The Hangover Cure

Mark was in trouble, he needed money and he needed it now. He thought about selling fake IDs again, there was always a high demand due to the college on the other end of town, but it was risky, if he got caught he might end up in jail. No, he needed something safer. And that was when it hit him, a cure for the other problem that often followed in the footsteps of a fake ID, a cure for hangovers. It was perfect, he already had a built in clientele. The only pesky little problem was actually developing a cure, something that really worked, or made the user believe it did anyway.

He set to work right away, mixing powders and pills, blending fruits and vegetables, and trying to marry it all together in an effective and not completely disgusting concoction. Finally after several less than successful attempts, and one very ruined blender, he had a final product, what he deemed “Mark’s Magic Hangover Cure”. It was beautiful, well not the color, which ended up being a sludgy brown, but just the fact that it existed.

There was another small setback he didn’t count on though. It seemed everyone already had their own favorite methods for curing a hangover, greasy food, Gatorade, even a little hair of the dog. It was going to take some good salesmanship skills on his part to sell his potion. Eventually “Mark’s Magic Hangover Cure” caught on, through a little word of mouth and every college student’s strong desire to go out and party and not feel like shit the next day. Soon Mark was raking in the money, but at what cost? Oh wait, no, this isn’t that type of story. The business was just fine and all Mark’s money troubles were over. He even expanded to sell more than just the original Hangover Cure. He had created a nice little business for himself.

One day, as he was selling his wares at the local Farmers Market, he met a pretty lady. Feeling especially courageous he asked her out. One thing led to another and Mark and the lady fell in love, got married and had two beautiful boys.  Life just kept getting better and better. Then one snowy winter morning Mark was driving his children to school when an out of control car came careening towards them, skidding wildly on the icy street. Don’t worry, it’s also not that type of story, because Mark managed to swerve just in time, while that other car zigged and zagged and eventually landed in a bush and caught fire, luckily Mark ran over and pulled the driver out in time. It turned out the other man was still drunk from the night before (and had one of Mark’s Magic Hangover Cures in his cup holder). He took it as a sign and quit drinking. He was forever grateful to Mark for helping him that day, they became fast friends. Sometimes everything works out just fine.