The Garden
Zacharias
Yes Snowy, I gave you another turn to narrate last time, but don’t expect this to become a habit. I won’t be doing it again, but I sure do expect you to. Anyway, while the two lovebirds were climbing up together, Fizz and I were standing on the top of the last obstacle. I surveyed the landscape.
Turns out, it wasn’t the last obstacle. There was an entire garden outside made up of light and dark green patches. It wasn’t too big, but not that small either. There was a sign on the side.
Angelina
It said, “Your shoe must not touch a single patch.” I paused a moment. The garden was full of patches. In fact, it was only patches. By this time, the others had joined us. They read the sign with the same kind of puzzlement.
The garden had been partitioned into four. “Dibs on leftmost!” called Sandy.
Vincent
“How will they know whether we stepped on a square or not?” asked Fizz.
“There are two aerial cameras all around the cliff and I’m willing to bet that there are a few on the ground. I don’t see any speakers here, so I’m pretty sure they can’t hear what we are saying,” I said.
Cho
Everyone looked thoughtful for a moment. “How about this,” I said. “Nobody tells anybody how they are going to cross so that it remains a surprise.”
Everyone looked relieved at this solution, not wanting to accuse teammates of cheating, but not knowing how to answer if anybody asked.
Zacharias
I watched the sign board intently. The way it was written, I got the impression that something had been intentionally left out. I read it again. There it was! “single patch” If I walked on two patches at the same time, there wouldn’t be any trouble.
I balanced my self and walked slowly. I put my foot on two squares at a time, by walking on the edges.
Angelina
I could not walk through the garden without touching a square. I knew this. I needed some way to get over the garden without touching it at all. I had to try some kind of running jump.
The garden was too long to cross with just one running jump, so I used the rope ladder. Pulling it far behind me, I released it and hung on for dear life. The timing was crucial. I jumped off at exactly the right moment to see that I had cleared the garden and stood a foot away.
Vincent
I climbed down the rope ladder and walked around, taking in the scene. I looked at all the cameras and their positions. An idea formed in my mind. I casually tossed a pebble at each camera, making them turn just a little bit.
I then walked confidently across the garden. The cameras were now at an angle that they could not see me walking. The garden was in their blind spot.
Cho
I slid down the rope ladder and looked sharply at the sign. it said, “Your shoe must not touch a single patch. I frowned. There was a lot of grey area in the phrasing of the instructions.
I took off my shoes and crossed the garden barefoot, without my shoes touching a single patch.