A Bad Case of Tinnitus

Arnold Masterson had always been a bit of a hypochondriac, so when he woke up one morning with a strange and unexplainable ringing in his right ear, the first thought that entered his mind was that he must have a brain tumor.

Why not? Everything else in his life had gone south. His wife paid little to no attention to him anymore (in fact, he had a sneaking suspicion she was having an affair), he had no real friends, and he absolutely hated his job. Tack on a more than slightly bulging gut and several randomly placed bald spots on his head that made him feel like a mangy dog, and the sound of a brain tumor didn't really seem all that bad.

But, upon further investigation, Arnold quickly discovers that brain tumors aren't the only thing that can cause this strange ringing in his ear...and in his case, the cause may just lead to a very unlikely friendship that turns out to be the solution to all of his other problems.