Deal With Norm

Unless you are under the age of five, playing to win tick tack toe is a pointless pursuit. No one ever wins. No one ever loses either, but no one wins. It is always a tie, a stalemate, a cat's game. It does not matter where you put your X's or O's in the beginning, because that is where it always ends up. But I played into this idea that it was a winnable game because I wanted to pass time. At the start of each game I psyched myself up and said "this time it will be different." Of course it never ended any differently. Thing is though, merely pretending made time fly. Before I knew it, darkness had fallen upon us. "You think it's time?" Olivia asks me. "Only one way to find out." We get up off the ground and dust the sand off our clothes. We walk to the bonfire. Just as predicted we saw our critter friend sitting on a rock and staring at the flames as if it were a T.V. Beside him was a fox in a yellow construction vest. We sneak up to them. At first they don't see us. After a moment Norm realizes we are there and jumps up. "Oh hey! Don't be strangers. Sit down." We find spaces on the rocks and sit down. Norm points to the fox in the vest. "This is my buddy, Frankie." Olivia reaches out her hand to Frankie. Frankie does not move. He continues to stare into the flames. " He's just a little burnt out." Norm explains. "Long day?" Olivia asks. "Oh yeah. What about you guys? Was it a long day doing nothing?" "Hey, we're working very hard to unravel the secrets of the universe." I explain. Norm snickers. "You guys should just give up." He says. "And why is that?" Olivia asks. Norm picks up a beer and cracks it open. "Because you'll never figure it out. In fact you'll become insane if you attempt to figure it out." Norm takes a huge gulp. "But I highly doubt you came here looking for my advice." There is a brief pause. " I knew it! You guys want something from me don't you?" I look down and take a deep breath. "We want to get off the island." I say, sheepishly. "And I suppose you want me to build you guys a boat, right?" "Yes! Exactly!" Olivia shouts delightedly. Norm scratches his chin. " I don't work for free so... five bags of garbage" Olivia and I look at each other in confusion. "I'm a raccoon, so to me something like that is a delicacy." He explains. "I understand, but where are we even going to find garbage bags on the island?" I ask. Norm shrugs. "Not my problem." "So, you want this soon?" Olivia asks. "By this time tomorrow." Our jaws nearly drop hearing this. Norm put up his index finger. "One more thing. Frankie you want anything from these guys?" "World Peace." He says in a barely audible voice, while still staring at the flames. " Um.. you know what? Just get the five bags of trash."