Page 54 of Billionaire’s Game

The host smiled broadly again. “And did we mention these?”

Suddenly sprinklers came on and each hill slowly became a slippery mess.

“The game is easy. First contestant up the hill wins immunity.”

I couldn’t keep the gleeful smile from spreading across my face. I gave Magnus a thumbs up. “Good luck out there... partner.”

He winced. “I’m going to get you back for this.”

“Now who’s cranky?”

I watched in glee as he was marched to the back to don his costume for the competition. He came out about ten minutes later with the rest of the contestants wearing bright purple jumpsuits and goggles.

I sat down with a bottle of water and prepared to watch the show and, boy, it was quite a show.

Each contestant started the race by standing in front of the hill. I noticed they all had utility belts attached to their waists. The utility belt had a rope attached to it and at the end of the ropes were sandbags. The sandbags were of various sizes, depending on each contestant’s weight. I could see the tension in their shoulders as they waited for the bell to sound.

I was excited and more than a little relieved that Magnus was the lucky participant for this particular challenge.

The bell sounded and immediately Magnus scrambled toward the hill, dragging half his body weight as if it weren’t the size of two toddlers. His sworn enemy was struggling to make it up his own hill and kept slipping and sliding.

“He’s going to slip and fall before they even turn the water back on,” I muttered.

And I was right. The lanky guy went sliding down the hill and landed face down on his own sandbag. I giggled.

The crowd was going wild now. It was just Magnus, the scientist, and the Olympian. I was sure the Olympian was going to win. And then they turned the sprinklers on.

Magnus and the Olympian went sliding back down the hill, covered in mud. Dr. Joseph made her way to the top and was just about to push the button that would give her the win when she lost her footing and went sliding down the hill.

Now it was anyone’s game. The other three contestants were skinnier than Magnus. It wasn’t that he was out of shape, but it was clearly hard to pull so much muscle up the hill, especially a steep wet hill.

Finally, all four contestants had regained their footing and were slowly dragging themselves up. They were covered in mud and I didn’t know how they could even see anymore. Their bright purple jumpsuits were no longer bright or purple, but muddy and gross. Their goggles were covered in dirt and caked with mud. They all seemed to be moving remarkably slower than before.

The crowd was going wild though. It seemed the weaker the contestants became, the wilder the crowd was. I swear I could even hear Violet screeching.

And finally, the contestants were no longer neck and neck. Dr. Joseph was again toward the top, Magnus was about a foot away, as well. The Olympian and Magnus’s enemy were still struggling with their footing and weren’t gaining any ground.

With a heroic effort, Magnus hoisted himself up and was about to hit the button when he lost his footing and went tumbling down the hill. He slid on his back, straight down the hill, and landed with a plop in a puddle of mud. And at that very moment Dr. Joseph hit the button, winning the round and seizing the sprinklers.

I couldn’t help but feel amused as the host went around and tried to interview each contestant. They were all out of breath and spent, leaning against their respective hill.

“That was so hard,” the Olympian said. He then called up to Dr. Joseph, “You’re amazing, Doctor.”

The rest of the audience cheered and the host yelled up to her, “Come on down, Dr. Joseph. You’ve won your team immunity!”

With a whoop and a punch in the air, she gleefully slid down the hill and landed next to the host.

“How does it feel to win immunity and be one step closer to winning a million dollars for your favorite charity?”

“Amazing!” she shouted, and the audience cheered.

“We’re going to get all cleaned up and then we’ll be back after these messages.”

And with that, they cut recording. Magnus’s personal assistant, Dale, showed up and whisked him off. The other contestants were also taken away.

I was having a great time.

Then suddenly a production assistant was standing next to me. “Ma’am, it’s time to get into costume.”