Scraps of Hope

The greedy hero’s face appeared on the display. Watching Bozo and fourteen of the marketing members step onstage despite their cheating was infuriating, but it wasn’t fear or anger that gripped the girls’ hearts then. Something more like determination. They refused to be frustrated, even as that short round ball of a man gave a shit-eating grin as he received his prize money. If we didn’t make first, that’s okay. And if we don’t make second, that’s okay too. So long as we win, the place doesn’t matter. Both of them essentially thought these same words, synchronized in their solidarity. No matter the case, no matter the odds, we will win because it is what we must do.

They stood, expressionless, battling the thought of their defeat. Not hopeful- but not worried either- they both chose to face their fate head-on. But even then, as her sister showed the bravery she always did when it really, really mattered- Katie was just a little afraid. What if they didn’t even make third? What then? And she soon wondered if, somehow, by some supernatural means, this fear was what drew fate’s dark crosshairs towards them again.

Kidney held the note tightly in his reconstructed hands.

“In second place… with 3269 tokens…”

He squinted at the paper. Was he surprised? Confused? Maybe he just couldn’t pronounce the name. Did that mean it wasn’t theirs? 

“…Jonas Croft.”

The crowd buzzed into a murmur. The unfamiliar businessman shown on the screen above Kidney did not take the stage himself, however, only a representative in dark glasses and a darker suit. With a lifeless face, he took the money, bowed, and left the stage faster than Bozo’s crew just had.

“I saw some guys like that yesterday…” Someone nearby in the crowd gossiped in a low whisper. Others followed.

“Some corporate firm?”

“I didn’t see any of them until the last day. Seems nasty.”

“What are you talking about? Those guys were basically handing out free money.”

“Shit, should I have said yes? They were offering me like five or six hundred a token.”

“Agh, that’s genius! I wish I was that smart! …and rich.”

Frankie wasn’t shaken in the slightest, but Katie was starting to shiver. This was their final chance, and Frankie… she didn’t even care. Did she?

The girl turned over to her poor little sister, standing hopelessly next to her frightened form.

She was smiling.

Our lives might end depending on what name gets called next… and she’s having fun?

Suddenly, Frankie yawned.

“Freaking losers, am I right? Be a real shame if they got placed right next to a couple of random teenagers on the leaderboard.” She laughed defiantly.

Witnessing her sister’s strength, Katie couldn’t help laughing with her. She shook the gloom from her face. This wasn’t her! They were going to win, no question- and more importantly, she was going to enjoy this.

“Ahem.” Kidney steadied himself once again, back in control of his emotions. “And now, in third place…”

Still putting on brave faces, the sisters began to bite their lips. Everyone in the crowd was just like them. On some level, they all expected to win. But only one of them would be be taking home that honor… or maybe two, connected by blood and a close bond.

“With 3000 tokens…”

They gripped their hands back together. Like they were facing the barrel of a gun or the end of the world, their heartbeats raced inside their confident stances. When Kidney’s pause was broken, the smoke would lift. It was simple. Whoever was left standing, out of all these hopeful people, would claim their victory at all the other’s expense. And according to Walter Roscoe Kidney, that winner was…

“Frank Mikalas!”

Kidney called out this name with more pizazz than the last. He even smiled as he greeted the boring old businessman to the stage, his file photo looking more or less the same as the second place winner’s, whose name they had already forgotten.

The high society suit took his prize. Frankie bit her tongue.

She couldn’t bear to look at her sister right now, who couldn’t bear to look at her either. They were both sure that silently, the other was slowly starting to cry, just like they were.

How pathetic I am, they both thought, in their own words.

The friends onstage shook hands, and soon enough, the skin-of-his-teeth final winner began to chat up Walt, completely ignoring the young woman who suddenly ran atop it with a look of disgust and fear on her face.

“Ah… er, nice going, Mikalas. Didn’t realize you were participating.”

“Of course! Wouldn’t miss one of your little shows… oh, how I love your parks. Say, would you still be interested in that deal we talked about? I’ve got this new soda flavor-“

“Sir!”

“Carol? What is it?” Kidney faced his short-haired assistant as she whispered a message in his ear that he showed no response to.

All of a sudden, the flame of hope in Frankie’s heart started to rekindle.

Kidney nodded, and put on his best angry face before turning the microphone back on.

“EXCUSE ME.”

Mikalas froze in place, about pissing himself. 

“I’m sorry, Mr. Mikalas- you’ve been disqualified. It appears that… each and every one of your tokens were counterfeited.”

At first she was overjoyed, but Frankie’s smile wavered a little when she realized that, unless the two of them had landed in exactly the runner-up fourth place… their lives were still over. She finally looked at her sister. But as far as she could tell, Katie wasn’t even paying attention anymore. To her stuttering lips, it was already over. She wasn’t even watching what was going on up onstage right now.

Kidney took back his plastic voucher card storing the reward money and put it on his podium.

“I’m very sorry, but I’m afraid that you’re now banned from this park, Mr. Mikalas. We’re trying to play a game here.”

Mikalas left the stage with a shrug, leaving with a crowd of well-dressed employees of his. Somewhere in the crowd, Kidney’s old friend Willow smiled.

“I apologize for your fellow contestant’s behavior, everyone. We don’t allow such behavior here.” He lied. “In that case… with 2491 tokens…”

Frankie shook her sister to her senses. She couldn’t say anything, but she made her know- If there was any remaining chance they were going to win, it was about to happen. 

“The real third place winner is… I’m sorry, are…”

Frankie started to cry harder than she already had been.

“Frankie and Katie Pop. Please take the stage.”

The painful laughter fell out her wet nose in excited disbelief as their faces, inexperienced as they had been when they first entered the park, appeared onscreen. He didn’t have to tell Frankie twice. Pulling her sister behind her, the champion burst from the crowd, headed straight for the steps to the stage. Growing closer and closer to Kidney, Katie wasn’t even sure what was going on. Unable to comprehend their victory, she was mostly just scared.

They found themselves right in front of the man himself in seconds. Frankie panted like an animal as she reached the podium with her sister in hand. Carol gave a weary smile to the sisters. Kidney gave his own, entertained-looking one as he stuck out his hand to offer the prize money. Their prize money.

“Thank you sir!” Frankie lifted her and her sister’s hand so that they could both take the money at once.

“My treat.” He joked, mic off. “Consider yourself pardoned, by the way. May we never meet again.”

Carol smiled uncomfortably, as if to apologize for her boss. A small portion of the losing audience cheered for them, just happy to see two of the winners be actual normal people. Cheryl and Saint cheered the loudest.

“Well spoken!” Now that was a sentiment Frankie could get behind. Not wanting to be stared at by all these people any longer, she ran off the stage with little fanfare or pride- just a massive smile on her face as she tried shaking Katie back to her senses. At the bottom of the steps , she confronted her.

“K-Kate- Katie- we won! The whole thing, we won!”

“Am I… dreaming?”

She hugged her big sister just how she always hugged her.

“Nah, it’s real. We did it. We aren’t criminals anymore. I get to see the ocean! And you know what you get to do now?”

“Visit… every single park?”

“That’s right!”

Katie finally managed to smile, sobbing over her sister’s shoulder.

“Now, before you all leave…” Kidney spoke once again. “I hope you’ll stay for the reason I began this competition in the first place. May I announce to you all… something like nothing you’ve ever seen before.”