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July 15 - July 16, 2019
KNOWLEDGE NOT SHARED REMAINS UNKNOWN. —LUIGI L. LEMONCELLO
“What will the winner win? After all, the prize is the most important part of any game.” Kyle didn’t totally agree, but he was too excited about playing the game to say anything.
“Because, my dear friends, these twelve children have lived their entire lives without a public library. As a result, they have no idea how extraordinarily useful, helpful, and funful—a word I recently invented—a library can be. This is their chance to discover that a library is more than a collection of dusty old books. It is a place to learn, explore, and grow!”
“Because I’m in the sewers underneath the horse stables. It’s the secret way out of the castle.
“Do you think those windows open?” asked Akimi. “Maybe. Maybe not. But I’ve never let a closed or locked window stand between me and winning a game. Just ask my dad.”
“That’s the beauty of being a team. After we burn through mine, we’ll still have yours.”
“When you open the window,” said Akimi, “just shout, ‘I found the way out!’ and we win.” “Right,” said Kyle. “All three of us.” “Huh?” “Hey, Sierra came up with the safety rope idea. She’s on our team now, too.”
A thoughtful African American man in a three-piece suit and a bow tie. A guy with long curly hair, old-fashioned clothes, and a looking glass. A long-haired dude in a scruffy shirt hiding behind cutouts of the letters “P” and “B.” A bald guy with a beard.
A bloodcurdling scream came ringing up the staircase from the basement. “That’s Haley!” said Akimi. “I saw her go downstairs.” “That’s where the Stacks are,” added Sierra. “Come on,” said Kyle. “She could be in serious trouble.” “You should never help your competition, Keeley,” scoffed Charles as he casually strolled down a spiral staircase. “Unless, of course, you always play to lose!”
“Charles Dickens, Raymond Chandler, Edgar Allan Poe, Agatha Christie, Patricia Highsmith, Mario Puzo, Frederick Forsyth, John Le Carré, Dashiell Hammett, and Fyodor Dostoyevsky.”
“Enjoy!” said the dummy. “And remember, it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game. So be sure to read the instructions—so you’ll know how to play the game.”
Kyle sprang up from the table. “Come on,” he said to Akimi and Sierra. Akimi sighed. “Now where are we going?” “To make sure Peckleman doesn’t do something stupid that gets Miguel kicked out of the game.” “And why would we do that?” “Because Miguel’s our friend.”
“Good,” said Miguel. “A library is supposed to be a place for peaceful contemplation.”
“Oh-kay, Miguel,” said Kyle. “If and when you decide to team up with us, you can show us the two books on the back of your card; we’ll all show you ours. We’ll also split the prize four ways. Deal?”
“Mr. Lemoncello is a lot like Willy Wonka,” said Kyle. “You mean crazy?” said Akimi. “I prefer the term ‘eccentric’.” “And Dr. Zinchenko is his Oompa-Loompa,” said Sierra. Everybody started giggling.
He and his so-called teammates, Andrew and Haley (Charles planned on dumping them both right before he made his glorious solo exit from the library), had scoured the library together for hours looking for more book cover matches.
“What about those guys?” said Miguel, gesturing toward the table where Charles and Andrew were finishing their desserts. Kyle was torn. On one hand, he didn’t want to give away the bonus his team had received thanks to the other team’s penalty. On the other hand, he didn’t want people saying he and his friends won because Mr. Lemoncello had tossed them an extra clue. He came up with a compromise. “Hey, Charles? Andrew? We’re all going to go grab some books to read to kill time till tomorrow morning. You two might want to do the same thing.”
“Who are those other guys?” “My teammates, Miguel, Sierra, and you know Akimi.” “You guys are a team? Smart move. Even I can’t win football games without help from ten other guys.”
“Did I mention that I have three thousand Facebook friends? Two thousand Twitter followers? Each and every one of them will hear what a weenie and wimp you are if you don’t do this thing to guarantee that our team wins.”
“So let’s do the Extreme Challenge,” said Haley. “What do we have to lose?” “Um, the whole game,” said Akimi. “Not for all of us,” said Kyle. “I’ll do the challenge. After all, I’m the team captain.” “You are?” said Haley. “We had an election,” said Akimi. “Yesterday.” “Oh. Cool.” “But, Kyle,” said Miguel, “if you blow the Extreme Challenge, you lose, bro.” “Not if my team wins.” “No,” said Mr. Lemoncello. “If you lose, Kyle, you lose. You will not be allowed to share in the big prize.” “Fine.”
“Look! It’s Haley Daley! She’s the first one out. She won! With just two minutes to go!” “Nuh-uh!” Kyle heard Haley shout in her perky cheerleader voice. “I’m just one member of a super-amazing team. We’re all winners. Whoo-hoo!”
