The Game

The Game

Tick, tick, tick, tick… the clock keeps ticking. All I can do is watch it. With my hands tied behind me, and my feet strapped to the chair I have nowhere to go, and time is running out. 

I never should have played this stupid game. Of course, it was Ronald, my friend I’ve known since elementary school, who said it would be fun. “You just pay your $100.00 and then you’re taken blindfolded to some location and all you have to do is be the first to find your way home.” 

What could go wrong? And Ronald would be with me, right? Wrong! Ronald neglected to tell me that each participant in this so-called game would be taken to a different location. They would then be tied up. And to add to all the fun, they would be gagged so that they couldn’t call for help. Once confined and restricted the blindfold at least was to be removed and they were left alone. The perpetrators of this event remained masked so as not to be identified. 

So here I sit. I assume if I just sit here, that someone eventually would come looking for me and I would be released. But then I hadn’t counted on the one other piece of the game that I hadn’t been told about. Placed in a bowl filled with, from the smell of it, gasoline, there was a candle that was lit and slowly melting. Now should that candle burn down to the level of the gasoline, the gasoline would ignite, leaving me helpless and probably burned alive as this room or cabin I’m in burns to the ground.

So here I sit. Or should I say here I…well let’s just say that my fear and anxiety have made my bowels release themselves. 

Though I can hear noises of automobiles outside this place that I’m stuck in. I need to calm myself and think. It was then I remembered my MacGyver jackknife that I always keep in my pocket. If I could only free one hand I might be able to get out. Think, Harvey, think. In movies, whenever someone is tied up they always rub their restrained wrists back and forth on whatever they’re tied to. So that’s what I decided to do.  My movement doesn’t fray the rope, as it does on TV but does eventually allow me to wriggle my right hand enough so that it slowly pushes free from the chair it was tied to. With that hand free, I’m able to reach into my pocket for the knife. Did you ever try to open a pocket knife with one hand? It’s not easy, but I manage to get it open so that I can cut the rest of the offending ropes that bind me. 

Of course, the door to escape is locked as I attempt to get out, the candle keeps burning lower and lower, and the clock continues to tick. And…wait a minute, it’s a candle, which means it can be blown out. When you’re stressed your mind can really forget simple things. 

Needless to say, I did eventually get out and find my way home. I was the last person to arrive back home.

“Wasn’t that great!” Ronald said when he finally saw me. 

“Yeah…no,” was my reply. 

With soiled pants, rope burns on my wrists, and a heart rate that felt like I was a thoroughbred competing in the Kentucky Derby. No, this was not a game that I would ever consider playing again. 

Hopefully, next time when Ronald comes up with an idea for a game to play, I won’t listen to him. Yeah…right!