A/N: Thanks again to Terry L. Gardner for the continued (and welcome!) reviews; also, thank you to Iron Guard for the insightful review of Impossibilities. I had actually had a few ideas for weird fantasies/characters before hearing from you, so they are definitely in the future. In fact, the next story I plan to post will deal with one of them. Meantime, enjoy this one!
§ § § - June 17, 1994—Los Angeles, California
Thirty-one-year-old Jenny Knight stretched up for the highest handle she could reach on the huge, colorful wheel and wrapped the fingers of both hands firmly around it, then squeezed her eyes shut and pulled on it, using all the weight she could. The wheel began to roll, beeping with each dollar fraction that passed the red arrow, while she took two or three steps back and tried again to figure out what she was going to do with that kayak she'd won after placing the winning bid that had first gotten her onstage.
Bob Barker—now white-haired, but still as sharp as ever and equally familiar—said into his microphone, "That was quite a spin! Let's see if Jenny's luck holds out, folks. First she won herself a kayak; then she played 'Cliffhanger' and won a brand-new Toyota Celica. If she keeps going like this, she just…might…win…" As he spoke he watched the wheel, which had slowed considerably. Jenny came out of her thoughts and focused on the wheel as well, realizing that the big $1.00 figure was dipping ever closer to that crucial red arrow. Barker had timed his little impromptu speech like the consummate pro he was: as he said the word win, the $1.00 figure beeped onto the red arrow and came to a stop. "A thousand dollars! Jenny Knight wins one thousand dollars and goes on to the Showcase Showdown!" He beamed at Jenny, who gaped at him in disbelief for a moment before it sank in and she went over to stand underneath the lighted sign that now flashed $1.00. The TV camera followed her and she grinned foolishly into it, waving like a little girl.
"Cut!" yelled the director through his megaphone and the frenetic game-show music Jenny had heard ever since she was in elementary school ceased. Several stagehands came out to move props; cameras shifted; and a makeup girl trotted out and freshened Barker's already immaculate face. Jenny scuttled aside as the director impatiently waved her away and managed to locate Tara and Dania in the audience; they were both standing and waving like madwomen, screaming themselves hoarse.
This can't be happening, Jenny told herself. She hadn't been at all sure about this whole venture. Since she and Dania had come to visit Tara at her gleaming new condo in Rancho Palos Verdes, this whole trip had been like a slice cut out of her normal dreary life. She and Dania hadn't heard from Ray in almost a year now, and they had decided things were settled enough that they could take some time off. Besides, Tara had been hounding Jenny for ages to come visit her in L.A. So here they were, and the very first thing Tara had done was announce that she had tickets to The Price is Right and they were going, no matter what. However, the show was so popular that they hadn't actually been able to get in the door till today, Friday.
They'd slapped big yellow price-tag-shaped stickers bearing their names in fat black marker on the visitors' shoulders; Dania's name had been misspelled on the first try and they had to give her a new sticker. Then the three of them had squirmed through people to get the best seats they could find, which were no closer than the tenth row. Tara had decided that was more than close enough to see the stage, and they'd settled down in their seats and waited for the excitement to start. Jenny had always been skeptical of hysterically excited game-show contestants; but once the day's taping actually got under way and contestants were being selected, it was hard not to get caught up in the enthusiasm.
Then after the first commercial break, to her own shock and Tara's and Dania's shrieking delight, Rod Roddy's voice had boomed throughout the studio in response to Barker's request for a new contestant: "Well, let's see, Bob…how about…JENNY KNIGHT!" Jenny had slouched in her seat, unwilling to get up in front of hundreds of people; but Dania was bodily pushing at her by then, so she got up and picked her way to the front, feeling silly and convinced her face was the color of the planet Mars. But Bob Barker had greeted her warmly and welcomed her to the show, then turned and introduced the next item up for bids—the kayak, which Jenny had promptly proceeded to win.
And now she'd won the first Showcase Showdown and had a chance to catch her breath. Seated in the front row with the other contestants, both those who had made it onstage and those who were still trying to place a winning bid, she'd gotten acquainted with a woman from northern Indiana who was here on her first-ever trip west of the Rockies and operating on at least a gallon of pure caffeine. Now Jenny watched her try again and again to get onstage and took the opportunity to enjoy watching the next three contestants playing their games of chance. Her Indiana friend finally got onstage as the day's last contestant and lost the game she played. The second Showcase Showdown commenced, and Jenny had to laugh when the Indiana woman snagged the runner-up position on a sixty-five-cent roll and leaped in place as if she had just won the crown jewels.
During the next break, Tara came around front and grinned at her. "Now aren't you glad I got those tickets?" she asked.
Jenny rolled her eyes teasingly. "It's not over yet, y'know. Wait and see what happens in the Showcase Showdown. My friend from Indiana up there is so gung-ho, I almost hate to go up against her."
Tara snickered. "Yeah, she sure is a live wire. Well, just remember, Jenny, all's fair in love and war. And game shows are just another form of war—so get your ammo ready." She gave Jenny a thumbs-up and scuttled back to her seat.
The director came around in her wake and brought her up to stand behind one of the two podiums set up for the Showcase Showdown contestants. "Now you're top winner, so you stand here next to Bob," he explained briskly and added to the Indiana woman, "Connie, you're on this side as runner-up. Now you can take bid suggestions from the audience, but don't take too long—we're on a schedule here and we have one more show to tape after this one. So we gotta keep it moving. Got it, ladies?"
Jenny and Connie both nodded and took their places, grinning nervously at each other. Some yards away across the stage, Bob Barker was having his makeup freshened again while stage hands bustled back and forth behind him like ants swarming over a sidewalk. The three models came out from backstage somewhere and found their marks, relaxing their stances and chatting to one another. Jenny looked out into the audience and made a point of locating Tara and Dania; she knew they were going to try to help her with her bid, and she wanted to be able to find them easily.
Barker came over to stand beside Jenny's podium and the director waved at some unseen personage offstage, who flashed a sign requesting quiet. The noisy audience settled into relative silence, and the director counted down at Barker. The red light on the nearest camera came on, and Barker launched into his cheerful explanation of the Showcase Showdown right on cue. Jenny only half listened; she had watched The Price is Right since she was in fifth grade, and the Showdown hadn't changed in over twenty years, except for the part about winning both showcases if your bid was within a hundred dollars of the actual retail price. Jenny had been having more than her share of luck all the way through this show and didn't expect that to happen; she wasn't even sure she wanted it to.
"Your first showcase," she heard Rod Roddy thunder cheerfully, "is a train of goodies to help get you through a rainy day!" He then went on to describe a brand-new entertainment system (complete with popcorn machine), a hot tub and a cash prize of fifty thousand dollars, "for that rainy-day fund." The popcorn machine made Jenny laugh; but Connie bounced up and down like a yo-yo every time a new prize was introduced, so Jenny did what ninety-nine percent of top winners did and passed the first showcase on to Connie. Connie proceeded to peer into the audience for an interminable sixty seconds before deciding to bid seventy-five thousand on her prize package.
"Connie has bid $75,000," Barker announced, and the amount flashed onto the front of Connie's podium. "Very good." He then turned to Jenny, whose stomach abruptly began to flutter for the first time all day, and said with a flourish, "Jenny, this is your showcase!"
"Your showcase features the Dream Team," boomed Rod Roddy jovially, "showing off some dreamy prizes!" The three models, dressed in basketball uniforms, waved at the camera and mugged in hammy fashion. "The first prize is the perfect place to dream in at night: a four-poster bed!" A door slid open to reveal a gorgeous creation in mahogany, plumped up to the nines with the fluffiest down comforter Jenny had ever seen and with clouds of delicate lace draped across the stout posters. It was the sort of bed Jenny had always wanted as a child. All of a sudden she wanted very much to win this showcase.
"Some women wish they could have a dreamboat in their lives," remarked Rod Roddy with a broad grin in his voice, while one of the models pretended to swoon over a poster of Tom Cruise. "You, on the other hand, will have a fantastic time in a real dream boat—a beautiful new catamaran!" Oh my God, thought Jenny. Dania took after Brian in her affinity for the water; she looked into the audience and saw Dania's rapt expression. Between that bed and that boat, I don't see how they can possibly top this.
Rod Roddy finished describing the boat, and Jenny returned her attention to the stage, where one of the models was donning a grass skirt over her basketball shorts. "Susie's dream is to visit the tropics…but you have the chance to make your wildest dreams come true with a trip to Fantasy Island!" Another door slid open, revealing a painting of a tropical landscape dominated by palm trees and beach views, with the words FANTASY ISLAND in gleaming white script across the scene. The audience went positively insane, roaring with deafening enthusiasm. Jenny's hand drifted to her mouth and she gawked, forgetting the camera, the stage, the audience and everything else. Memories came flying back to her and she barely heard Roddy's voice. "Yes, it's a trip for four to gorgeous, exotic Fantasy Island, the world's most popular vacation resort, where your host, Mr. Roarke, can make any dream come to life. You and your party will have the best accommodations, five-star restaurants, and the time of your lives soaking up sun on the beach and exploring this astounding paradise. Your most cherished fantasy can be made reality with the help of Mr. Roarke." Jenny was shaking. I have to win this thing! "And this showcase of dreams can be yours…if the price is right!"
Bob Barker, unaware of Jenny's stunned state, turned to her and inquired, "And what do you bid on this showcase, Jenny?"
Jenny tried frantically to remember how much her mother had paid for their trip to that very same island fifteen years before. Maybe Mr. Roarke's price had gone up. Airfare must undoubtedly be more than it had been back then, so she'd have to take that into account. And would it cost more if she actually had a fantasy granted, instead of just taking a vacation there? She glanced at the prizes, belatedly remembering that she also had to consider the bed and the catamaran when she made her bid, and hunted for Tara and Dania in the audience. Tara was waving like a maniac; when Jenny's gaze connected with hers, she held up seven fingers. Jenny squinted at her in disbelief and tilted her head, just as Barker prodded, "What's your bid, Jenny?"
She saw Tara glare at her for a second or two and again hold up seven fingers. It didn't seem right to Jenny; it sounded like far too much. She went with a gut instinct, turned to Barker and said, "Fifty-five thousand, two hundred dollars."
Barker nodded and faced the camera. "Jenny has bid $55,200 on her showcase; Connie has bid $75,000. Who will win? We'll find out right after these messages!"
The director signaled a cut and Jenny wilted a little over her podium. "You okay?" yelled Connie over the incessant audience noise.
"Yeah," Jenny said, trying to breathe slowly and deeply. "I'll be fine." She hadn't thought of the family trip to Fantasy Island in ages. She still had a scrapbook of pictures somewhere, shots she had taken after Mom's fantasy had ended and they'd attended a luau. She remembered Mr. Roarke as an elegant, benevolent, yet mysterious man, approachable at times, remote at others. He'd had a midget assistant back then, hadn't he?…and some girl about David's age as well, his ward or something. Come to think of it, David had had a crush on the girl, whose name Jenny couldn't remember now. She'd have to dig out those old shots again, even if she lost to Connie.
Barker noticed her plight and had someone bring her a cup of water, for which she thanked him with a shy smile. She drank greedily and handed the cup back just as the director waved people back to their places and the audience settled down on request. Once more the director counted down and Barker essentially repeated his spiel of a moment before. "Now let's see who's going to walk away with a showcase today. First, our runner-up: Connie has bid $75,000. The actual retail price of her showcase is…" He plucked a small envelope out of a Plexiglas holder on Connie's podium and lifted the flap, withdrawing a little card. "Eighty-seven thousand, four hundred and ninety-five dollars—a difference of twelve thousand, four hundred and ninety-five dollars." Connie blinked in surprise, but her hell-bent-for-leather grin remained intact. Barker took five steps backward and paused while Jenny gripped the sides of her podium and stared at him intensely.
"Now," Barker continued, "our top winner. Jenny has bid $55,200 on her showcase. The actual retail price is…" Again he lifted out an envelope and pulled up the flap, tugging out a card while Jenny's stomach swooped and soared alternately like a stunt plane. "Fifty-six thousand, eight hundred forty-four dollars—a difference of one thousand, six hundred and forty-four dollars. Jenny, you win!"
Jenny gaped at him, stunned, then screamed, "I win?"
"You win!" Barker repeated and started to laugh when she stumbled out from behind her podium to see the amount of the difference between her bid and the stated price. It was really true! She had just straightened up to turn to Barker and thank him when she was attacked by Tara and Dania, both screaming their heads off. The audience was applauding and cheering enough to bring down the building; her ears were ringing from the cacophony and her head was spinning with the overwhelming realization that she'd won a whole raft of incredible prizes. Dazed and giggling uncontrollably, she let Tara lead her over to examine the bed, then the boat, and then the stylized tropical scene that denoted the trip.
"Get your favorite fantasy ready, Jenny," Tara shouted gleefully into her ear. "We're going back to Fantasy Island!"