Compromise

Maxine paced for minutes on end, both sisters carefully tailing her while she aimlessly tread. Between the three of them, they had everything they needed to reach the treasure- except the knowledge of where it was.

“I don’t think she knows where she’s going either, Frankie.”

The younger sibling’s stomach growled. With the arrival of the afternoon, time had slipped through their fingers in the process of hunting down the 200-token trove.

“What do we do?”

“I thought you’d have some idea. We can’t just go up and take it from her.”

“Maybe it’s okay for now. I mean, she can’t get to the treasure either, right? Not without our own key.”

“We could ask to split it.”

“That’s…”

Frankie didn’t love the idea, but it was quickly becoming their only reasonable option.

“Okay. We’ll ask if we can halve it. But what do we do until-“

“Wait, what’s she doing?”

Katie had froze at the sight of the young punk stepping through what they thought were impenetrably thick, tall bushes on the side of the path they were on and heading past to the other side.

“Shit! Follow her!”

Without thinking, Frankie and Katie leapt through the foliage. On the other side they found much, much, more than they were even expecting to, an uneasy hope gathering in their bearing hearts along with a strong dose of sheer disbelief from the number of incredible sights in front of them.

“Oh. Why, there’s the other key.”

Willow was rocking in a chair positioned next to it, on the right side. How she got here, they had no idea. Maxine didn’t turn to them, but merely let her ear twitch as she understood their presence. And to its left, there was an informative display sign- telling them what they already knew, providing a picture of each key along with the very thing they now found themselves standing motionlessly in front of.

Locked up behind a steel door, the cave entrance was small but intimidating, fitting of its hidden nature. And indeed, the blocked opening rested under the cover of a large, waterproof screen- one that played no sound, but only old, strange footage- that of a world they almost didn’t recognize.

Maxine finally gave in and turned around.

“So you were trying to follow me? Huh, weird. You sucked so bad at it I figured you were standing out on purpose.”

Frankie slowly spoke after a moment of hesitation.

“How’d you… know to look in here?”

She looked bored, and yet, somehow proud to answer the question she found completely obvious.

“The bushes were way higher there than anywhere in the park, and they didn’t used to be like that. I guess a tourist wouldn’t know that.”

Frankie glared in annoyance with the petty child.

“Where do you even live? There’s not public housing here, right?”

“I’m not part of the “public.” My family’s got a spot in every part of the park, dingus.”

“Don’t fight now, girls.” Willow intervened, albeit not with very much insistence. She almost looked interested.

The parkgoer thought of an insult, but suppressed it.

“Sorry. My bad. Look- you’ve got one key. We’ve got the other. You just wanna… like, split the treasure and call it a day?”

Through her positively idiotic offer, Maxine suddenly discovered that she hated this girl.

“Uh, yeah. No. Not gonna happen. Boooring.”

“Then what do you suppose we do instead?”

“I don’t think you get it. I’m a winner. I win.”

Maxine shot her finger up to the other blonde’s face and made her bet.

“Let’s play- your key when I win, mine if I lose.”

Katie grabbed her sister’s shoulder to stop her from accepting the offer, but it was too late.

“Deal.”

“Cool. Pick your game, t-shirt girl. I’ll beat you at it, whatever it is.”

Frankie took a breath. She’d had her share of prodigies for a lifetime. This kid was nothing compared to the people she’d seen before.

Willow rocked a little faster in her chair.