Scavenger Hunt

Two girls go on a simple scavenger hunt. Contest entry.

“Okay Sue, what do we have left?” Karen asked.

“Let’s see, we’ve got a can, a paper clip, a sponge and a bar of soap,” Sue replied, as she checked the list. “All that’s left is a bag.”

“Let’s hurry. I want to get it and get back to the party before Marisol does, so I can rub her nose in it.”

“You know it’s just a scavenger hunt. It’s not like we’re winning an Olympic medal.”

“I don’t care. You know I haven’t been able to stand her since the fifth grade. I’m just glad we’re going to different high schools next year.”

“Yes, that should cut down on some of the drama,” Sue said in a dry tone.

“Are you saying I’m overly dramatic?”

“No. Maybe a bit obsessive. You do tend to fixate on things that aren’t all that important. Really, who cares what Marisol thinks?”

“I don’t care what she thinks, I just want to beat her. Now where can we find a bag?”

The two girls looked around as they crossed through the park. It was getting on towards evening, so there weren’t that many people around. A few kids were playing on the swings off to their right, and off to their left a man was throwing a frisbee to his dog. There was another man walking on the pathway ahead of them, and they saw him drop something into a garbage can.

“Hey, did that look like a bag he dropped in there?” Sue asked.

“Yeah, it did. Let’s take a look.” The girls hurried up to the garbage can. They saw a brown leather bag about the size of a large purse sitting on top of the trash.

“It doesn’t seem to be in bad shape,” Sue said. “I wonder why he threw it away?”

“Who cares? It’s the last item,” Karen said as she picked it up. “Huh, it’s kind of heavy. Come on, we’ll open it after we get back to the party.”

She started jogging through the park, and Sue hurried to keep up with her.

“Do you think this is a good idea? He must have thrown it away for a reason.”

“Maybe he just didn’t like it. Like I said, we can check it out when we get to the party.”

They came out of the park and crossed the street. The house with the party was just two blocks away, and Karen kept up a fast pace.

“Is that a helicopter?” Sue asked, looking up. “It seems kind of low.”

“Yeah, it does. I wonder…wait, is that Marisol and Francine over there?” They saw the two girls turn the corner ahead of them, coming towards the house from the opposite direction.

“That is her. Let’s run!”

They started running towards the house. The other two girls spotted them and started running too. They were both approaching the front steps when squad cars swerved into the street from all directions, sirens blaring. They screeched to a halt around them and police leapt out with guns drawn.

“Police! Down on the ground! Now!”

All four girls stood stunned. A van pulled up and a SWAT team in full tac gear poured out of the back. The helicopter swooped overhead.

“I said get down!” The girls dropped to the ground, covering their heads with their hands. The police surrounded them.

“They were headed to that house,” one of the cops said, pointing. The SWAT team surrounded it, and an officer started banging on the door.

“Police! Open up!”

“We didn’t do anything!” Karen said through her tears.

“Just stay down.”

The door opened and Mrs. Williams, who was hosting the party, looked out in confusion. “What is going on?”

“Ma’am, do you know these girls?”

“Of course, they’re here for a slumber party!”

“Wait, what?”

It took a while to sort things out. The police finally had the girls sit up. A plain clothes officer who seemed to be in charge came over and looked down at them.

“Why did you take that bag out of the garbage?”

“It’s..it’s a scavenger hunt,” Sue said. “It was on our list.”

“A bag of cocaine was on your list?”

“C..cocaine? We didn’t know what was in it, we just needed a bag. Here, look,” Sue held out the list and the officer took it. He read it and shook his head.

“You girls just ruined a three-month investigation. We were all set up to pick up the pusher who was coming for that bag. Now the whole thing is blown.”

“It’s not our fault. We didn’t know,” Karen cried.

“It figures you would get a bag of cocaine,” Marisol said with a sneer.

“Shut up, Marisol, you fat cow!”

“What did you call me, you…”

“Enough!” the officer said, and the girls stopped talking. The police began to sheepishly holster their guns. “Okay, looks like we’re done here. Let’s pack it in.”

The police got back into their cars. The girls walked unsteadily into the house and collapsed on the sofas and chairs. Mrs. Williams brought them ice cream.

“Sorry about calling you a cow,” Karen mumbled. “I was just upset.”

“It’s okay, I get it. But come on, a bag of cocaine? Really?” she started to giggle.

“It’s not funny,” Karen said, but she was laughing too. Then they were all laughing, rolling off onto the floor. They laughed until they were out of breath.

“Okay, that was fun,” Sue said when she finally calmed down. “How about a game of cops and robbers?”

They threw their spoons at her.