Amy sighed looking at Dan. "I am starting to think that the scenario on Cahill Island, couldn't be much worse. It seemed good at the time, but nothing really happened."
Dan nodded pretending to understand exactly what Amy meant. "I was just in deep thought about the same subject myself," he said solemnly, his green eyes glazed with seriousness. Amy looked at him, surprised.
"We didn't get any ice-cream!" he explained, making Amy roll her eyes in frustration. "If they want to comfort us, THAT is how they do it!"
"That is not what I meant!" Amy said exasperated. "It's just... we just read a letter from Grace, got some money, and found out about a new enemy. The clues were left so... vulnerable. I couldn't have gone much worse. Nothing was actually resolved."
Dan sighed. His sister was much to deep of a thinker for his taste. When he got married... he was going to marry a ninja. He put his hand on Amy's shoulder suddenly. "I understand now..." he said with all the drama he could muster.
"As if..." Amy began.
Dan snapped out of his television character impersonation and said in his normal voice, "But seriously... chill out! You think in to things too much. It COULD have been MUCH worse." Dan laughed at the possibilities. "We could have got stampeded with purple zebras, found out that the whole clue hunt had been part of a reality TV show, and then have had the world explode," he said sweetly.
"The hunt being a reality TV show wouldn't have been so bad!" exclaimed Amy. "We would be able to relax about the situation afterward, and not be worrying like crazy about the Vespers!"
"Um yeah it would!" snorted Dan. "Everyone would be angry about being used. Just imagine it!" He looked dramatically into the distance.
"Um..." asked Amy, "what are you looking at?"
"I am imagining the possibilities," Dan said in a distant voice, "do it with me..."
So, the two Cahills stared in to the distance, deep in thought, as harp strummed, and the scene rippled from view...
Bruised and battered, but flooding with relief, the clue hunters stumbled out of the gauntlet. Sinead immediately sprinted to untie her brother, Ted. While the others rushed to free Nellie, the helicopter pilot, the Holts, and Broderick Wizard. There they all were, sitting on Cahill Island. Fiske stepped out of a large pontoon and ran to them.
"Is everyone all right?" he asked. Everyone but the Kabras nodded, hearts in their throats after the fleeting events of the day.
Natalie suddenly went white, staring at Ian in disbelief. "Is it true?" she whispered. "Are we seriously POOR now?"
Ian sighed. "I'm afraid we have spent so much on the clues that..." his voice trailed off and she just shook his head.
"Don't worry guys," Fiske spoke up, "I am here bringing good news. According to Grace's last will and testament, all your teams members who got through the gauntlet receive two million dollars!" Smiles broke out on every one's faces.
"Whew," said Natalie. "Being poor felt awful."
"Let's just be glad to put that behind us dear sister," said Ian emotionally.
"They were 'poor' for like two seconds," Dan mumbled to Amy with a smile.
"But," Fiske said with an excited look on his face, "I am pleased to say that there are even better surprises to come!" Everyone celebrated in their own way. Exchanging high-fives, cheering, smiling smugly, chest thumping, calling "Amen dog!"... whatever suited each contestants taste .
"This is so exciting! There are even purple zebras here!" said Reagen cheerfully. Everyone stared at the Holt like she was mental. "Wait did I just say purple zebras?" she said confused. "Holy jumpsuits! I did! Look behind you!" She pointed frantically towards the others. Everyone turned and saw it. A giant herd of purple zebras stampeding towards them at 100 miles an hour!
"Oh yes, Gideon Cahill used to breed them," said Fiske absently. "Remarkable creatures. I had assumed they had all died out."
"Fiske!" yelled Nellie! "They are going to trample us!"
"Oh yes! Hurry on to the boat all of you, so I can explain it everything," Fiske yelled leading the way.
Everyone hurriedly filed on to the pontoon, talking excitedly with their team and calculating how much money they would receive. When everyone had found a place to sit or stand, Fiske started speaking. "We are so proud of everyone," he said looking at everyone in turn.
"We?" asked Jonah leaning casually against the railing. "What kind of gig is are you running here?"
Fiske smiled. "You can come out now," he called towards the cabin of the boat.
Everyone gasped in surprise when none other then Grace Cahill stepped out of the boat's cabin. "You all did so well!" she exclaimed hugging Dan and Amy comfortingly.
"Your... your alive," was all Amy could bring herself to say. She stared at Grace in amazement, wondering if she was dreaming.
Suddenly, Dan jabbed her in the rib cage with his elbow. "Did you feel that at all?" he asked solemnly.
"To well," gasped Amy, clutching her side.
"Okay then," said Dan like he was in a trance, "slap me." Gladly, Amy slapped Dan across the face. "Nope," Dan choked cupping his cheek, "definitely not a dream!" And the two Cahills flung themselves back into their grandmother's arms.
"How is this happening," questioned Hamilton voicing every one's thoughts. "You can't just come back from the dead like that!"
"Well you see," Grace said patiently, taking a spot on the boat's cushioned seats. "I never really died in the first place!" Everyone began talking at once. "I really hope you guys have enjoyed this fun adventure!" Grace said happily looking at every one's bewildered expressions. "I have been watching you all throughout the hunt and it looked like so much fun! You see, since I was seventeen, I have been traveling the world planting creative clues for this genies game!"
Every one just stared, confused. "Oh, I get it," Ian finally said politely. "It's supposed to be some sort of joke."
"No guys," Fiske laughed. "Wait until you hear this! We, and multiple television genises, have been staging the whole Cahill feud since your childhood! Camera crews were set up all over the world to help catch you guys on film for the new hit series! You're famous! Congratulations guys! This is the season finale!"
Camera crews stepped out from crevices in earth and rock, cheering. A big blimp appeared overhead with, "Family Feud: The Cahill Amazing Race!" written on the sides. Confetti filled the air, and the clue hunters? They didn't know what the heck to do. Was this for freaking real?
Grace laughed at their blank faces. "After so much excitement and fun," she said, "you guys probably don't know what to do! It's a shame it's already over, but smile for the cameras and celebrate!" She squeezed Dan and Amy's shoulders warmly.
Dan was the first one to speak up. "FUN?" he demanded turning on Grace and Fiske. "People freaking DIED!"
"WE almost died!" put in Alistair Oh, his elderly heart about to have an attack with all of the craziness.
"Er gah ler spazzle!" Mr. Holt choked out, face red in fury. His words were so jumbled in his anger, that nobody could decode what he had said.
"Are you TRYING to jack with my brain?" yelled Jonah.
"My own MUM, shot my foot!" added Natalie angered. "But worst of all, these shoes are Gucci!" As soon as she was finished with her little outburst however, she smoothed her hair, and gave the camera a dazzling smile.
Amy was the first one to talk in a calmed tone. "What-t kind of grandma are you?" she questioned softly. Her voice was shaky, but firm. The whole boat seemed to relax at Amy's voice.
"Don't worry everyone," said Grace shaking her head. "We would never let innocent people die!"
"Don't you see?" asked Fiske. "Nobody died! Those were all hired actors and actresses!"
The looks on every one's stunned faces oddly resembled a frowning Elmo. Their faces were still fading from their former shades of red, and their eyes the size of ping-pong balls. Only Mr. Holt possessed the hairy feature however.
"You are all FAMOUS for living your lives in a lie! Best of all," Fiske continued, "the heart-racing show was so incredibly popular, that there is going to be a full-length movie based of of it. I am proud to announce, that YOU will play your own parts! Now clean-up! You are scheduled to appear on Oprah in a couple of hours! If you have any questions..."
"Play OURSELVES in a full-length movie?" interrupted Amy, which was most unlike her. "So we just act that all over again! Didn't you get it on film?"
"Well," explained Fiske, "we are changing the events slightly for the big screen. Since birth, you have been bred to become a specific character. We fixed Jonah with fame, paying people to be his fans and inspire him with gangster slang, so that he would be more entertaining on screen. The Kabras? We showered them with riches, sent them to Britain so that they would pick-up a British accent (they were actually born in the slums of Indonesia), and we inserted them into a community of snobs so that it would rub off on them. The Holts? They were simple! We have been sneaking steroids into their food since their birth. The Starlings? We took DNA from Albert Einstein's withering body, and inserted it in to their blood stream! The Cahills? We purposely made them orphans! Why? Because fiction lovers always cheer for the underdog, and feel connected to orphans because they don't have any parents. Harry Potter, Alex Rider, Cinderella, The Mysterious Benedict Society, The Series of Unfortunate Events... all orphans! That is why the Cahills will be the main characters in the hit movie!"
Every body's faces went various shades of red, white, and just pure sweaty. They realized the "real them", would have been somebody different if not for this show. Natalie of course was more worried about not being the main character in the "oh so special" movie... but she just has issues. Before they could yell at Fiske, he continued.
"Your whole lives were planned! In fact we even egged on the chemistry between Amy and Ian throughout the hunt! However guys, it needs to be vamped up a bit in the actual movie for the viewer's enjoyment. You know?"The awkward level in the boat increased by about 110 percent. "We are also inserting more plot into the movie. It will be brilliant and feel so real!"
"You guys even did so much better then we expected on the hunt!" added Grace. Congratulations!"
"If we did any worse we'd be dead," Dan pointed out to Amy in a low whisper.
Everyone was to speechless with rage to speak. Surprisingly, Amy was the first to say something. She furiously stood up. "So you just HAD to put us through all that," she yelled, speaking for everyone, "for a freaking TV show!"
"Now, now! Come on guys! This is the season finale!" laughed Grace. "Let's catch up with each other and party!"
And with that, the whole world exploded.
The scene rippled back to Amy and Dan sitting on the couch. They stopped looking in to the distance, stared at each other, and shuddered int unison.
"Wow," said Amy. "Now I see what you mean. That would be really annoying!"
Dan nodded wondering what he would really do in that situation. What if that had actually happened... and they had lived?
"Do know what else is annoying?" he grinned, looking intently at Amy.
"Dweeb!" she laughed, whacking him on the arm.
All of a sudden, a man in a suit popped out from behind their couch, and a camera crew from behind various other pieces of furniture. "And this," said the man in directly in to a camera, "has been another 'Got You! Sibling Moment!' with me... Bo Handsome!" He turned towards Dan and Amy's astonished faces. "So guys... how do you feel being caught on our show, 'Got You! Sibling Moments!' and more importantly, what were you just staring at?"
"I HATE reality TV!" grumbled Amy.
-I had state testing, and they give you way too much time to do each test. So since I had no currant books... so I wrote this. It was the first story that I have wrote all on paper first. It took forever to type though. I hope you liked it! I worked really hard!
-If when you received "Into the Gauntlet", and Dan and Amy's vision had been the legit words on the pages at the end... how would you have reacted?
-I would have thrown the book at the wall muttering about struggling authors these days, angrily cartwheeled to Botswana, locked my self in a shed with a bag of Almond Joys and a purple zebra, and then feed the zebra all the almonds and eat all the joy. After eating enough joy to overcome my depression, I would fly back home and reunite with my family in a scene so dramatic, it would have been worthy of Oprah. So, yeah!
-Creepily enough, this makes too much sense.
-Know someone who would like this? Send them the link!
Where Adventures Begin...
Alex Almighty