Disclaimer: I do not own anything…
"Hey, Don…"
"Yeah."
"You awake?"
"What do you think Mr. Professor?"
Don could practically feel his brother's face heating up. The brothers were camping for the weekend in order to get a break from work. Currently, they were both staring at the 'ceiling' of their shared tent and attempting to fall asleep; easier said than done.
"Don?"
"Yeah, Charlie."
"Did you know that if you toss a penny 10,000 times, it will not be heads 5,000 times, but more like 4,950 times. The heads picture weighs more, so it ends up on the bottom more often."
"Really, Charlie? That's very interesting."
"Don't be a jerk."
"How am I being a jerk? I only said it was interesting."
"Jerk."
"Whatever."
"…"
"…"
"Hey, Don."
"Yeah…"
"Did you know Los Angeles' full name is 'El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula.'"
"I actually did know that."
"Really?"
"Yup."
"Oh."
…
"Don?"
"Yes, Charlie?"
"Did you know that 111,111,111 multiplied by 111,111,111 equals 12,345,678,987,654,321?"
"No."
"Well it does."
"That's nice Charlie."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Hey, Don."
"What is it this time, Charlie?"
"Did you know that if a cat falls off the seventh floor of a building it has about thirty percent less chance of surviving than a cat that falls off the twentieth floor. It supposedly takes about eight floors for the cat to realize what is occurring, relax, and correct itself."
"Are there any other facts you want to share with me?"
"Yes."
"Then stop saying my name and just tell me what you wanna tell me."
"Okay."
"…"
"Armadillos are the only animal besides humans that can get leprosy. A group of ravens is called a murder. Italian mathematician Geronimo Cardano published the laws of chance governing card & dice games. But he became most famous for his accurate horoscope predictions. He even predicted his own death in 1576 - even down to the exact hour. When the time came he was still healthy, so he killed himself rather than being proved wrong."
"That sounds like something you would do."
"Would not!"
"Uh-huh."
"Whatever, I'm not done."
"Then, by all means, continue."
"In 1994, The cops arrested some guy for dressing as the Grim Reaper—complete with scythe—and standing outside the windows of old people's homes, staring in."
"Creepy. That happen in LA?"
"Yep."
"I wonder why I never heard about that."
"You hadn't moved back home yet."
"Oh."
"The average human body contains enough iron to make a 3 inch nail, enough sulfur to kill all fleas on an average dog, enough carbon to make 900 pencils, enough potassium to fire a toy cannon, enough fat to make 7 bars of soap, enough phosphorous to make 2,200 match heads, and enough water to fill a ten-gallon tank. In New York City, about 1,600 people are bitten by other humans. Ancient Egyptians shaved off their eyebrows to mourn the death of their cats. On average, people fear spiders more than they do dying. However, statistically you are more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than by the bite of a poisonous spider. Blood sucking hookworms inhabit 700 million people worldwide. A person will die from total lack of sleep sooner than from starvation. Death will occur about 10 days without sleep, while starvation takes a few weeks."
Charlie paused and heard his brother's soft snoring.
"And if you tell someone enough trivia, they go to sleep."
Charlie smiled, rolled over, and closed his eyes.