That hole yielded no success, but when I started in on the next spot, my stick struck something hard. Excited, I began to clear away the sandy soil. A small, red-lacquered box came into view, and I eagerly dug it out, now using my fingers instead of the stick.
The box was no bigger than my fist, the surface smooth. A black silk knot (now covered in dirt and sand) held the clasp shut. I quickly pulled it apart and flung the lid back.
A small white card was inside, the writing across the front stark black.
Are you sure you want to open me?
Of course I did. This was a game show, and I’d come to play.
I pulled the card out and opened it. The inside was decorated with drawings of palm trees and read: Congratulations on opening Pandora’s Box. If your team loses Judgment, speak the Power Word. This word will automatically eliminate your partner. You will be safe. Your word is Kere Kere - Please - in Fijian. This word can only be used once.
I squealed with excitement. This was exactly what I needed.
Goodbye, Kip. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.
Chapter Ten
“I feel a little bad for poor Sunnie. I keep ditching our camp to go spend time with Annabelle. There’s just something about her. She has the greatest smile, and there’s a lot of determination in those eyes of hers. The fact that she’s willing to play as physical a game as she can? It makes her really damn appealing.” — Jendan Abercrombie, Day 11, Endurance Island: Power Players
Day 11
“Welcome to today’s Judgment challenge.”
We stood in the hot sunlight, lined up on the beach. No one was smiling or excited today. Yesterday’s Judgment challenge had been a grueling slog of racing through a sandy obstacle course to retrieve buried labeled coconuts. While it had looked relatively simple, it had been cloudless and humid yesterday, and the heat combined with the sand had made it the worst challenge yet. Through a run of bad digging luck, Summer and Polly had trouble finding their buried coconuts, and they’d ended up in last with Kissy and Rusty. Everyone had banded together to vote the power duo of women out, and Polly had gone home. Summer stood next to me in the line-up, a grimly determined expression on her face. I think it was the first time she realized we were all against her.
Today, instead of a three day reprieve between challenges, we’d been called out for yet another one. Everyone looked unhappy.
Well, everyone except me. I’d done my best to lag behind in the last challenge. Deliberately. Kip, however, had acted like he was the lone hero of the entire show and ran the thing almost single-handedly. When we’d returned to camp, he’d given me a few scathing looks, as if disappointed by my ‘lack’ of athletic prowess, but otherwise said nothing. It occurred to me that he didn’t even realize I’d tried to throw the challenge.
I eyed today’s set-up as the cameramen moved past, filming us. It looked a bit like yesterday’s obstacle course, except the sand had been smoothed out from the churned mess it was yesterday. At several places along the beach, stations had been set up. One looked like nothing but oversized banana leaves piled together on a table. Another looked like a row of buckets, and an enormous spitted pig was at another. At the farthest end of the beach, several pits had been dug, with a sturdy pole set in the middle. Each pole had a tiny flag emblazoned with team numbers and held up a pair of scales.
“Let’s begin,” Chip said, looking down the line at us. “This is a back to back immunity challenge. We told you that things were going to be more difficult this season, and we weren’t lying. Win this round, and you’re safe for another three days. Lose, and this could be your last day on Endurance Island.” With that grim pronouncement, he turned and gestured at the stations. “Today, you are going to be collecting ingredients for a traditional Fijian lovo feast…without using your hands.”
Someone gasped.
I stifled my groan, straining to hear Chip’s instructions. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as it sounded.
“There are four different ingredients for this challenge. To make your lovo pit, you need these things: smooth stones for baking, banana leaves, the meat itself, and of course, dirt to go on top. The ingredients can be collected in any order, but you need five pounds of each ingredient for every person on your team. If you are playing solo, you need five pounds. If you are playing with a partner, you need ten pounds of each. Understand?”
We nodded.
“As I said before, you cannot use your hands. You’re allowed to use your face, your shoulders, your arms, your mouth, whatever you like…except your hands and feet. You can divide up stations or tackle them together. It’s up to you guys. Someone’s going to come by and tie your hands to prep you for the challenge. Does anyone have any questions before we start?”
I glanced down the line at the others. Summer had a grim expression on her face. I didn’t blame her. This was a lot to handle by yourself. Alys looked ready to cry. Saul just rubbed his hands, excited. Maybe Saul wasn’t too bright.
None of them knew I was planning on throwing the challenge so I could try to ditch Kip.
“No questions?” Chip asked. “All right. While we tie hands, you can strategize with your partner.”
I already had my strategy in place: lose. But I’d let Kip steer our sinking ship. I turned to look at my partner. “How do you want to handle this?”
“Well, you’re a girl, so we should give you the easy stuff.”
My temper flared, but I swallowed the anger bubbling inside me. “You don’t say.”
“Yeah. I’ll take the rocks and the dirt. There’s buckets for those.”
I glanced down at the stations as someone came by and gestured for me to put my hands behind my back. At this point, we were so used to ignoring the production and camera crews that I barely even noticed. “There’s only buckets for the dirt, Kip.”
The production assistant finished binding my hands and moved on to Kip’s. Kip studied the course and then looked over at me. “He didn’t say we had to go in any particular order, right? I’ll just do the dirt first and then take the bucket over and fill it with the rocks. You do the banana leaves and the food. I’d do the food but my stomach’s been shit for the last few days.”
I bit my lip, trying to keep a straight face. “That’s too bad about your stomach.”
“Island bug,” he said. “It’ll pass eventually.”
It’d probably pass if he got off his ass and boiled his water, but I didn’t tell him that.
“We can do this,” he said confidently. “Just don’t fuck up like you did the last challenge.”
“Screw you,” I said, determined to do just that. I resolved then and there to take one banana leaf at a time. Ten pounds would be a ridiculous amount. It’d take forever.
“Is everyone ready?” Chip raised his hand into the air.
We leaned forward, as if we were about to race from the starting line. Maybe some people were. I had no intention of trying to push my way ahead, though. Let some other idiot do that - I had a partner to vote out.
“Go!” Chip yelled.
We dashed forward. Further down the line, Rusty immediately face-planted, his balance off. Spitting sand, he hauled himself back up as the rest of us trotted past, a little more wary after seeing his spill. I immediately headed for the banana leaves. The groups were splitting up, heading into different areas, and I noticed Jendan was heading the same way I was. I gave him a wink as I moved to the leaf station and leaned over to grab a mouthful. To my surprise, my lips found…string. They’d tied the leaves into bundles? That didn’t work well for my plans.
The box was no bigger than my fist, the surface smooth. A black silk knot (now covered in dirt and sand) held the clasp shut. I quickly pulled it apart and flung the lid back.
A small white card was inside, the writing across the front stark black.
Are you sure you want to open me?
Of course I did. This was a game show, and I’d come to play.
I pulled the card out and opened it. The inside was decorated with drawings of palm trees and read: Congratulations on opening Pandora’s Box. If your team loses Judgment, speak the Power Word. This word will automatically eliminate your partner. You will be safe. Your word is Kere Kere - Please - in Fijian. This word can only be used once.
I squealed with excitement. This was exactly what I needed.
Goodbye, Kip. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.
Chapter Ten
“I feel a little bad for poor Sunnie. I keep ditching our camp to go spend time with Annabelle. There’s just something about her. She has the greatest smile, and there’s a lot of determination in those eyes of hers. The fact that she’s willing to play as physical a game as she can? It makes her really damn appealing.” — Jendan Abercrombie, Day 11, Endurance Island: Power Players
Day 11
“Welcome to today’s Judgment challenge.”
We stood in the hot sunlight, lined up on the beach. No one was smiling or excited today. Yesterday’s Judgment challenge had been a grueling slog of racing through a sandy obstacle course to retrieve buried labeled coconuts. While it had looked relatively simple, it had been cloudless and humid yesterday, and the heat combined with the sand had made it the worst challenge yet. Through a run of bad digging luck, Summer and Polly had trouble finding their buried coconuts, and they’d ended up in last with Kissy and Rusty. Everyone had banded together to vote the power duo of women out, and Polly had gone home. Summer stood next to me in the line-up, a grimly determined expression on her face. I think it was the first time she realized we were all against her.
Today, instead of a three day reprieve between challenges, we’d been called out for yet another one. Everyone looked unhappy.
Well, everyone except me. I’d done my best to lag behind in the last challenge. Deliberately. Kip, however, had acted like he was the lone hero of the entire show and ran the thing almost single-handedly. When we’d returned to camp, he’d given me a few scathing looks, as if disappointed by my ‘lack’ of athletic prowess, but otherwise said nothing. It occurred to me that he didn’t even realize I’d tried to throw the challenge.
I eyed today’s set-up as the cameramen moved past, filming us. It looked a bit like yesterday’s obstacle course, except the sand had been smoothed out from the churned mess it was yesterday. At several places along the beach, stations had been set up. One looked like nothing but oversized banana leaves piled together on a table. Another looked like a row of buckets, and an enormous spitted pig was at another. At the farthest end of the beach, several pits had been dug, with a sturdy pole set in the middle. Each pole had a tiny flag emblazoned with team numbers and held up a pair of scales.
“Let’s begin,” Chip said, looking down the line at us. “This is a back to back immunity challenge. We told you that things were going to be more difficult this season, and we weren’t lying. Win this round, and you’re safe for another three days. Lose, and this could be your last day on Endurance Island.” With that grim pronouncement, he turned and gestured at the stations. “Today, you are going to be collecting ingredients for a traditional Fijian lovo feast…without using your hands.”
Someone gasped.
I stifled my groan, straining to hear Chip’s instructions. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as it sounded.
“There are four different ingredients for this challenge. To make your lovo pit, you need these things: smooth stones for baking, banana leaves, the meat itself, and of course, dirt to go on top. The ingredients can be collected in any order, but you need five pounds of each ingredient for every person on your team. If you are playing solo, you need five pounds. If you are playing with a partner, you need ten pounds of each. Understand?”
We nodded.
“As I said before, you cannot use your hands. You’re allowed to use your face, your shoulders, your arms, your mouth, whatever you like…except your hands and feet. You can divide up stations or tackle them together. It’s up to you guys. Someone’s going to come by and tie your hands to prep you for the challenge. Does anyone have any questions before we start?”
I glanced down the line at the others. Summer had a grim expression on her face. I didn’t blame her. This was a lot to handle by yourself. Alys looked ready to cry. Saul just rubbed his hands, excited. Maybe Saul wasn’t too bright.
None of them knew I was planning on throwing the challenge so I could try to ditch Kip.
“No questions?” Chip asked. “All right. While we tie hands, you can strategize with your partner.”
I already had my strategy in place: lose. But I’d let Kip steer our sinking ship. I turned to look at my partner. “How do you want to handle this?”
“Well, you’re a girl, so we should give you the easy stuff.”
My temper flared, but I swallowed the anger bubbling inside me. “You don’t say.”
“Yeah. I’ll take the rocks and the dirt. There’s buckets for those.”
I glanced down at the stations as someone came by and gestured for me to put my hands behind my back. At this point, we were so used to ignoring the production and camera crews that I barely even noticed. “There’s only buckets for the dirt, Kip.”
The production assistant finished binding my hands and moved on to Kip’s. Kip studied the course and then looked over at me. “He didn’t say we had to go in any particular order, right? I’ll just do the dirt first and then take the bucket over and fill it with the rocks. You do the banana leaves and the food. I’d do the food but my stomach’s been shit for the last few days.”
I bit my lip, trying to keep a straight face. “That’s too bad about your stomach.”
“Island bug,” he said. “It’ll pass eventually.”
It’d probably pass if he got off his ass and boiled his water, but I didn’t tell him that.
“We can do this,” he said confidently. “Just don’t fuck up like you did the last challenge.”
“Screw you,” I said, determined to do just that. I resolved then and there to take one banana leaf at a time. Ten pounds would be a ridiculous amount. It’d take forever.
“Is everyone ready?” Chip raised his hand into the air.
We leaned forward, as if we were about to race from the starting line. Maybe some people were. I had no intention of trying to push my way ahead, though. Let some other idiot do that - I had a partner to vote out.
“Go!” Chip yelled.
We dashed forward. Further down the line, Rusty immediately face-planted, his balance off. Spitting sand, he hauled himself back up as the rest of us trotted past, a little more wary after seeing his spill. I immediately headed for the banana leaves. The groups were splitting up, heading into different areas, and I noticed Jendan was heading the same way I was. I gave him a wink as I moved to the leaf station and leaned over to grab a mouthful. To my surprise, my lips found…string. They’d tied the leaves into bundles? That didn’t work well for my plans.
