Stranger Surmise

As I sit in the backroom waiting for the game host to call my name, I hear loud music begin to play and a crowd start to cheer and clap their hands. I am watching the television that is hanging in the waiting room when the show begins to start. Different colored lights begin to light up the stage and I see the host walk out and announce the start of the show. I hear, “Hello ladies and gentlemen. I am your host, Richard Jones. Welcome to tonight's game show of Stranger Surmise, where two strangers that know nothing about each other try to guess what is true about the other person for a chance to win one hundred thousand dollars! Each contestant will be asked a total of five questions with three multiple choices to choose from for each question. The contestants have given us the correct answers about themselves when surveying for the show, so we know which answers are correct. But again, the stranger will have no idea which answer is correct about our other contestant. Keep in mind that no contestant has ever guessed all five questions correctly about the other stranger to win the one hundred thousand dollar prize!” 

Once again the crowd begins to cheer loudly right before Richard Jones says, “Now let's introduce our first stranger, Tom Wilson!” The producer of the show signals me to make my way out toward the main stage and tells me, “Good luck, stranger.” I feel nervous and my body temperature seems to be rising as I walk out to the stage. I know that it is just my anxiety acting up, knowing that I will be in front of a live crowd of hundreds of people and that I will be on the television in front of millions of viewers. I am not too worried though because I know that once I introduce myself my anxiety will clear off. I have a big smile on my face, walk up to Richard Jones and shake his hand, and he shakes mine back with a firm grip. Jones says “Welcome to Strangers Surmise. We are happy to have you. Are you ready to test your luck?” I continue to smile and can still feel the butterflies in my stomach from the nerves, but I reply, “Absolutely! I am ready to take home that one hundred thousand dollars!” Jones has a gentle giggle to my response and replies, “I sure hope so you would be the very first winner.” I then head over to the contestant chair located in the middle of the stage and take my seat waiting for the next contestant to be called.

Richard Jones says, “ Now, ladies and gentlemen, it is time to bring out our next contestant and the stranger that Tom will be competing against. Let us welcome Missy Moore to the stage!” I could not believe what I just heard. My eyes get wide as I try to hide the surprised expression on my face. I was thinking to myself that there is no way this is the same Missy Moore that I dated for four years and was engaged to for another three years before our relationship ended due to her job relocating her to another country. Missy then comes out onto the stage and introduces herself to Richard Jones. I am in complete disbelief that I am seeing Missy again and do not understand how we can be contestants against each other on Stranger Surmise. Before my facial expressions give anything away, I change my demeanor and act like I do not know Missy. As Missy begins walking over to her contestant chair I stand up, with an enormous smile on my face, reaching out to shake Missy’s hand. Missy is looking back at me with a gorgeous grin on her face and as she begins to shake my hand she pulls me in close for a hug and whispers in my ear, “Just go with it.” With a joking tone, Jones says, “Well, it looks like we have a very friendly stranger playing against you, Tom.” The entire crowd begins to laugh as I give a slight giggle. 

Jones continues, “Okay, let’s begin playing Stranger Surmise! The first question is for you, Tom. By looking at Missy, what would you say is her favorite food? The three choices are Chinese food, Italian food, or Mexican food. You have thirty seconds to choose your answer. Your time begins now.” As the clock begins to count down, without saying a word, I click on Italian food. Jones says, “That was fast. Let us see if your guess was correct.” The screen then highlights the correct answer green. The crowd starts to clap and Jones says, “Great guess, Tom!” Let’s see if Missy has the same luck as you. Jones looks at Missy and asks, “What is Tom’s favorite sport? The three choices are basketball, football, or baseball? Your time starts now.” Missy looks like she has no idea what the answer is and begins making a clicking noise with her tongue, then Missy says,  “I am not sure so I am just going to say baseball?” Jones says “That is correct! I guess her luck is pretty great, too.” I begin to smile and act like I am surprised that she got the answer correct, but I knew that she would get it correct because Missy and I know everything about each other. Jones looks back at me and says, “Okay, Tom. Are you ready for the second question?” I reply with a snicker, “I sure hope so.” Jones then asks the second question, “Where did Missy attend college?” Your choices are the University of Michigan, New York University, or Vanderbilt University. Your time starts now.” I already know the answer, of course, but I decided to wait until the clock runs down to the last ten seconds to not give any suspicion that I know Missy. Once the clock hits ten seconds I choose my answer, New York University, and Jones replies, “You are correct! Great job, Tom! Keep it up and you may be our first winner to ever take home the hundred thousand dollars.” Jones turns to Missy and gives her the second question, “What would you guess Tom’s profession is? Your choices are architect, postal worker, or a professor. Your time begins now.” Missy does the same thing that she did on the first question and has an unsure expression on her face. She allows the clock to run down before choosing the right answer, architect, and Jones is utterly impressed. Jones says, “Congratulations to both of our contestants! They are doing great, but there can only be one winner, and if there happens to be a tie at the end of all five question then we will go into the bonus questions. Now let’s continue onto question number three.” I stare at Missy and can almost read her mind by the look she is giving me. The look into her eyes was telling me to continue guessing right and win the game. Jones says,”Okay, Tom. Are you ready for question number three?” I respond,“Yes sir. Let’s do this!” Jones reads the question, “What would you say is Missy’s favorite hobby is to do in her free time? Your three choices are hiking, swimming, or taking photos of scenic landscapes. Your time begins now.” I put on a big smile on my face because I know that Missy loved to go for hikes in her free time. That was one of the very first things I learned about her when we first started dating. However, I catch my facial expression and change it as if I was not sure of the correct answer. The clock was at eight and running down, seven, six, five, four, and right before the time hit three I submitted my answer for hiking. Jones looked at me without saying a word. He allowed ten seconds to pass before saying, “Tom, you are…… correct!” The crowd was going wild with applause and whistling. Jones looked at Missy and read her question three, “ Which state is Tom from? Your choices are Texas, New York, or Colorado. Your time starts now.” I knew that Missy would get this answer correct because we first met my senior year of high school when her family moved to New York. But to my surprise, Missy chose Colorado and missed the question on purpose. Jones replied, “I’m sorry, but the correct answer was New York.” The crowd reacts with a couple of applause but does not react the same way as if she were to get the answer correct. Jones says to Missy, “Thank you for playing Stanger Surmise, Missy, but you are now eliminated at this point in the game.” Missy replied, “Thank you for having me and good luck to you, Tom. Win that hundred thousand dollars!” I look at her confused about why she got the answer wrong. But then I see her grin at me before getting out of her chair and I could tell that she wanted me to win the game and that I would get to see her again afterward. Missy then walked off the stage and toward the back of the stage where we had waited for the game to begin. 

Jones looked at me and said, “ Congratulations, Tom. You have two more questions about Missy. If you get these questions correct you will be the first winner to have ever walked away with the hundred thousand dollars! Are you ready to continue?” The crowd is cheering as I replied to him, “I was born ready!” Jones laughed and the crowd got louder. Suddenly, the applause stopped and Jones read the fourth question, “How many siblings does Missy have? Your choices are two brothers, one sister, or no siblings. Good luck, Tom. Your time starts now.” Once again I allow the clock to run down before selecting my answer. “I have no idea,” I say.   “I am just going to guess that she has two brothers.” I clicked on that answer and Jones says, “ Tom, I have to inform you...” pausing before finishing his sentence. I get nervous that maybe Missy put a different answer down when filling out the contestant survey. Then Jones continued, “You are once again correct!” The crowd went wild and got louder than before. I act relieved that I guessed the correct choice even though I already knew the answer.   “Okay, Tom, you are on the last question. If you get this one correct you will walk away with one hundred thousand dollars and make history as being the first winner of the game show, Stranger Surmise!” I began to clap my hands, anticipating the next question. I did not feel nervous, but excitement coursed through my veins. Jones went on, “Tom, for the last question, instead of three choices, you will have five choices.” I replied, “Okay sir, I am ready let’s do this.” Jones read question five, “If Missy could travel anywhere in the world, where would she like to go? Your choices are Fiji, the Blue Lagoon in Iceland,  the Great Ocean Road in Australia, Pitons located in St. Lucia, or Banff National Park in Canada. Good luck, Tom. Your time will start now.” I was filled with excitement, knowing the correct answer. But once again I had to play it off as if I was unsure about which one was the correct answer. “I am not sure. If I had to guess I would say that Banff National Park in Canada would be the correct answer because Missy’s favorite hobby was to go hiking.” Jones replied, “Is that your final answer?” With only a couple seconds left on the clock, I said, “Yes, Banff National Park is my final answer.” I clicked on that choice and waited for Jones to announce the answer. The entire room became silent. Not even the slightest noise arose from the crowd. Jones looked at me and reached his hand out to shake my hand. I shook his hand and heard him say, “Congratulations, Tom. You just won one hundred thousand dollars!” The crowd went crazy, roaring with excitement.  An assortment of different colored balloons and confetti fell from the ceiling. I was in disbelief that I was the first person to win the game show Stranger Surmise. However, I was not thinking about the money that I had just won, but instead, I could not stop thinking about Missy and that I would soon be able to be reacquainted with her again.