How did another boring December turn into the best month of her life? The game was on; she had the next ribbon in her sight. The pink ribbon was high, but the points it would give her might make her victorious. Climbing from branch to branch she kept her eyes on her prize.
"Two minutes!" Nat's voice shouted from below.
Her hands worked fast to untie the ribbon as she balanced on a thick branch close to the trunk. Freeing it she held onto it with her teeth so her hands could focus on climbing; she was always slower on the way down.
"One minute!"
It was no use, if she kept climbing like this she wouldn't reach the ground on time. She would have to find a safe branch and jump. She picked a thinner one and climbed to it before taking hold of it and letting her feet fall. She didn't want to fall straight down so she swinged slightly to gain momentum and let go. She landed and tried her best not to stumble before quickly putting her ribbon into her cardboard box. Even though they only had a few more seconds Henry jumped into his tree again.
"Time!" Said Nat, looking up from his old pocket watch.
As Henry jumped down Nat started counting his ribbons. This might be close, Henry had more pink ribbons that gave you the most points, but Ramona spent most of her time getting the one closer to the ground giving her more ribbons. She hoped that her only pink ribbon would boost her just enough to win.
"Twenty-five points."
That would be hard to beat. Henry was the best climber out of all of them so of course he only went for the highest ribbons. Nat had moved to Ramona's box and started taking them out one by one counting as they both watched.
"Twenty-three, so close."
"Nailed it!" Said Henry, pumping his hand in the air. "Take that little miss!"
Ramona didn't care about losing, but Henry's habit of being a sore winner was starting to get annoying.
"Let's break for lunch." Nat said, cheerfully.
They made their way down the forest path and through the field. It had become routine to eat at the homeless shelter for lunch. At first Ramona felt guilty for eating food meant for those who were more in need for her, but Avery would always insist.
It had been a long three almost four weeks, but in a good way. She was right about Aiko wanting to make this a usual thing; they both had stuck to it everyday the boys trained. Aiko wasn't here today; she was invited to hang out at a friend's house again. A few days ago she was asked to hang out for the first time and was so excited that she hopped and skipped away from Ramona when she told her. Without Aiko Avery and Henry decided it was the perfect time to get some serious training done. Going early before Nat got there, they used pillows for armor and sticks as weapons and with Ramona acting as referee they engaged in battle. It was only when Ramona had to explain to Nat why Avery was limping did they admit that type of training was unnecessary. With the Trials only five days away Avery started to worry about missing the first game, but his mother who looked at his injured foot said he should be fine by then as he only pulled it a little. Nat insisted that Avery stay out of training until the first game. He didn't want to risk anything.
It was new year's eve, but they still had homemade paper Christmas decorations hanging from the walls of the homeless shelter. They had two kinds: green and red twisted streamers and pieces of paper hanging from the ceiling cut and drawn to look like swirly candy. Avery was waiting for them in the cafeteria filled with the candy decorations; he had alright started on his food. They were having sandwiches today. Ramona put lettuce, ham, and cheese on her's before joining the others. She loved it when they got to customize their food. She was very hungry and stayed out of whatever conversation the brothers were having. It was only when Avery turned to her did she look up from her food.
"Have you thought about the Trials?"
This is the first time he's asked in a while. Ramona had gotten so used to her new routine that she forgot that it was so the brothers could play in those games. She felt a bit sad knowing things will change soon and she didn't know if they could keep doing this as often.
"I don't know yet." She replied.
"Well, you better make up your mind soon the first game is in five days." Said Nat. "On the first Friday of January like clockwork."
"It feels like it just ended." Henry said, his mouth full.
Ramona was thankful that the conversation changed as quickly as it had started. These Trials have been weighing on her mind for a long time now.
You can do something, but you won't because you keep babying Aiko! Those words have been floating across her mind recently.
Ramona didn't know when the library closed. She had been here for hours now, clicking around on one of the computers. If only she could get into the school library; she knew that place better than this one, but school had closed for winter break two weeks ago and won't start again until a week after the Trials started again for the new year and if she was really going to do this then she could wait and week after. If she was really going to join the Trials of Panic she wasn't going to go unprepared. She had been looking up famous and successful players of the past; looking for a pattern or common strategy she could use to get her foot in the door. But like Avery said the Trials were so unpredictable there was no one-fits-all strategy, but there did seem to be something a lot of these people had in common. They were popular with the crowd; they knew how to talk in front of the camera, how to act, how to keep all eyes on them. Some gained favor by being kind to opponents, some being extra aggressive. A lot of them gained favor by having a rival; people liked to see a story unfold. A decent few shared their struggles at home like extreme poverty, sick family members, and even abusive home situations like her's.
Maybe she can use her own situation for pity points. Dad might not like that though. Maybe she could twist the story to something he wouldn't care about. It just occurred to her that if she played her dad would be watching her. He, like Aiko, watched the Trials everyday they were on. It was the only thing they did together. Every once in a while they would both talk about popular bets, the top players, what the next game could be, and what they would do in certain games to win. When that happened it felt like they were really a family. Not a group of people who shared blood, but couldn't have anything to do with each other.
She snapped out of her sudden trip down memory lane when she found something about the history of the Trials of Panic. She clicked on it and read the first few sentences. She forgot that this year would be the sixtieth year of the Trials. She started back at the top and started to read.
The year was 1960 where world war three began. It took seven years for the war to end in 1967. It was the most brutal war the world had ever seen and many men, women, and even children lost their lives. The world was very different now. Most people found themselves poor, unable to buy food and necessities for themselves and their families. But a large group of wealthy men put their money together and after two years the first Trials of Panic started in the very first arena ever built. Together they helped many people bring money home for their families and filled people with happiness and joy. It was a thing for people to bond over and soon after other countries and continents made their own arenas in order to play these life changing games. It didn't take long for the Trials to become the most important thing to humanity.
The way it works is very simple. Every week people could sign up for the day's games. There are two separate factors; one for adults and one for kids. Both groups would arrive at the same time and the kids would stay in a large player waiting room as the adults play the day's game. The kids are made sure not to see it so it will remain a mystery and to make sure they don't just copy what the winner did.
When a game is finished the players that made it on top would receive golden cards. They could then trade in these cards for money or they could trade them in for items and other things to help them in future games. Players could also receive gifts of money from fans watching from the stands or from home.
At first the games are fun and simple, but start to get challenging as they go on. It is only when they reach the halfway point that takes place in the month of May that the games start to get dangerous. The longer you play the higher the prize gets, but the more risk you are putting on yourself. The first and second halves are five months long, but the last two months of the year are the most important. November is the month when all of the best players from around their country play in the finals. The winner will receive a huge prize and will be a player in the world Trials.
The World Trials take place every four years. When it is time for the World Trials instead of the usual finals, November is the time for this important event. The finalists winners from the past four years come from all over the world to compete for the biggest prize ever in the original arena located in Africa.
"Excuse me, miss."
Ramona looked up to see a middle aged woman.
"I'm sorry, but you need to go now; we are closing for the night."
The walk home was long and night had completely fallen by the time Ramona laid on her bed. She went over all the information in her head. All she had to do was gain favor from the crowd. That was the true way to get money. But in order to do that she needed something to make her stand out. She decided that having a rival would be the way to go, but to get a rival she would need to be a threat to someone. There were so many pieces she had to fit together just thinking of them all made her head hurt. Maybe she and Avery could play rivals, but they had to be people the crowd knew. Nat then maybe. He wasn't famous, but the crowd was familiar with him. So much was running through her head. She needed time to think this though, but she waited so long there wasn't much time left. Just three more days.
Perhaps she was thinking too hard too soon. She didn't even know what it was like to be a player. She should probably work on the details when she knew more about being on the other side of that tv screen. Though it wasn't easy to just stop thinking about the thing that has been occupying her mind all week. And it was only when she found herself waiting at the bus stop surrounded by kids and adults alike did she really realize what she was doing.