The Insecures
The length of the stretch limousine seemed to never end as Terry Barnett hurtled down a backcountry road. At least, that’s where he thought he was. Seven other people were in the vehicle with him, sipping complementary drinks and making small talk. But, any sort of conversation came back to the most prominent question in their minds. Where exactly are we going?
Terry had it on good conscience that his fellow travelers were under the impression that they may be heading for a television studio to film another mediocre reality show. He strongly doubted that.
If they were going to a television studio, why had their psychiatrist, the mutual acquaintance of everyone on the mystery endeavor, called them at the ungodly hour of 2 a.m.? To demand that they pack for the outdoors. Apparently, the next few sessions would be heading in a different direction. Dr. Van Dou had then instructed him to report to the parking lot beside his suite. After being escorted to the local airport in Trinidad, Terry had stumbled upon a group of people carrying packs brimming with gear and wearing confused faces just as he had.
And so, with no reservations, he had exchanged names with these similar people and had quickly come to realize that they had one other thing in common. Dr. Malcolm Van Dou. The slightly absurd man who was prone to quoting Freud at least three times each session had summoned them to the airport. Although, they had no destination, no tickets, overall no clue, it was plain to see that they were about to do some traveling.
Now, here they were, speeding down some mystery road to some mystery somewhere. At one point, they would have been on country roads since that was all that surrounded the secluded airport. Beyond that, he didn’t have any idea.
His thought process was broken as a blonde woman next to him broke into relentless laughter. That would be… Dina Sanders, he recalled. Seated next to her, most likely the cause of the laughter, was Damon Cohen. Both in their late twenties, Terry knew that they would cause trouble down the line. Wherever that was.
Before he could slip into the numbness of contemplation again, the car phone at the front rang. As the chauffeur brought down the window that separated him from his passengers, the group was blinded by the light of dawn coming through the windshield.
“A call for you”, the old man said to no one in particular. He pressed the speakerphone button and a familiar voice filled the cabin. “Hello, my friends. I hope that your journey has been pleasant so far. I suppose you’re wondering what exact-“, Dr. Van Dou broke off as eight restless voices berated him.
“I’d just gotten back from my late poker night!” Gregory Penn said frowning.
“ I have an important assignment today!” Caleb Manchester chimed.
“ My dog is sick!” Jane Rostram said huffily.
“ My massage therapist is at my house … Right about now!” Lindsay Hoffman shouted.
Damon Cohen and Dina Sanders added rather snide remarks about missing hair appointments. Nicole Porter had nothing to say.
Terry said softly, almost to himself, “I was supposed to take my daughter to preschool today”.
As you would expect after a man shares a regretful action, the passengers sat in a heavy silence. Until, Terry cleared his throat and insisted that the doctor go on.
The doctor cleared his throat and began to speak again in a slow explanatory tone, “Anyway, I have brought you all together to challenge you. Lately, you have all challenged my abilities. But, there is a constant theme among you. You are all insecure. This challenge, which is really a pair of unique challenges, will hopefully strengthen your self-esteem and steer you in the right direction toward total self-assurance. At the moment, you are traveling toward the start of the Wahatoya Trail. It’s not far from where you live in Colorado. Today and tomorrow, you will have an objective that you must reach or you will all be sent home for your safety. At each designated checkpoint, you will individually have to complete a certain task. If for some reason you fail to finish a task, you must hike back to the starting point and await further instruction. If you finish every task, I will formally recommend that you are taken off your sabbatical, or I will tell your father that you no longer need my help, tell your wife that you are suitable to take to that reunion she wants to go to et cetera et cetera. My driver will give you a map and rations before you start. Good luck and work hard to better yourselves!”
And with that hardly inspiring sentence, the dial tone began to sound from the receiver. Someone huffed indignantly. That was expected. Then everyone else, as if they shared a mind, swiveled in their seats to look at each other. Everyone bore a kind of “Okay?” look. Unfortunately, the car then came to a jolting halt. As the eight befuddled passengers untangled themselves, the cabin of the limousine was filled with light again.
Suddenly, it felt like some sort of dream that they would later wake up from, dazed and confused. Seeing as it wasn’t, Terry and the others scrambled out of the car to have a look around.
What they saw was simply breathtaking. All around them was a never-ending coniferous forest. Rolling hills graced the beautiful landscape. Judging by a faint rushing sound, a creek or river was not far away. And to add to the magnificence of the moment, a spring breeze stirred the trees.
Their chauffeur was ready to get their little adventure started. He began to speak in a practiced business-like tone, “ Now then, each of you will receive enough rations so that you may eat properly for the next two days, three meals a day. This map, however, must be shared between all of you. Keep it safe or you will not be able to reach your check points resulting in the failure of the entire group. Who would like to carry it?”
Terry thought hard for a moment. I’m not sure I want to take the leadership role here. I might loose the map going to the bathroom or something.
He had no idea that all of the people around him were thinking along those very same lines. The bare shreds of his confidence slowly welled up and he felt his feet start to move forward. That map would have been in his possession had it not been for Damon Cohen.
With great but somehow forced enthusiasm, Damon had walked to the chauffeur and held out his hand.
“I’ll take it,” he said, trying to convey a confident tone. Confidence had alluded him in recent times. Why? He had no idea. Damon Cohen had every reason to be a cocky, pompous, over-bearing rich man. He had been born to be just that. But, he just wasn’t. This map would hopefully be the first step in the direction of the self-confidence.
Map in hand, he took his place in the group again, by Dina Sanders. Still, he couldn’t help but notice that they all seemed very surprised. Even Nicole Porter, who hadn’t spoken a word since the airport, seemed to be rather startled. They seemed quite ready to go though.
“Uh, should we get moving?” Damon blurted out. There was a general murmur of agreement. The man with the map turned all the way around and began to walk in a wide circle. For a minute or two, it looked like he knew what he was doing. But, the clearing grew smaller the more they walked. Eventually, there was no clearing. Just an open area shaded by a few trees. Jane Rostram had had it. She thought it was about time to get this thing going. A flustered Jane hurriedly brushed past the other hikers and came to stand directly behind Damon who was now giving the map what appeared to be a conspiratory look. Jane now had her tiny nose right up to the map.
Damon felt the need to speak up,” It says that we should start here”.
Dina stared in front of her as if she had x-ray vision. “ That can’t be right. I don’t see a trail.”
The remainder of the hikers marched forward to get a good look at this contradictory piece of paper. Yes, Terry concluded to himself, there should be a break in the tree line right in front of us.
Gregory Penn wasted no time in acting out his thoughts or more correctly his frustrations. The woman standing next to him, Lindsay Hoffman, carried an intricately carved but functional walking stick. Much to the chagrin of everyone else, Gregory seized her walking stick and rushed to the dense underbrush directly in front of them. Only to begin beating it with the stick! A few gasps could be heard from the more nature sensitive of the group. Caleb Manchester, the least hands-on except for Nicole, jogged to Gregory and joined him with a stick he found on the ground. Perplexed was what you would call the state of the group.
Surprisingly, after a few more minutes of outrageous beating, it was obvious that there had been some point to the madness. A wide earthen path that could probably fit four or five people across had become visible through the now sparse underbrush.
Gregory heaved a great sigh, motioning toward the path,” Let’s get moving!” They followed him into the woods and soon were traveling at a good speed. The men walked in front and the women in the back.
Terry decided to start up a conversation.” So what do you all do for a living?”
“Normally, I work for a contracting company, but I’m on sabbatical,” Gregory said. A few nods of acknowledgement, probably as to why he was on sabbatical, came from the others.
“ Manager at a moving organization”, Caleb said dully with an apparent lack of enthusiasm.
More than one head swiveled in his direction. The other men threw questions at him like “ A moving organization?” “Do you do any moving?” and “How do you get in that line of work?”
Caleb replied,” We distribute pamphlets about making your moving experience more enjoyable. You can also call us if they need to be referred to a good moving company. We don’t do any actual moving. Pay’s okay though.”
“ Better than my job. I’m a proofreader for a publishing company. It’s like being in English five days a week, nine hours a day.”
“ Mine beats all. I’m a CEO”, Damon added very enthusiastically.
“ That sounds stressful Damon. As for me, I’m fairly sure I work for an evil organization. An underground one at least. It’s a clothing manufacturing chain and I have to look through more than a handful of letters from Taiwan every month”, Terry said ruefully.
“ You think they have sweatshops over there?’
“Probably do. You see, Martha Stewart used to own the company!”
The four of them burst into a minute or two of laughter before a voice spoke up for the women. “Could we take a little break please?” Dina queried.
Terry and the other men were rather put out that they had to stint their excellent pace. Still, everyone took advantage of the short break, getting a drink of water, opening a bag of snacks or jogging into the woods to relieve themselves. After about ten minutes of relaxation, Damon got the group’s attention.
“ We have about a mile and a half to go before we reach the first checkpoint. I’d like to get there before noon and only take one break on the way there. The trail shouldn’t get rugged anytime soon so I think we can do this. Seem fair?” He waited a moment for a general murmur of agreement and when it came, started walking down the trail again.
Lindsay, who apparently liked rather extravagant things, spotted a large rock on Dina’s manicured hand. She seized it with her pudgy one and went gaga over the beautiful diamond.
“ Oh my gosh, that’s a big diamond! Sixteen karats at least and shiny as all get out! When’s the wedding?”
Dina blushed deeply and then spoke trying to contain her smile. “ Sometime in the summer. We haven’t decided yet because he’s a little busy with work right now. But, he wants it to be wonderful too so he can wait.”
“He sounds like a nice catch. Are you going to stay home or be more of a career wife?” Jane asked.
“Well… I’d like to have a few children and settle down but I want to get somewhere with my career first you know. Although, I suppose I could write articles from home and send them to newspapers and magazines.”
Nicole emitted a sound of interest,” Do you write poetry or is it just news pieces that you write?”
“Poetry, yeah, every now and then. When I feel reflective. Most of the time I like to write articles about things that are affecting us now. Like world hunger or military involvement. But, I won’t bring that up here since some of these guys seem to be sort of jumpy. Did your walking stick make it Lindsay?”
“I haven’t really checked it over”, she said, looking at it from several different angles,” it cost a fortune. That Penn man better not have left any marks on it.”
“Oh, it looks fine to me. Nothing that some elbow grease wouldn’t fix up”, Jane said.
“It’s so beautiful around here this time of year. I’m glad I have it just in case I want to go hiking on a whim.”
And with that, the women couldn’t take their eyes off the lush environment around them. Birds were plentiful in the trees and they playfully dove in and out of the branches like children in a jungle gym. Scattered about the trail were signs of larger animals, a broken branch here, a hollow log there.
The hikers moved forward in silence. Every once in a while someone would ask if they were there yet and Damon would say just a little further. Eventually it became a bit of a game to see who could be the most irritating saying it.
“Damon, are we there yet?” Caleb jested.
“No, we’re not. Now, don’t make me come back there! I’ll turn this hike right around!”
The group’s raucous laughter would have gone on for a while had they not walked into a large clearing. Scattered about the clearing were trees, logs and signs of campfires long dead. Clearly, this patch of sunlight had once been used extensively and was the checkpoint that they were meant to rest at. Damon began to move forward, steering them all to the nearest group of logs. Each person sat their individual packs down and then started to look around.
Terry spoke up, “ I know all of you probably want to look around but we should all eat something first.” Everyone grudgingly took a seat to open his or her rations. A majority of the hikers selected a ham sandwich while a few munched on a banana.
Gregory stood up to address his companions, “ May I have a look at the map, Damon? …Thank you. Now, we should look for this creek on the map. Who knows if we’ll need water later. It’s somewhere west of here. Relatively close. Some of us should also look for evidence of other people. We don’t know if anyone’s here yet. But don’t wander too far. If I’m thinking straight, the first task should be today. We may have to look for it.” Damon spoke up saying that he had a compass and would take a group to the creek for water.
Then, they began to explore the camp. Four of them headed into the woods lead by Damon, to look for the creek. The others made a slow circle around the perimeter of the clearing, looking for signs of other humans.
Caleb, Gregory, Lindsay and Jane were in the group skirting the clearing. At first, they found nothing. A few minutes later, Gregory, with his attentive eyes, found an overgrown footpath. Grass in certain areas seemed to be trampled by a large animal. Curiosity claimed Caleb.
“We should follow it! A big animal could have made that! What if it tries to eat us? We should find it before it finds us! Anyone coming with?”
“ A person could have made that just as easily as a bear or something. There’s no reason to jump to conclusions”, Jane said.
“ I’ll watch you jump to conclusions when there’s a monster trying to eat you!”
“ Stop, stop. First of all, a big animal probably wouldn’t come anywhere near us. It’s just as scared as we are. And, as much as some of us are tempted, we can’t stray away from camp. So no hunting! You shouldn’t have any weapons with you anyway. Come on, we need to get back”, Gregory said then started walking again.
Caleb huffed obnoxiously several times in the next few minutes. Jane and Gregory seemed to be having an easy time ignoring him. Such was not the case as Lindsay thrust her walking stick in between his legs, successfully tripping him.
He fell rather dramatically and got a good faceful of the forest floor. The rest tried to contain their laughter as he pulled himself up. Caleb was apparently a drama queen, brushing himself off angrily and even going so far as to flip his non-existent hair. He kept quiet nonetheless.
Meanwhile, the others had successfully located the creek. Its water was very clear and shimmered in the noon sunlight. Dina had even found a length of rope that looked to be in good working condition along the banks. This was strange but easily dismissed since the creek was near a trail after all. Damon said that they should be heading back and they plunged back into the woods. Camp was only a few minutes away when they heard a very distinct, man-made sound. It was the sound of a hammer to a nail. Anxious as to who was hammering and for what reason, they rushed to the camp.
The sight before them was at first shocking. On the two largest trees right in middle of the campsite, two men were busily hammering stakes about fifty feet up. Minutes passed and the other group came to stand behind them. They too looked more than a little stunned. Ropes were thrown into the most stable branches of the right tree. A pulley system seemed to be surfacing. The two hammer wielding men were now lifting a set of thick cables between them. Some of the people on the ground had twisted looks of terrible realization on their faces. Those were the ones who were scared of heights. The men came down from the trees wearing very smug looks. They knew what the hikers were in for.
A woman surfaced from the forest wearing a similar look. She beckoned the hikers toward her with a crooked finger. Wearily, they came to stand in front of her.
“ As some of you may have figured out, the first task will challenge your fears. One at a time, you will be harnessed, be asked to climb up the right tree, and travel to the other tree by any means possible. It’s up to you to figure out the best way to get across. If you lose physical contact with the rope or give up, you fail and must hike back to the starting point. You will be assisted in getting on and off the cable.”
She paused for a moment to allow questions. No one said anything but shifted nervously from foot to foot.
“ I have randomly selected who will go first. Lindsay, please come to the right tree.”
Lindsay huffed like an indignant child, cast a weary glance around her, and then went to be harnessed. Those left on the ground wondered what sort of strategy she would use to get across. She didn’t seem to be particularly fit or intelligent.
As one, they drew an anxious breath when she scaled the right tree. Awkwardly, she sat on the end of the rope and then lowered herself into a crawling position. A hiker on the ground scoffed at her unwieldy technique. Lindsay placed her hands in front of her and jerked, trying to pull herself forward. She moved about four inches then tried it again. Her fatal mistake was opening her eyes to look at her progress. They widened by at least twice as much as normal. She attempted to stifle a squeal but failed miserably, losing her grip on the rope. Her descent was neither graceful nor dignified since she screamed the entire way down. The assistants helped her out of the harness. Most of her teammates spared little thought to her pending departure; their minds were focused on finding a better technique.
The woman who had first spoken announced the next challenger. Nicole was harnessed quickly and looked as if she would take a very bold approach. Indeed, she did by wrapping one leg around the cable, and pulling herself forward. That approach was so brazen that it seemed out of character for the meek girl. Nicole dusted herself off then came to the group to wait for the next challenger to be named.
Caleb was the unlucky participant. He appeared to be in a cocky mood while being harnessed. But, it all seemed to fade as he went higher and higher up the tree. He was built lightly with long arms and long legs. And with a structure like that, he looked very much like a monkey swinging in the jungle, using his hands and momentum to move forward. It might have worked out for him had he not stopped about three- fourths of the way over. With his arms above his head, it was hard for him to catch a decent breath. He hung for about a minute trying to catch it again, unfortunately not getting much. Too much of the momentum was lost when he swung forward again. His right hand had a good grip but he overshot his left by a few inches. Those mere inches cost him the challenge, as he couldn’t pull his left up again.
Caleb followed Lindsay sullenly to the starting point. The others were now almost baffled. This seemingly simple dare had already taken two of their fellows. There was hope though since those two had certainly not been the most capable of the group.
Jane was up next. The others thought that she had a good shot. She attempted something similar to Nicole’s glide but didn’t quite pull it off. About half way through, she attempted to switch legs. The sudden need to support her entire body weight on two puny arms caused her to lose her grip. The group below made a noise of sympathy as she fell. They really had expected her to finish.
Jane left, her head hung sullenly. Now very baffled, the assembly of those who hadn’t tried yet racked their brains for a physically sensible technique. Gregory didn’t have a clue though.
He was the next up. At first, he tried for Nicole’s. Things appeared to be going smoothly until his leg slipped from the cable. By sheer strength, he was able to pull his leg back onto the cable. In defiance, he put his other leg over it. Then to his surprise, the rest of the going was easy. His accumulative body weight was shared evenly by his arms and legs.
He strode over to the group beaming. Gregory watched with pride as each of them duplicated his method. When everyone else had successfully crossed, the woman once again beckoned them.
“ Congratulations. All of you will go on to the next task. It will be the last one and so a little more challenging than this one. Your next goal is to reach checkpoint 2 and camp there tonight. Understood?”
Everyone nodded and then returned to the group of logs to retrieve their bags. Terry took up his position as nutritionist once again.
“Everybody eat a meal. A sandwich and some chips at least. I think it would be best if we didn’t stop on the way to the next checkpoint. If we get there early enough, we may be able to have some fun when we get there. Okay with everybody?”
The group nodded enthusiastically and then turned to their meals. Some ate quicker than others and began to chat about the task. The remainder chewed and listened.
“ I wasn’t surprised that Caleb and Lindsay didn’t make it. Jane really tried though so I thought she was gonna make it”, Damon commented.
“ Yeah, she had the right idea just not the muscle to do it”, Dina added.
“I think the next one’ll be much harder than that. I don’t have a clue what it could be though.”
“ I bet it’ll have something to do with testing our confidence or something like that. You know how he’s always talking about that”, Gregory said.
“Are we ready to get going?” Terry shouted.
Everyone slowly got up. Damon took out the map, located the new trail and began to lead them to it. This section was a little wider but a little less welcoming and beautiful. They were going higher into the hills.
Conversations ceased again as they took in these new surroundings. Eventually, the silence got boring. Damon felt the need to strike up an odd conversation.
“Who here’s gotten chicken pox? I got it when I was ten all over my face and my hands. My mom tied my hands together so I couldn’t itch.”
The other four took the chance to laugh at his misfortune. Maybe his choice of conversation topics hadn’t been so weird. He could have come up with worse.
“ Mine were really bad on my legs. Not that they weren’t worse in other unmentionable places…” Gregory said.
Nicole actually added to the conversation. “I’ve never had them. My parents never had them either.”
All of them looked a little surprised at her response but more at the fact that she had voluntarily added to their conversation. Terry decided to share one of his funnier memories.
“I didn’t have them as a child either. My daughter got them last year and she gave them to me. I got to stay home with her while I was sick. We had so much fun.”
Soft laughter filled the air for a shining moment. Everyone took a few minutes to reminisce over fond memories of their families. A part of each of them felt somewhat guilty, just leaving them in the middle of the night.
Conversation dulled for the rest of the hike. A cool breeze disturbed the trees. Tonight, they would need a strong fire.
Checkpoint 2 looked similar to the first, just a lot smaller. Three logs were set about a fire pit in a triangular shape. Multiple tree stumps sat at the edges of the logs.
“Did anyone bring any marsh-mellows?” Gregory queried. He was in the mood for something sticky and sweet. Someone had to have a bag. They’d been told to pack for the outdoors after all.
Dina pulled two bags of the large variety of marsh-mellows from her bag. Everyone else automatically looked around for suitable roasting sticks.
Sure enough a few minutes later, they were all ready to have a nice gooey time. Unfortunately, they had no fire at the moment. Now, they had to look for logs to start a fire.
“Who knows how to start a fire?” Damon asked. Terry raised a hand and grabbed a handful of small sticks. He started by arranging them in a pyramid. Then, he retrieved a little red lighter from his backpack. The small bundle of sticks quickly turned into a fireball.
Damon had thought that they were going to have to start one the old fashioned way but Terry’s way worked too. Dina and Nicole piled logs onto the blaze.
The roasting of the marsh-mellows began. Within a few gooey minutes, the group was laughing and joking together. As the last of the marsh-mellows was toasted and eaten, silence reigned again. Damon casually suggested a game of cards. Poker to be specific.
Surprisingly, everyone, even Nicole, took him up on the offer. They formed a circle by the fire. Damon dealt out five-card draw. He thought that he was a relatively good player.
“Wait a minute! No betting?” Damon was exasperated. He could not fathom playing poker without money involved.
“ We were ordered to leave our houses at 2 a.m. Do you think we thought to bring huge amounts of cash in case we played cards? Not likely”, Terry commented.
Damon shook his head but went on playing anyway. The first hand was very unsuccessful for everyone. Dina won with a pair of tens.
Slightly frustrated, Damon dealt again. This time he came up with a pair of aces and kings. Gregory asked for two, Dina for three and Nicole for one. After all of their cards had been traded, he waited a moment to see if someone would fold. Dina threw down her cards haplessly and declared that she folded.
Damon glanced around the circle, studying the others’ faces. One of them had to be bluffing. It just wasn’t possible that they all had a good hand. He caught Terry eyeing him and shot a confident look in his direction. He could bluff too.
Terry soon folded. Gregory followed soon after, seemingly withered by a very direct look from Damon. Now it was just Nicole and him. He couldn’t say that he had expected this.
“What do you have, Damon?” She drawled almost cockily, startling Damon. He figured that it didn’t matter when he lay down since they weren’t playing for money so he showed her his hand. She acknowledged that it was good with a slight nod. Then she laid down her own hand. It was a full house, queens and jacks. Damon allowed his mouth to drop open slightly. Who was this quiet girl and where had she learned to play cards like that?
“My family used to have a poker night every Friday. I always sat in whether I had money or not.” She answered his unspoken question. Nicole had a small smile on her face and a glint in her eye.
If they had been playing for money, she would have ended the night at least a hundred dollars richer. She had beaten each of them individually and fairly. Everyone else was still somewhat thrown off as they settled into their sleeping bags and went to sleep.
The next morning, having been slightly preoccupied with their thoughts of the challenge, they didn’t feel very rested. Gregory was the first to stir and his movement woke the others. Sluggishly, they straightened their clothes, the same ones they had worn the day before, and ate a small meal.
Just as they grew bored at about ten a.m., the roar of an engine came to their ears. Each of them stood up as a red sports car came to a quick stop at the end of the trail. The woman from yesterday and a very official looking man were in the car. She came to stand in front of them while the man retrieved something from the trunk. Decked in a gray suit, he looked very unprofessional as he dragged what looked to be a lie detector toward a nearby stump. Gregory breath hitched in his throat. This should be just great, he though sarcastically.
“Hello, I hope you all slept well. You’re probably wondering what that lie detector has to do with you. Yesterday’s challenge tested you physically. Todays will test you mentally. I challenge you to come up with your deepest darkest secrets. It is up to you to decide how many and if you can be truthful about them. You are to write them down and then give them to this man. At least three of your secrets must be deemed true by the machine for you to pass the task and ultimately win. Please take a piece of paper and a pen. You have ten minutes.”
A feeling of unease rolled over the group as each of them collected what they needed. The next ten minutes were very tense. Damon sat with his hands in his hair, his pen between his teeth. Gregory looked as if he were having a stare down with the paper, challenging it to come up with a communicable secret. Nicole was writing calmly. Terry was struggling to bring his pen to the paper. Dina, to offended looks from the others, was having some trouble containing her laughter.
“Time’s up”, the woman chimed. Reluctantly, the hikers placed their papers in her outstretched hand. Damon began to chew on the end of his pen.
“Terry Barnett, please sit on that stump”, the professional looking man said, pointing to the closest stump. He then placed two probes on both of Terry’s temples. Terry appeared to be calm.
“Let’s see if its working properly first”, the man said,” Are you Terry Barnett?”
“Yes”, Terry responded immediately.
“ We’re going to begin now. Answer either with yes or no. I will write down the results as we go along and then give them to you when you’re done. I must ask that everyone be extremely quiet as he reveals each secret. First secret. Is it true that you think you are more qualified for your boss’ job than your own?
“Yes.”
The others were staring intently at the needles scribbling on the paper. None of them knew exactly how it worked but they could try to figure it out. As Terry answered each question, the man wrote something down.
“ Is it true that you scored a 400 on your SATs?”
“Yes.”
“Is it true that you were born with an extra toe?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, you’re done. Please sit still a moment while I remove the probes.” Terry sat very still as the man pulled the probes from his skin. He seemed more than a little nervous about his results. The man picked up the clipboard on which he had been writing.
“ Terry, you’re answer to the first one was wrong. As was the second. The third secret was true. Unfortunately, since only one of your secrets passed, you have failed this challenge.”
Dina gasped out loud. She hadn’t expected him to lie. Terry gathered his things and took one last look at the group. He began his long trek back to the starting point.
A second later, Dina’s thoughts turned to her own secrets as she was called to sit on the stump. After placing the probes on her temples, the man repeated his paragraph of instructions again.
“Is it true that your mother was your grandma?” This professional couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at this one. Dina couldn’t help but laugh.
“No”, she said outright.
“Is it true that you are 1/16 Eskimo?”
“Yes.”
“Is it true that you have a tattoo of a hop-scotch board?”
“Yes.”
“Is it true that you accidentally ran over your fiancée’s dog and then buried it in his vegetable patch?”
“Yes”.
Dina exhaled slowly, knowing that her turn was done. After taking off the probes, he rattled off her results. All except the grandma one had been true. I hope they won’t think I’m odd now, she remarked to herself.
She took a seat comfortably on the ground. Nicole was called up next. She appeared calm throughout the entire proceedings.
“ Is it true that you don’t like your name?” He looked amused by her list.
“Yes.” Nicole said in a giddy voice.
“Is it true that you cheated on your diet last month?”
“Yes.”
“Is it true that you have lied about your age multiple times?”
“Yes.”
The man, who in Nicole’s mind was dubbed “Polly” because he had brought a polygraph, announced that she had passed all of her secrets having been true. Nicole took a seat next to Dina, still smiling.
Gregory took the stump next. He appeared determined and collected. He nodded through the paragraph and steeled himself with a deep breath.
“Is it true that you had an affair with your secretary?” The graying brows on “Polly’s” face drew together as he read that juicy secret.
“No.” Gregory had written it down in hopes that he could work up to such a lie but it was too shameful to claim as his own.
“Is it true that you used steroids once in high school?”
“Yes.”
“Is it true that you were fired from your last job because you had been accused of embezzlement?”
“Yes.”
He skipped removing the probes. Gregory began to carefully remove them by himself. “Gregory, your first and third secret were false. Unfortunately, the one secret that was correct will not suffice to save you from elimination. You have failed to pass this challenge.”
Gregory nodded in acceptance. He gathered his few belongings and went in the same direction as Terry. Damon took a seat on the stomp. As he was being prepared, he looked to be at peace with his decisions, whatever they were.
“Is it true that you are afraid of the dark?” “Polly” had an expression of sympathy on his face now.
“Yes.”
“Is it true that your sister had an addiction to pain medication?”
“Yes.”
“Is it true that your father was an alcoholic?”
“Yes.”
“You may remove the probes. Damon, you have passed the challenge. All three of your secrets were true.”
As he moved to put away the polygraph, he gave Damon a small touch on the shoulder, one of sympathy. Damon took a deep breath and turned to the two girls.
“That could have been worse”, he said solemnly. He tried to put a smile on his face but he couldn’t muster the happiness.
“I’m glad I got that off of my chest. I haven’t really spoken about it since they died”, he heaved a great sigh,” they were in a car accident last October. My father was drunk.”
Dina opened her mouth to comfort him but Nicole spoke first. “ I was laughing during my turn because I thought my real secrets weren’t funny so I brought up those that were. I’ve been very quiet throughout this whole thing because I didn’t want anyone to recognize who I really was. I’m the assistant of the governor. He didn’t want me to reveal my occupation because he thought the press would verbally assault him. I don’t think you guys will tell anyone though.”
Damon and Dina shook their heads to indicate that they certainly wouldn’t. Dina felt as if she had to say something.
“I don’t have any real secrets. Just that I thought I would go through this and not do as much as I did. Really, most people don’t know those secrets I said. They’re awkward to talk about in public”, she said, a smile gracing her face.
The sound of a roaring engine came to their ears again. A green Sedan skidded into the clearing. It was lucky that “Polly” had already left. Otherwise, there would have been a major accident.
Dr. Van Dou flung open his door and began to straighten his shirt in a dramatic fashion, finishing my tweaking his gray mustache. He was very dramatic for being a psychiatrist. He strode toward them, humming and swinging his arms at his sides.
“ I assume you are the winners. Just about what I expected. Very well, I will immediately call your coordinating spouses, or parents or whatever! Now, grab your things! I’m sure you want to get home to-”
“But Doctor”, Damon interrupted,” what about Gregory and Terry? They almost passed. Shouldn’t they get something for that?”
“Oh Damon, you’re so kind-hearted but don’t be concerned. They will receive a few more weeks’ treatment and then I will consult their employers to recommend that they come back to work. Those two should be perfectly fine in a few sessions’ time.”
Dina, Damon and Nicole gave each looks of satisfaction and joined Dr. Van Dou in his car. Soon, they were speeding toward home.
Meanwhile, Gregory had caught up with Terry. Terry had barely acknowledged him, still stuck in his own thoughts of failure. Each had their own reasons for lying like they had.
Terry’s were very straightforward. He hadn’t yet come to terms with his own dark secrets. The darkest and the most prominent in his mind was that his family was falling slowly into bankruptcy. He didn’t allow his wife to see the finances because he didn’t want her to stress about it so she had no idea. Another was that he had begun to smoke. Since the age of twelve, he had vowed not to smoke. The looming presence of his bankruptcy had stressed him to the point that he was smoking a pack a day. He only lit up when his wife was at work though. She would have his head if she knew. The coming weeks would be a true test of his character. Terry knew that Dr. Van Dou was his only hope of holding together.
Gregory had no financial problems. His problem was a matter of the heart. Last year, he had been head over heels in love with the girl of his dreams. Things had been going well until one day she was just gone. She left him a tear-stained note that exclaimed how her family thought she was wasting her life on him. According to them, he had no stability. He had been stable. Okay, his job wasn’t going as good as it could have been but he was bringing in enough to be happy. Without her, he became unstable.
Gregory raised a hand to pat Terry on the back reassuringly. As they walked into the distance together, they were friends.
In Dr. Van Dou’s car, Dina, Damon and Nicole sat in silence. The doctor suddenly spoke up announcing that it was just about time for Terry and Gregory to be at the starting point. He was planning on calling them and explaining his new plan of action.
Damon smiled faintly, happy that he was where he was. He didn’t need to be in Terry or Gregory’s shoes any longer. The past already felt miles behind him.
He looked around at Nicole. He hadn’t at all expected that she was employed at such a high level. She seemed to be so reserved. The overpowering personality of her boss must have forced her to hide her own. They had something in common then. They were two people who weren't what they seemed.
But, then that was a fact of life wasn’t it? Look past what you see? If only more people would, he thought as dusk displayed its brilliant colors on the horizon.
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