Little pricks make a lasting impression

A long long time ago. Probably somewhere in China.



Ow!......... Ow!................ Owwwww! That hurt.

Sorry.

No, that really hurt that time. How long is this going to take?

Not long.

You said that hours ago. OW!

Sorry.

No you’re not.

Look, I’ve nearly finished your arm.

Good…. What do you mean your ARM?

I mean I’m just about done.

No. No you said ‘your ARM,’ as in, that particular body part. Ow!

Sorry.

Don’t change the subject. ‘your ARM’ What do you mean?

Well obviously after your arm I need to do your leg.

Leg! Wh…

And then spine, head…

You want to do THIS to the rest of my body? Look at my arm. Look at it! You’ve made little punctures all over it. There’s blood coming out of some of them.

What did you say?

There’s blood. You’re making me bleed!

No. Before that?

What? The little punctures?

A Puncture. I like that.

What’s this all about? What are you up too?

I’m not sure yet. I might be trying to find a cure.

For what?

Pain for one thing.

Pain! You’re kidding me? You’ve given me nothing but pain. Sticking pins into people to ease pain? That’s crazy. It’ll never catch on.

Look at that. Sticking out of your arm.

That a really short pin?

No. It’s a really long pin that I have inserted into your arm. And you didn’t feel a thing.

Not it isn’t. It’s a short………. Bloody hell! That thing was stuck right in.

Don’t pull it out!

What?

I didn’t want you to pull it out. I needed to mark where it was on your body. It must be one of the points I’ve been looking for.

Oh, I see. No problem. I’ll put it back in. It was just around… Ow! Not there. Ow!

Let me do it. I think it was just….

Ow! No it wasn’t! You’re hurting me again. I thought the point of all this was to stop pain.

Well it might. If I can find all the points.

How did you get onto all this?

I was piercing my ear and I accidentally pricked myself with a pin. But I noticed that it didn’t hurt and the headache I had went away.

Really?

Truly. Here I’ll show you.

Keep that pin away from my head!

No it won’t hurt, I promise. I’ve already identified the points on the ear. Trust me.

Alright then. But this better not hurt. I’m warning you. If I feel one bit of pain I’m….

I’ve done it.

Bullshit.

Look in the mirror.

Bloody hell. Look at that. There’s a pin sticking out of my head.

So can we keep doing the tests?

Listen, it looks freaky and it will make a great party trick, but there’s no proper reason for sticking needles in people. It’s a waste of time.

It’s not. It is important I tell you. These special points must exist for a reason. I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we take a break? Go outside, have a smoke and then we can get on with the testing.

I don’t really feel like it.

Not even if I promise to be careful.

No, I mean I don’t feel like having a smoke. Isn’t that weird? I always feel like having a smoke. But anyway, that’s beside the point. I also don’t feel like being your pincushion. It’s stupid and I can’t see the point in it. I’m going.