times, and stood resolutely in the parlor, waiting patiently as I came in and closed the door behind me.
“Right then, let’s get to it, shall we? Recently, my department reviewed the national activity records of high school students throughout the United States in order to hand-select forty members of the upcoming generation to participate in an experiment.”
“Uh-hu...” I frowned, wondering if she was just leading up to asking for some sort of donation.
“...And, as you would have read in our letter, we’ve come to the conclusion that you are among the forty students that meet our criteria. I’ve come to formally invite you to travel to Wyoming for a total of eight months to participate in this experiment. All of the travel expenses will be paid, and it is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you to expand your horizon and begin to plan your future.”
“Wait just a second...” I considered her words, not completely able to understand what she was saying. “Just what kind of an ‘experiment’ is this?”
“It is a research experiment in developing new medications and making advancements in curing diseases such as cancer. Your safety is guaranteed, and you will be presented with a payment of fifty-thousand dollars once the experiment is completed.”
“Fifty thous- are you serious?” I lost my (nonexistent) cool then, and my jaw practically dropped at the ridiculous amount of money.
“Yes, quite serious.” She looked serious, too. Either that, or a little bit annoyed. “I will have another letter sent containing more information, and you may contact me once you’ve made a decision about whether or not you are willing to participate. The experiment begins in December; please respond to us with an answer by mid-November.”
“Yeah, okay. Uh, thank you.” I sort of just blinked, trying to process everything that she had offered me.
Ms. Hall nodded, shook my hand, and began to make her way across the room. It was right then that I came to my senses, as I watched that damn walk. I called after her just as she was stepping through the door, and she looked back at me with a bit of surprise.
“I want to do it. Definitely, I mean. I was planning on waiting for college until next year anyway, so I’ll do it.”
“Excellent,” She gave me one of her red-lipped smiles. “I’m glad you were able to come to your decision in a timely fashion, Matthew. I look forward to seeing you in December.”
And with that, she was gone. And now I sit here on my sofa, my precious Oreos now forgotten, trying to think through exactly what I’ve signed myself up for.
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