Intern-al Conflict

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Higher for Hire

Baloo walked into Higher for Hire one afternoon after returning from a delivery. He saw Rebecca at her desk - as usual. What wasn't usual was that there was an unknown young man rifling through the filing cabinets.

"Becky, who is that?"

"That happens to be Wally, our new intern."

The flurry of files ceased when Wally, an eager beaver, rushed over to shake hands with Baloo.

"Intern?" Baloo looked down at the dapper young man standing before him.

"Yes." With a superior air, Rebecca explained. "Interns are college students who want to get career experience." In a whispered aside, she added, "But the best thing of all is that he works for free."

"Free?" Baloo cried incredulously. He winced because Wally's long claws were cutting into his hand.

"Wally was the only one who applied for the internship."

"No wonder. Wouldn't catch me workin' for free."

"It's hard to catch you working at all."

Wally was still pumping Baloo's hand. "It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Baloo."

"It-it is?"

The young beaver continued to pump the pilot's hand. "I've heard so much about you, and I know everything there is to know about airplanes. I've been in tens of thousands of them, you know."

"You have?" Baloo said skeptically.

"I've seen tens of thousands of airplanes," Wally admitted. "But I do know Charles Limburger."

"You do?"

"Not really, but I know someone who knows him. I really do know all about airplanes, even though I've never been in one. Want me to show you a trick or three?"

Baloo spluttered. "You show me a...?"

"Being a pilot must be the most exciting job in the world."

"It has its ups and downs." Baloo tried, and failed, to extract his hand.

"I bet it's never a dull moment, is it, with air pirates and thunderstorms and stuff like that?"

"Sure, kid, uh..."

"'Cause I'm looking for a career that will never be boring. If you don't mind my asking, how did you get to be a pilot?"

"Well, I..."

"How long have you been a pilot? Just by looking at you, I can tell that you've had years of experience. Not that you look that old or anything."

Baloo was becoming frustrated and more than a little annoyed. "I can tell you from experience that..."

"And why are you so fat?"

"Hey!"

Rebecca snickered. "Come on, Wally, let's get back to work."

"Sure, Miz Cunningham. I've already reorganized your filing cabinet in the new way - backwards! Now I can show you the new way to organize your ledgers using the new math." Wally hurried over to her desk to wreak more havoc.

"I'm tellin' ya, Becky, that kid is trouble," Baloo growled. As he shook his sore hand, he thought, That guy could use a man-e-cure! As if I don't have enough holes in me as it is.

"I think you're confusing 'truthful' with 'trouble'." But she didn't sound as enthusiastic as before.

Baloo stormed outside. He settled into his hammock, yanked his cap down over his eyes, and muttered under his breath, "The kid is trouble with a capital...whatever."

A moment later, he heard a yelp followed by a thump.

Rebecca hurried out of Higher for Hire. "Ooo! I don't believe that!"

"Don't believe what?" Baloo asked languidly.

"Wally asked me if I was married."

Baloo tilted his cap up to glance at her with mild surprise. "Huh?"

"When I told him I wasn't, he asked me out."

"On a date?" Baloo fell out of his hammock, laughing.

Rebecca shot a disgusted look at Higher for Hire where her intern was. "Yes, and when I told him that I don't date younger men, he had the audacity to...to..."

"What? What?" Baloo asked, untangling his foot from the hammock.

"As me how old I was."

Guffawing, Baloo said, "Sounds like he's got a lot of growin' up to do."

"More than you know." There was a satisfied smirk on Rebecca's face.

A one-foot-tall Wally waddled out of Higher for Hire, his body crumpled like an accordion. He was squeaking, "I've never been so insulted in my entire life! This is discrimination because I'm younger, isn't it? Well, they can't do this to me! I'm big, I tell you. Big!"

Rebecca and Baloo laughed as they watched Wally skitter away from Higher for Hire.

"He got one thing right," Baloo said, wiping tears from his face. "He is big. A big mouth!"

The End