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The Pre-Spring Scavenger Hunt

Twenty years of searching brings great rewards!

By Tanya Published 3 years ago 6 min read
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The Pre-Spring Scavenger Hunt
Photo by Embla Munk Rynkebjerg on Unsplash

Nineteen years in a row, Nikki participated in the city-wide “Pre-Spring Scavenger Hunt.” Nineteen years in a row, she had tracked all the clues and the answers to each clue. Nineteen years, she had won twelve minor prizes, including a pet rock, a necklace, and a gift certificate to the local book store. Her favorite prize though, was the first. The very first clue to the first annual Pre-Spring event took her to the stationery store, where she was awarded a Moleskine journal. It was a simple black notebook with ivory pages sewn in. The little black book was held together with a simple elastic band and had a ribbon to mark your page. Nikki decided right then and there that she would use this notebook to keep track of the rest of the clues, hoping it would help her win the $1000 grand prize that year.

So far though, the grand prize had always been just beyond her grasp.

Few “annual” events in the little town of Midland lasted more than a few years, so the fact that the Pre-Spring Scavenger Hunt was getting ready to celebrate its twentieth year, was definitely something to celebrate. Because of this great distinction, the grand prize this year was not going to be a measly $1000 as it had been every other year. No, twenty years meant a $20,000 celebration!

Oh, the things she could do with that money! Grandma always told her not to count her chickens before they hatched, but it was still fun to dream about spending the prize money. After dreaming of vacations, a new car, packing up the family and moving to Timbuktu, and other such extravaganzas, Nikki knew if she won, she would use the money to finish the add-on to her home. She talked to a contractor about it when Grandma first started to talk about going to “the old lady’s home.” Finishing the extra space and moving Grandma in would mean that the woman who lovingly raised her after her parent’s trouble with the law, would remain close no matter what. Grandma loved spending time with Nikki’s husband and two boys as well. They could all help take care of each other.

The Scavenger hunt started February first each year, with one clue provided on the radio, another in the newspaper, and a third clue posted on the library bulletin board every day for 28 days. The clues on the radio and in the newspaper would lead to a minor prize, and the library clue would lead to the grand prize. The goal was for two minor prizes to be awarded each day, and the major clues would add up so that the grand prize was won during the last week of the hunt. Only three times in the past nineteen years was the grand prize token discovered before expected. The scavenger hunt helped residents get excited about their town, taught a little bit of history, introduced new businesses, and brought some joy during the long boring time between Christmas and springtime.

Fourteen days into this year’s hunt, Nikki won a box of chocolate. She was now ineligible for any additional minor prizes this season but was still permitted to try for the grand prize. Now, on day twenty, she was fairly confident she had it narrowed down to a four-block area. The clues were getting more difficult instead of easier. Probably because of the amount of this year’s grand prize, the game creators at the Chamber of Commerce did something completely unexpected. They decided to tie in hints from prior years to guide some of this year’s clues. Things like “The altitude is higher than the prize of 2015” or “The hill from 2019 is twelve miles away” were common themes.

Looking through her Moleskine, Nikki reviewed past hunts. Tracking the clues and answers all these years gave her insight that she hoped others may have forgotten about. This morning’s clue told her that the token leading to the grand prize was exactly 20 feet from the spot at the bar where another token was found. But this one did not give the year.

The third year of the hunt, the token was found in a flower pot outside Jelly’s Cookie Bar. Year seven was at Ryan’s Gym under a set of curl bars. Then there was the year they hid it at the park in the arm of a bench near the monkey bars. Only Jelly’s was within the four blocks she had narrowed her search to.

Working from home gave Nikki the flexibility she needed right now to be able to leave to look for the token. With tape measure in hand, she arrived at Jelly’s Cookie Bar and fortunately found no one else there. The flowerpot was a wide ceramic bowl-shaped pot designed by the owners of the pottery shop that occupied the space where the cookie bar now stood. Nikki looked around at likely hiding spots. Twenty feet wasn’t very far. It obviously was not in the middle of the street, and there was nothing similar to the flowerpot where you could hide a token on the sidewalk nearby. Perhaps it was in one of the shops. The Chamber always tried to incorporate some history into the place the token would be found, so that would likely leave out the Cookie Bar, but nothing else was within the twenty feet. She had her journal with her, so she decided to review the clues yet again. Wait a minute! A higher altitude! Looking up, Nikki noticed for the first time the flag pole in the flowerpot. It was easy to overlook with the advertising banner running from the pot to a spot about halfway up. About two feet from the top of the soil was a small handle attached to a rope running up the pole. Looking around furtively, Nikki turned the handle until a tiny grey cloth envelope came down the pulley system. Hands shaking, she opened the envelope and pulled out the grand prize token that had been placed there by the Chamber of Commerce three weeks ago.

Smiling as she went to claim her prize, Nikki couldn’t help but think about how much she was going to enjoy having Grandma come live with her and the boys. After dropping the $20,000 cashier’s check at the bank, she called the contractor to get him started on the renovations, then drove to Grandma’s apartment where she was just in time to share her good news and stop Grandma from signing the papers that would move her into the nursing home.

The weeks to follow would find Nikki going through photo albums and listening to stories of Grandma’s childhood, the same stories she had heard many times before, but never grew tired of hearing.

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About the Creator

Tanya

At 52 years of age, I still haven't figured out what I want to be when I grow up. Discovering Vocal gives me another outlet to discover my inner voice. I hope my stories bring joy to your day.

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