Grifters

An armadillo and a snake are walking together underneath a big desert sky. They had been walking aimlessly for nearly 3 hours and could find no sign of life anywhere. 

This was a problem for the snake and the armadillo because they were traveling grifters and without anyone to grift they would likely wind up with no money, no food and no place to stay once night fell. 

As they were walking, the snake turned to the armadillo:

“Hey, why don’t you run ahead and see if there is any sign of a town coming up.”

This seemed like a pretty reasonable request so the armadillo was amenable.

“Okay, sure I’ll just... Hey, wait a minute... Why do I have to go? Why don’t you go ahead and see if there is a town coming up?”

The snake sighed. He wasn’t proud of himself for doing this but felt like he should come clean to his friend. 

“I was going to eat the last of the Sour Patch Kids while you were up ahead. I’m sorry.”

“What? You were going to grift me! How many times have I told you, we grift TOGETHER! We don’t grift EACH OTHER!”

The snake, still feeling shameful, averts his eyes from the armadillo and sniffles a little bit.

“Come on man, you could have just told me that you wanted the last of the Sour Patch Kids and I wouldn’t have minded! Why the ruse?”

“I just miss grifting so much! We haven’t grifted in days!”

This struck the armadillo hard. He understood where the snake was coming from. Truth be told, the armadillo sniffed out the grift easily. The snake put on a very poor performance and wasn’t even using one-tenth of his best grifting skills. The snake just wanted to feel the juice and the armadillo couldn't fault him for that. 

“I know buddy,” The armadillo sighed. “We have to do something. I feel the itch too. But we can't grift each other. We're partners!”

“Okay, fine, no more grifts on each other." The snake sighed. 

The armadillo and the snake continued on into the desert for a long time. 

"Okay, what about pranks?” The snake offered. 

The armadillo considered this:

"On each other?"

"Yeah!" The snake replied. "Why not? We know that we mean each other no harm. It's like grifting but without really grifting."

“I don’t like the idea of doing pranks on each other but I think given the circumstances, maybe every week we can allow ourselves one prank each."

The snake was overjoyed. 

“Assuming, that is, that we’re not in the middle of a grift on someone else.” The armadillo confirmed. 

“Oh, yeah, totally, of course!” 

“Great! Well then, I must take your leave for a moment I need to relieve myself. Excuse me.” The armadillo took his leave and went behind a cactus. 

“Okay cool, no problem...”

Once the armadillo was out of earshot the snake giggled to himself. This was a perfect opportunity to prank the armadillo. He would have no idea it was coming. But what could the snake do? The snake wasn’t sure what he had available for a prank but decided to keep it simple. He dug out a fake mustache that he had in his bag of tricks for grifts. He'd make the armadillo think he was someone totally different.

The armadillo had actually also decided that now was the perfect time to prank the snake because he would be least expecting of it. The armadillo had a mask that he used for grifts. He would put that on and make the snake think he was someone totally different. 

As you can see, the armadillo and the snake were perfect grifting partners. 

The armadillo, now wearing a mask waited for the opportune moment to reveal himself. He took a deep breath, got his story straight, and then made his move. 

The masked armadillo approached the mustached snake. 

“I’m Floyd,” The armadillo said. 

"Oh hi Floyd, I'm Tami. Nice to meet you." The snake replied. 

“I’m a real estate investor and I have a great opportunity for you!” Floyd started. 

“Wow, what a great coincidence! I own a CBD conglomerate and I have a great opportunity for you!”

The two were at a standstill. 

"Well, which way are you headed?" Floyd asked Tami. 

"Whichever way you are," Tami said to Floyd. 

"How convenient." I've got her exactly where I want her, Floyd thought to himself. 

"It sure is." All going according to plan, Tami mused internally. 

Floyd and Tami gathered their things and continued to walk through the desert. Each eager to share their new "investment opportunities" with the other. 

The prank, was on.