The Winner

PART TWO

James had also been chosen for the "raffle" though it was a bit strange, he did not know these kinds of things happened. He was not particularly tall, nor short, and was not exactly athletic, but was not slovenly either. He had been in P.E when they had called him. He arrived in his gym shorts and jersey emblazoned with the school colors which clashed with his blond hair. Still 250,000 dollars? Who knew what one could do with that kind of money, to his young mind the possibilities were nigh endless.

A large stage, decorated with long hanging, velvet curtains was positioned at the front of the room. There was a rather long, sizable flat screen TV sitting on top of the stage with all sorts of surround sound and other digital equipment. Looking around the room, Massey spots another student who had entered the room opposite of her. And like the others, he was also white. She calmly approaches him and asks, "Hey, do you know why we were chosen to be here?"

He looked at her, seeing that she was the only dark face amongst others.

"Umm something about a lottery I think?" he responded, " I haven't heard of it till now, but I guess were both in. I'm James, Whats your name?"

Before Massey could respond, the lights suddenly dimmed and a white man wearing a black suit energetically strolls onto the stage and begins speaking.

"Good morning students of PS333. Boy, oh boy, do I have quite the surprise for you so listen up. We're gonna play a very simple game where you can win 250,000 dollars! And all you have to do is arrange a set of shapes to form the preselected image. Whoever arranges the shapes to get the right image is going home with 250,000 dollars! That's right. Alright, so I have a list of students who I will be calling up to give this puzzle a shot."

The man then gestures to the massive flat-screen TV, which turns on and shows the three digital shapes on it that he mentioned. "Would Sarah Minor please step forward?" A brown-haired girl jogs up to the stage all happy like and stands beside the host, who smiles at her, showing a bright row of straight, pearly, white teeth.

"Hello Sarah," said the host, "Here we have four shapes. We have two triangles and two thin rectangles. Alright, now all you need to do is take these shapes and configure them to make the preselected image that we already have in mind. If you get it right you're our winner. Are you ready?" The girl nods. A bell sound plays, and the girl begins to arrange the shapes on the big screen so that it makes a bridge - looking figure with the two rectangular shapes laying across the tip of the cones.

After she finishes, the host looks at the girl and says, "Alrighty, is that your final choice?" The girl nods. Then the host says, "Okay, is this the right shape?" An incorrect buzzard sound goes off, and he says, "Awww, I'm sorry, Sarah, but that's not the right shape." The girl frowns and pouts as she leaves the stage.

Meanwhile, Massey studied the shapes carefully on the big screen and she imagined various combinations of figures she could make with them.

"Well shit," James groaned. "So much for that," he said, " Hard, cold logic is not really my strong suit. I hate math, and I'm not that bad at solving puzzles. But 250gs... that's a shame. But I guess I have to try anyway. But who knows? Maybe I'll get super lucky."

The host glanced at the card in his hand and calls out, "Next, is Dillon Anderson. Dillon, come on up here." A red-haired, skater type guy walks up to the stage.

"Alright Dillon," the host said, "Using the same shapes, we need you to make the preselected image. You have one minute. You may start."

When the time starts, Dillon immediately begins re-arranging the shapes. And in the end, he connects the two triangles to make a diamond, and he sets the rectangles at each point of the diamond shape.

After he finishes, the host asks Dillon if that is his final answer.

The young man nods.

Then the host says, "Is this the right shape?"

Another buzz noise rings out. The host frowns, "I'm sorry Dillion, but this is not the right image." Then, Dillon shuffles back to his seat. Within the next 10 minutes, the host calls forth 10 other students, who all fail to construct the right image. Then finally, the host looks at his card, again and calls out, "James Thickershaft. James come on down!"