August Rain in Austin

Let the Games Begin (A Mysterious Occurrence)

Hazel’s dark brown eyes shot over to her sister as she heard Shan speak, wondering what she was doing. “Shan…” she warned through her teeth in agitation.

Shan seemed to be ignoring her sister, her eyes glued to her captive audience. “Well, what do you say? Shall we play?” She grinned at them expectantly.

Both men looked equal parts curious and confused. “Uh, depends; what kind of game?” Mark inquired, raising an eyebrow. Ray merely sighed, slightly more apprehensive than his friend.

“Well, it’s like this; according to one psychological study done, if a large group of people walked into an elevator facing a certain way, individuals would conform and face the exact same way. So that’s the game. We all face the back of the elevator and see how many unsuspecting people we can get to do the same thing as us!” Shan smiled triumphantly.

But there were definite issues with this game. “Um, well I don’t really think that would work anymore because the study you’re talking about is widely known; it’s almost common knowledge now, so no one would fall for it, sis.” Hazel sighed.

Then Mark piped up with another problem. “Besides, we’ve arrived to the second floor, and this is my stop. And yours too, I think…” The elevator doors opened and all four walked off of the elevator into the empty hallway.

Shan paused for a second, still processing the failure. Then, in an undeterred voice, “So here’s the game; I’m thinking of a number between—”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Hazel said, patting her sister on the back (hard) with one hand, her other hand over her eyes in disbelief. Of all the things that Shan could have done…

Shan seemed to deflate visibly. “Sorry… I’m just… We are both really big fans, and I just saw an opportunity, and I took it. Sorry, I guess I got carried away,” she was smiling as she spoke, but it was obviously an attempt to mask her embarrassment.

But Mark seemed amused by the two, all the same. “Yeah, that kind of failed. But I love meeting fans, don’t you Ray?” He turned his attention briefly to the Puerto Rican, who nodded in agreement.

Shan seemed to straighten up at that. “In that case, you wouldn’t mind honoring just one request from me, right?”

Mark paused. “It… depends, I guess? Maybe.” He made sure to stay noncommittal in case these girls went a little overboard with the request.

Shan seemed to read his mind as she smiled and said “Don’t worry, it’s nothing weird or even that difficult. We’re just going to flip a coin; a regular, everyday coin,” she showed the men both sides to prove that it wasn’t a double-headed coin. “Heads we win, and we get to hang out with you guys for an hour. Tails we lose, and you can go about your day as planned.” She looked up at the m curiously. “What do you say?”

Both men exchanged a glance until Ray just shrugged, as if to say “What the hell, why not?” They didn’t have any specific plans either way.

Mark turned to face Shan again and shrugged too. “Sure. I’m pretty sure we got this.” A confident smile spread across his face. “But I flip the coin; no tricks,” he laughed, half joking, as he held his hand out for the quarter. Shan handed it to him and they all watched as he flipped it into the air.

Hazel and Shan held their breath as time seemed to slow, the quarter twirling through the air until gravity once again took hold of it and it landed back into Mark’s palm. As he removed his other hand to look at the result, a sly smile crossed his face and he glanced over at
Shan in triumph. “Looks like we have a winner.” He lowered his palm even further to reveal the backside of the coin.