To Be Human

Arm Wrestling

  "Ready? ....Go!" Hamsa called out while waving his wings as the match began. Nina had a smug smirk while the older, bigger man across from her had a cocky grin. Nina was much smaller than him, so he thought he could win this arm-wrestling match. But Nina and I were dragonfolk, making us much, much stronger than a human.

  Nina hmphed and easily struck the back of the man's hand to the wooden tabletop placed on the large barrel.

  "The winner is Nina Drango!" Hamsa declared as Nina posed. "That's fifteen wins in a row!" Nina and I high-fived before switching places. Standing on the small box by the barrel, I waited for the next idiot to come up from the crowd.

  "Who wants to challenge Lila Drango now?"

  "All right." A big guy reached into his pocket while walking up.

  "Are you up next, Mr. Macho?" Hamsa asked. "That's a hundred rupees to enter!"

  "This money will be mine." The man said while looking down at me.

  "Best of luck to you."

  "Your ignorance will cost you." Smirking, I put my elbow onto the wood and grabbed his hand.

  "Are you all set?" The duck flapped his wings. "Ready! Go!" The man's large muscles bulged from the effort, but my hand hadn't moved a centimeter. His face fell, and I raised my brows before knocking his hand to the tabletop. He ended up falling over, and Nina and I switched places again. "Now, now, who's next?"

  "What's that girl supposed to be?" The guy on the ground asked as he sat up.

  "Nobody likes a sore loser." Hamsa popped off, making the other men in the crowd laugh. This went on, Nina and I switching off to arm wrestle anyone who wanted to try as the money in the chest continued to increase. After a while, though, the men seemed to realize no one was going to win and stopped walking up. Hamsa and the pink-haired girl were trying to encourage more challengers, telling them to 'come on!'

  "You, there! The handsome young man! Would you like to challenge this superpowered young sweetheart?" The man Hamsa was talking to had on glasses and a turban, and he turned away without saying a word. "Oh, you're running away? Young people these days have a no-can-do spirit." The man stopped, then turned on his heel and came out from the crowd. "A handsome one indeed."

  Nina tied on a blindfold to avoid freaking out and turning into a dragon while arm wrestling. The man was tall, and when he reached the barrel, Hamsa pointed to the chest.

  "That's a hundred rupees to enter."

  "I have no money." The man said while taking off one of his rings and handing it to the duck. Hamsa took it and pulled out a magnifying glass to inspect it.

  "Is this real?" The man didn't reply and just went in front of Nina. Putting his elbow onto the wood, he gently took Nina's hand in his.

  "Why are you blindfolded?"

  "It's to help her focus on the match." Hamsa put his wings on his hips. The man smirked as he and Nina used their other hands to grab the table. "Are you all set? Ready! Go!" Surprisingly....Nina was struggling. This man, who was a lot smaller than the other guys muscle-wise, was holding his own fairly well against the pink-haired girl.

  They both were clenching their jaws and fighting back and forth without letting their hands touch the tabletop. The wood began to creak and splinter until Nina broke it with her elbow and sent the man flying through the air.

  There were a few seconds of shocked silence before Nina spoke.

  "I'm so sorry!" She said while trying to take her blindfold off. She had double-knotted it, so she ended up just pulling it down off of her eyes. Nina froze as the man dusted off and put his glasses back on. He softly smiled and walked up to her.