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What is it about this particular girl? We had one incredible summer together, then I haven’t seen her again until stepping into her stuffy office at the college. But I thought about her over the years. I left women’s beds and went to sleep with a vision of Cori hiding behind my closed eyelids.
There was something special about her that long ago summer, and time has only added to her appeal. I hope like hell she’ll be washed from my system by the time we come to whatever end this game has planned for me.
“I have the original map and clues from the game. It says to get more clues we have to follow the map.”
“What is all of this?” she asks.
“I don’t exactly know. There are some documents that might help us follow the map, and the poem has clues in it as well, though I have no idea how this is so elaborate.”
“And you got this game fifteen years ago?” she asks.
“Yeah, it’s odd how much detail is with it.” I chuckle.
“I’ve never seen anything like it before. But I love the adventure of it all, the magic,” she says. “Are your brothers playing as well?”
“It says one of us at a time. One brother has to complete his tasks and then pass the game to the next. I want my turn to get over with. It’s not that I don’t love my siblings, or love my family home, but we all grew up, parted ways, each of us went on with our lives, and we’re happy. We talk once in a while and we do our own thing,” I say, feeling defensive.
“Okay,” she says, obviously confused by my outburst.
“Sorry. I find this situation insane. I have things to do.”
“Like what?” She looks up at me, curiosity in her eyes.
“What do you mean?” I hesitate.
“What do you have to do that’s more important? Now that I know your career isn’t as a gigolo, I realize I have no idea what you actually do.”
My chair scrapes back as I stand and move to the fridge. I’m restless, and it’s showing. I don’t like to be stuck in one place for too long and this game traps me. There’s no way the professor can begin to understand this.
“I’m on an adventure with every single job I take.” She raises a brow. “I travel the world — I see war, natural disasters, poverty, things that most people don’t see unless they open a magazine.”
“I can see why you want to get back to your job. It’s pretty awesome.” The awe in her tone makes my chest puff out the slightest bit.
“Yeah, I like what I do.”
“So just look at this like it’s one more adventure. I don’t think the game’s going to be easy or the puzzle solved in a day, so you might as well quit fighting it and start looking at the fun in the current situation instead of being half in and half out.”
I drink a long swallow of beer before I smile. I remember how upbeat she was that summer ten years before, and though her unfortunate clothing is a lot different now, it seems there’s still a sense of adventure residing deep inside her. She did take a leap of faith heading out with me for a weekend, thinking I was a gigolo. Jealousy flows through me at the thought of her being out there with another man. It makes no sense, even to myself. Maybe the end of the game will bring her wild side out. Maybe when I set her free, the chains holding me to her will break.
“I can’t find any clues in the poem,” she tells me, bringing me out of my thoughts.
“Read it out loud and we’ll go from there.”
She grabs the paper and excitement lights her eyes, enough to make my heart beat a bit faster. I might complain about the game, but at the same time I’m not upset doing it with her. Cori begins the poem and I’m mesmerized.
The thing you seek is neither near nor far,
But to find it, you will have to search
Places both new and old.
“What does this mean?” I ask.
“Let me finish without interruption,” she scolds, which makes me smile. I zip my lips closed.
There’s more to life than what money can buy,
And wisdom comes from up high.
