Taking Off

Chapter 20

What was before them was a baffling sight, indeed. There were six glass boxes, attached to metre high poles. The box was seemingly empty. At least three metres away from the glass boxes, there were six sets of two lockers beside one another, both locked. Behind the set of lockers stood flagpoles five metres high. The group began to murmur and look around at each other. Nobody seemed to know what it was about, but the excitement level had definitely amplified. Elijah studied everything very closely for any sign of spiders but couldn't find anything. He wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but he knew there was another aspect to this 'game' that they just hadn't been told yet.

"Now that you've devoured this spectacle with your eyes, let me explain," Steve said from the side. All eyes turned to him and followed him as he walked to one of the glass boxes. "We're going to play a little game and here are the rules," he began. "In each glass box, there are two small keys. On both sides of the box there are two circular openings. You're all going to pair up. Both of you will have to, one at a time, put your hands in the circular openings and try to retrieve the keys. Each of you must retrieve one. One person cannot get both the keys. Sounds simple enough, yes?" he asked.

The group mumbled and nodded, clearly understanding and following his explanations, not really seeing the difficulty yet.

"Good. So, once both of the keys have been retrieved, you will go to these lockers," he said, walking to the set of lockers behind the box. "You will proceed to unlock the lockers and open them. Inside each locker there is small box – this one is not glass but it does contain the next thing you need to continue. It contains a piece of paper. You put your hand through the opening in the top to retrieve the paper – it's laminated so you'll know it when you feel it. This will have a riddle. You will have to solve both riddles. Each riddle has a one-word answer. The two words together are the next clue," he continued. "Still following?" There were more nods and mumbles.

He then walked back to the glass box. "After you've got the two words from the riddles, you move on to the flagpole up the back. Set up there is a computer. You type the two words into the system and this will raise your flag. If the two words are not correct, you can go back to stage two and re-read the riddles, if need be. But if the words are correct, your flag with rise. The team to get their flag all the way up first is the winner!" Steve exclaimed, excitedly. There was louder mumbling from the group. "Yes, there is a prize," he continued, knowing that was on everyone's mind. "And it's absolutely grand. You wouldn't want to miss it, believe me," he winked. The chatter grew louder and louder. Tia looked excitedly at Aladdin, who shared her happiness. Suddenly, a hand flew into the air.

"Excuse me, uh, Steve?" a girl asked quietly. He nodded at her. "I thought you said this was an activity about spiders. I didn't notice any spiders throughout this game," she said. Elijah sighed, annoyed. He really wished nobody had brought it up.

"Oh!" Steve exclaimed. "I can't believe I forgot the most important thing!" he said. He tapped the top of the glass box. "Well, the spiders – they're in this glass box," he said. Almost everyone's eyes bulged.

"W-what do you mean?" Elijah asked, finding his voice. Tia looked up at him. She could see the panic in his eyes.

"When you put your hands in these circles," Steve said, playing with the flaps covering the openings in the boxes. "The spiders come out of this pole the box is attached to. You didn't all think it'd be that easy to retrieve the keys did you?" he asked, laughing. "Oh also! The boxes in the lockers...they have spiders in them too. But you can't see those ones," he informed. Elijah swallowed. He didn't like the sound of putting his bare hands in a pit of spiders. He prayed they weren't big ones. "And yes, there are some big ones in there," Steve said, as if reading Elijah's mind, who suddenly felt nauseated.