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Jul 3, 2017 17:38:57 GMT -7
Post by Alicia Johnson on Jul 3, 2017 17:38:57 GMT -7
Normally when Alicia made cookies, she'd just go to the park and hand them out with no fuss. She could do that, but she wanted to have a little fun. Thus, she baked several dozen cookies in the evening. The cookies were of every variety she could think of: chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, sugar, frosted, filled with candy, literally anything she could think of and had the ingredients for. It took a couple of hours to make that many cookies, and by the time she was done she was sweating from spending so much time by the oven. That was only the first step. Carefully, she wrapped each cookie in plastic wrap, put them in her backpack, and hid it under her bed for later.
In the middle of the night, after everyone went to bed and the city was quiet (or at least more quiet than usual), Alicia snuck out of the house and went to the park. It was dark, the light in the area simulating the moon instead of the sun now, which was perfect for sneaking around and hiding cookies. She didn't hide the cookies in easy spots like under benches or on decorative pillars. No, she hid them in the branches of trees, in tight spaces between fence posts, and on the roof of the small bathroom building; the kind of places people were unlikely to find them on accident. It was supposed to be a hunt, being able to just stumble across them so easily would completely defeat the purpose.
During her hiding session, she wore black clothes and a black hat to make her harder to spot. She also stuck to the bushes and avoided going out in the open as much as possible. When she absolutely needed to, she crawled slowly with her belly on the ground. While there didn't seem to be anyone here right now, if someone wanted to relax in the moonlight or whatever she wanted to be ready. Being seen would ruin the surprise for tomorrow after all.
The next day she pulled out a card table, a white tablecloth, a card that red FREE COOKIES in red text, and a few cookies to keep with her. Alicia set up the table in the middle of the park; somewhere she'd be impossible to miss and was even a little in the way. She took a seat in a folding chair she brought along with her, unwrapped one of the cookies she brought for herself and held it in front of her face, just below her chin. Anyone that asked about the cookies got the same answer:
"Oh, this one's mine. I hid the rest in the park. Go find them, they're delicious!"
If anyone grumbled she'd take a bite of her cookie. It was the whole reason she brought several with her. Making a point was important and she needed to be prepared.
((Note that if you'd prefer to have your character find her while she's hiding the cookies in the middle of the night I am okay with this! Just ignore the part that happens in the morning in that case.))
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Jul 5, 2017 20:07:04 GMT -7
Post by Clark Amasteros on Jul 5, 2017 20:07:04 GMT -7
Clark checked his watch. It was the second hour the five-hour reprieve he had scheduled. He had chosen to spend this reprieve walking along the park with his friend Alexander. Alexander was a little younger than him, and much less informal. Contrasting Clark's finely-adjusted wardrobe and calculated gait, Alexander wore a gray jacket and cargo shorts. His unkempt brown hair hung over his forehead and was just a shade greasy. He walked with a meandering slouch, forcing Clark to keep stopping for his friend to catch up.
It would be an unlikely relationship, if it wasn't a strategic one. The stopping and starting again forced Clark to slow down his thoughts, and allowed him to notice more things. Sometimes this change in thought pattern was all it took to solve a difficult problem or come up with a new idea. On the other side of it, Clark had no idea what Alexander got out of the friendship.
In the moment he stopped looking at his watch, the friend caught up and they both continued walking. Alexander was in the middle of a joke.
"It was easy, because the coast was clear," he finished.
The punchline elicited a small chuckled out of the businessman. Humor was also part of the strategy. Alexander was always prepared with a bunch of jokes.
"Oh hey!" the friend exclaimed, "free cookies!"
Alexander's meandering path had taken them within a couple meters of Alicia's stand. He ran over, and Clark followed.
"I'll take one please,"
He held out his hand expectantly, only to receive an interesting reply. Clark, who was standing back, found this even funnier than the joke. This whole setup took a lot of effort, and wit. He broke out into full laughter for a second.
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Jul 6, 2017 15:26:27 GMT -7
Post by Alicia Johnson on Jul 6, 2017 15:26:27 GMT -7
Alicia nodded along with a small smile on her face. She didn't expect everyone that heard her to think she was serious, especially not the adults. Even if they didn't go looking for cookies, she still felt like she achieved what she came here for. Their day was a little better, cookie or no, and they'd be able to carry on and have something to talk about later. But getting them to actually look for the cookies was a challenge she couldn't turn down.
"Yep. You might want to hurry, or all the little kids that came by earlier will find them first. They're pretty good, don't miss out!"
With that, she took a large bite out of the extra gooey chocolate chip cookie she was holding. Alicia took a moment to chew before grinning, making sure she was grinning wide enough to show off all of her teeth (even if one of them was missing). The chocolate from the cookie was stuck to them to try to emphasize her point.
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Jul 7, 2017 13:04:06 GMT -7
Post by Clark Amasteros on Jul 7, 2017 13:04:06 GMT -7
Alexander looked a little flustered, but attempted to shrug it off.
"Nah, never mind then. That sounds like a lot of work."
He turned around to continue in the direction he was headed, but Clark didn't follow. Not only had Alicia put a lot of effort into this little distraction, but it sounded like a good mental exercise. Clark had been getting a little bored of wandering around aimlessly. This would make the rest of the three hours go just a little bit faster.
"Oh come on Alexander, are you really going to let this kid get the better of you?"
"See now you're just trying to rile me up," the friend responded, "I can't believe you actually want to look for cookies. I don't think I've even seen you eat cookies before."
"It's about the challenge, Alexander." There was a bit of dramatic flair to Clark's voice as he spoke. "If you walk away now, she wins. This girl will have hidden cookies better than you were willing to find them."
Alexander sighed dismissively. There wasn't much point in arguing with Clark.
"Ugh fine."
The businessman switched to addressing Alicia.
"Excuse me, can I ask your name?"
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Jul 8, 2017 11:29:06 GMT -7
Post by Alicia Johnson on Jul 8, 2017 11:29:06 GMT -7
They immediately believed her. That was good because she wouldn't joke about something as serious as cookies. Either that or this guy just wanted to watch his friend squirm. Or both. That she didn't approve of. She also didn't approve of someone getting her cookies today unless they worked for it. Hopefully the guy hunting the cookies would be reasonable and not share. She lowered her cookie and her grin returned to a pleasant smile.
"Alicia. Nice to meet you," she waved. "Is your friend that much better at finding things than you? You don't have to let him have all the fun."
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Jul 8, 2017 19:50:53 GMT -7
Post by Clark Amasteros on Jul 8, 2017 19:50:53 GMT -7
"It's good to meet you, Alicia. Clark Amasteros, proprietor of the 7th West tram line."
He stuck his hand out to shake.
"I don't intend to," he responded. "In fact, it will be interesting to see which of us finds more. This challenge is amusing, thank you."
While Clark was talking, Alexander had already left. The businessman offered a quick nod before setting off himself. His plan was to start in the middle of the park and search in a spiral pattern radiating out. It would cover a lot of ground quickly, and leave the unlikely edges of the park for last. As he made his way to the center, he searched for signs of disturbances near trees and rocks. He paid careful attention to rocks that were either large or produced an angle, although he realized that if a cookie was under a rock, it would either be smashed or protected somehow. Ultimately, he needed more information about what lengths this kid went to. He could make more inferences after he found a couple samples.
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Jul 9, 2017 17:20:36 GMT -7
Post by Alicia Johnson on Jul 9, 2017 17:20:36 GMT -7
Alicia just nodded along again until he stuck out his hand. She briefly considered leaving him hanging until she realized that her hand was covered in chocolate and cookie crumbs because of the way she's been holding this cookie, and that was way better. Thus, she reached out to shake his hand like a reasonable person, and would make sure it was extra firm and extra likely to spread all the chocolate around if he let her.
"Good luck," she said with a mock salute after pulling her hand back.
He'd need it, especially if he was the type he appeared to be. There were 100 or so cookies, and none of them were hidden in plain sight. Some were hidden up in trees, high enough that he'd have to climb, some under rocks, some stuck in tight spaces, some tucked away in bushes, and others buried under whatever she could find. It'd require work to retrieve them, and it seemed unlikely to her that his nice clothes would get away unscathed if he was serious about it. Even she had a few scrapes from hiding them the previous night and had to shower after hiding them. Alicia had never seen so much dirt in her fingernails.
((Feel free to write out the entire hunt if he goes for it, and feel free to make some assumptions about hiding places and how many cookies he ends up getting!))
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Jul 19, 2017 23:12:48 GMT -7
Post by Clark Amasteros on Jul 19, 2017 23:12:48 GMT -7
The first cookie he found was under one of the larger rocks. It was almost pure luck that he found it, because there was no overhang or large shadow. The rock wasn't shifted to an angle and there wasn't digging around it. These were all things he had been looking for, but checked under this specific rock oh a whim. He was glad to find it, but to his dismay, it was in a container, set neatly into a perfectly dug hole completely covered by said rock. This meant that he essentially had to check every single stone large enough. Clark turned around and retraced his steps, but not before carefully putting everything back.
He found that he had passed 3 cookies underneath rocks. As he resumed his spiral from the center, he found that his initial guess about tree branches was correct. Clark checked every tree he came across, although he didn't bother to climb them. He simply made not of their location and moved on. This continued for about five minutes.
The businessman forced himself to reconsider his strategy at this point. There had to be other hiding places besides trees and rocks. Looking around, he noticed the bathroom building, the flowerbeds, and Alexander pulling at something stuck in the fence. Well played, he thought. Clark was mostly surprised Alexander even managed to find one.
After searching all of the stalls and behind most of the pipes, Clark concluded that the bathroom area was free. He found one more stuck in a gap in the fence, and one at the top level of an elaborate water fountain. The next cookies were found in a birdhouse, under a rock again, and one taped under the jacket of a metal statue. By now, Clark's clothes were a little scuffed and dirty, but it was worth it.
Eventually, he returned to Alicia.
"I found 23 cookies in all," he announced. After which he listed from memory the locations of every cookie he found.
"In case you are keeping records, I have consumed none of them. They are still there."
Alexander had started meandering over once he noticed Clark was done.
"I found one in the fence and ate it. That's good enough for me."
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Jul 21, 2017 6:59:37 GMT -7
Post by Alicia Johnson on Jul 21, 2017 6:59:37 GMT -7
Despite his words, she didn't actually expect him to go along with it. Alicia was pleasantly surprised when he did. There was something fun about watching a couple of adults run around with the small number of kids under 10 she got the attention of. Even better watching them get in the dirt with their fancy clothes. Today was definitely a win on several levels. More people came by, and they got the same spiel as everyone else. Sometimes she was met with odd or irritated looks, and some people were happy that their children would have something to keep them occupied for awhile.
Alicia wasn't watching him particularly closely, but she was looking around at everyone searching for her cookies just to see what they were doing, and thus saw him sometimes. It was a little disappointing to see him ignoring the cookies after finding them. She didn't take it as an insult to her cooking or anything, but it was a bit short sighted on his part. The little kids that were hunting for them noticed him finding a few, and went to investigate after he left. It meant they were getting cookies without properly hunting for them. There wasn't much reason to be a jerk about it though.
Admittedly, she hadn't expected him to come back to report to her. It was a weird feeling, like she was a boss of some kind instead of some person that just made some cookies. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling. Alicia grinned and leaned back in her chair, steepling her fingers.
"Congrats, you found about a fourth of them! You just gotta be careful in your strategy. You wouldn't want to reveal their location to everyone right?"
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Jul 22, 2017 18:52:32 GMT -7
Post by Clark Amasteros on Jul 22, 2017 18:52:32 GMT -7
All of that, and he only found a fourth of them? He was tempted to be frustrated. Instead, he chose to admire the fact that he had been outdone by a kid. Clark put on a genuine smile.
"My apologies," he replied.
His intention was to not waste good hiding places, but he didn't realize he may have given away a couple locations.
"I hope I didn't reveal too much. At any rate, thank you for the fun exercise. Farewell."
The businessman checked his watch. The ordeal had taken under an hour, leaving him with a little over two hours left. He turned to his friend.
"Alright Alexander, I dragged through all this. Why don't you choose what we do next."
The two of them walked away.
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Jul 23, 2017 8:43:19 GMT -7
Post by Alicia Johnson on Jul 23, 2017 8:43:19 GMT -7
Alicia's smile was as unwavering as always. She had a few guesses at to what might be going through his mind, but there was no need to vocalize it. It didn't sound like he was being patronizing at least. She just waved and took another bite of one of the cookies she was holding for emphasis.
"Don't worry about it. It'd be a shame if they weren't found right?" She paused to take another bite. "Have a nice day!"
With that, she leaned back in her chair, and continued to watch the current hunters dig around for them. It really was amazing how small things like this could make such a large impact. Even if it did mean she owed her parents like 50 bucks worth of cooking ingredients.
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