B is for Blinded by the Light

“Want to play a game? she asked out of the blue one lazy Saturday morning.

“Video game or board game?”

“I was thinking about something outside.”

He looked out the window and nodded. “It’s a gorgeous day. We could go for a hike or something. But that’s not really a game. What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking about a scavenger hunt.”

He frowned. “A scavenger hunt? Like a kid’s birthday party game?”

She laughed. “Not exactly. Do you want to play?”

“Ok…”

She walked behind him and put a blindfold on him. He was suddenly in darkness and feeling more than a little unsure. “What are you doing?”

“I’m not even going to answer that. Now, I’m going to walk you into the backyard. You have 20 minutes to find 20 pieces of lingerie in the yard while blindfolded. There are 30 there so I’ve even given you a slight advantage. Just remember to ‘watch’ where you are going.”

He started to pull the blindfold down, but she put her hand over his. “No peeking or the game is over.”

“How am I supposed to do this? And WHY?” He was a little embarrassed by the whine he heard creeping into his voice.

“For the prize, silly. And methodically and carefully, I would think.” She helped him to the backdoor and opened it. “Step down.” After about 30 shuffling steps, she stopped him. “You are in the middle of the yard. Time starts now.”

He reached down and felt nothing but grass. At first he had no idea what direction he was facing until he realized that the sun was on his back. He started walking forward slowly with his hands in front of him. His right hand brushed a tree and felt something soft. He grabbed it and held it up high. “One!”

“Don’t get cocky, kid.” She laughed from a distance. He felt ridiculous, but then his competitiveness kicked in. He was going to win this. Between shuffling and crawling, he managed to find the 20 items and was about to take off the blindfold. She stopped him and helped him to a blanket that was on the ground. The sun was directly in his face–it felt good, but he could only see a little light around the edges of the blindfold.

He felt her standing over him and then clothes started to fall on his face and arms. Just as he was about to ask if he could look, she stepped to his head and removed the blindfold. The sunlight blinded him after the darkness. He blinked slowly, but could only see little dots.

“Your prize…” And she laughed, knowing full well that he couldn’t see a thing.