TEMPERANCE | jack wilder

vi. the show

When everyone finished with their performance, Merritt was up next for the finale. Backstage everyone watched him as he talked. "At the intermission, we asked you to write down your current bank balance, and seal it in an envelope. Now it's time to take those envelopes out. Everyone take them out. Now, everybody, shout out your name all at once, go." When he said that, everyone in the theater did as instructed. "Clement Frannick?"

A man in one of the balcony seats stood up. "Yeah that's me," he shouted.

"Woah, all the way up there. Okay. Dina Robertson?"

"That's me," Another person in the balcony seat stood up.

"Okay. Names, names, let's go. Josepha Hickey?"

"That's me," A woman a little closer to the stage stood up smiling. "Josepha, I want you to focus on your balance and count from one to ten out loud."

She started counting and Merritt stopped her at five. "Is the first digit five?" he asked her.

"Yes," she answered.

"Do it again, this time, faster." She did what Merritt told her to do and he stopped her at six. He told her to do it again and stopped her at two. "Josepha, is your bank balance five hundred and sixty-two dollars as of today?"

"Yeah, that's what I got."The audience applauded Merritt.

"Unfortunately, you're wrong," he told her. Josepha looked around in, what seemed like, confusion. He moved on to address the woman on the balcony. "Okay, Dina, um. One, four, seven, seven?"

"Yeah," she answered.

"You think it is but, in fact, you, too are wrong," he told her. "Clement, you do not have sixty-five hundred dollars in your account. In fact, everybody stand up. Everybody. Put your envelopes to your forehead. Focus on your number. This is... Oh, dear. Just as I feared. Oh, this is strange. You know, I hate to say this, but you're all wrong. Every last one of you is dead wrong about what you think is in your account."

Daniel, Henley, and Evelynn all entered the stage as he finished his statement. "Okay, you can sit down now," Daniel whispered something to Merritt. "Oh! Yea, I almost forgot. This evening would not be possible if it weren't for our great benefactor Arthur Tressler. Big applause! Big applause!"

Daniel then started speaking. "Art, actually, why don't you come up on stage for the finale?"

"Come down, Art," Evelynn, Merritt, and Henley encouraged.

"There he goes. Okay, good."

"Now, Art, did you fill out your envelope? Well, no need. We've done it for you."

Evelynn saw Jack come out on stage with a very large envelope.

"Now, Art, I took a guess. North of one forty. Am I right?" H questioned at Henley and Evelynn took out the big paper with his amount in it. "That's one hundred forty million, by the way."

"I'm sorry, Merritt. How can he be right about his balance and everyone else be wrong?" Henley questioned.

"Yeah, it makes no sense," Evelynn added.

"I think possibly because he, too, is wrong. Everybody, take out your paper and using the flashlight under your seat, start to warm up that paper. I think your correct balance will begin to appear. Now, Art, don't worry we have a flashlight for you, too." Evelynn watched Jack as he walked back on stage with a big LED light. He started to wave it around the big piece of paper and the numbers started changing.

"What's going on there, Daniel?"

"Wait, this is weird. A second ago, it said one hundred forty-four million five hundred seventy-nine thousand six hundred fifty-one dollars but now it says seventy thousand dollars less."