The Smole: 21.12-Mother...ly raccoon

Lisa: “Hi Zachary. Just to be sure, you were fired from your job, right?”

Zachary: “Ha! You’re kidding, right? I still have a job! A wonderful job! And a car! And shopping habits! I have a happy, wonderful family!”

Lisa: “Stop kidding yourself already! Wake up and smell the roses! You’ve been living in denial! You lost your job, big deal! You can always get another one!”

Zachary: “Nonsense! I’m still employed! I still earn a salary!”

Lisa: “Oh really? Then tell me what your boss said when you wanted to join the Smole.”

Zachary: “He…he…I don’t remember such things.”

Lisa: “Because it never happened!”

Zachary: “What is wrong with all of you! Why do you all keep insisting I’m out of a job? I know. I bet you’re jealous! I bet you’re the one who was fired from her job, and is now jealous of all those with work!”

Lisa: “I would slap you so hard right now if I could wake you to your senses. I came here to check the accuracy of my journal, not to stand here and be ridiculed!”

Zachary: “Please, stop harping on it already. I don’t want to face the truth! I still have a perfect job! We can go spend on whatever we like! Emily is still alive! That’s how I want to live my life!”

Lisa: “Emily?”

Zachary: “She’s…she’s my daughter.”

Lisa: “I studied the personal particulars by the computer. She’s the one who got into a car accident, right?”

Zachary: “No, no she didn’t! How dare you curse her! She’s alive and healthy! I bet you’re going to curse my wife and son next!”

Lisa: “No I won’t. You need to be strong for your family! If you continue grieving, your family will never get out of this downward spiral! Especially since you still have a son! He needs you! Don’t make him wait till he’s lost a father! Don’t be like me, with two sets of parents yet still orphaned in the end.”

Zachary: “What happened if I may ask?”

Lisa: “It’s a long story…it involved a case I was working on.”

Zachary: “Do you regret being a detective?”

Lisa: “…No. Solving mysteries and crimes is my passion. I just have to be careful with who I implicate from now on. Wait, how did we change the topic from you to me?”

Eleanor: “You keep speaking of playing a good game for Sara, but I bet it’s just a smokescreen.”

Donovan: “Excuse me?”

Eleanor: “If your little Sara is so weak, she doesn’t deserve any sympathy! She needs to learn to toughen it up!”

Donovan: “Don’t make me go there and hit you.”

Eleanor: “I’m so scared.”

Donovan: “I don’t hit women, but do you want to be the first?”

Eleanor: “Ugh, what a chauvinist.”

Donovan: “Okay, that’s it.”

Eleanor: “Are you sure you want to exhibit violence on national TV? When your dear Sara is watching?”

Donovan: “…I can’t believe you. You’re evil.”

Eleanor: “I just learn to survive in this dog-eat-dog-world.”

Donovan: “Should I have joined the Smole? It’s so drama-filled. I thought it would be better than shows like Survivor and Big Brother but I guess I was wrong. With every reality show comes melodrama. I joined this because I wanted to show Sara that you don’t have to be an Eleanor to survive in this world. That you can still win with compassion. Victor had similar reasons for joining, but now I’m beginning to regret my decision…but I have to stick through it, for Sara.”

***

Lisa: “Let’s play a game to get our minds off things. I think the stress is getting to everyone.”

Eleanor: “I need to study my journal. I cannot split suspects because it’s too far in the game to do that. Now that my main suspect had left, I need to reanalyse everything. Who was my other suspect earlier in the game?”

Moxie: “Hey, what’s this? A note! ‘Be in the spotlight for the next mission to earn a correction’. Be in the spotlight? What is that supposed to mean? Of course I’ll be in the spotlight! It’s all about me! The audience needs to see a stronger, better me!”

Donovan: “Hey Moxie want to discuss…what are you reading?”

Moxie: “This is the Mole’s message to me from that mission. I’m to be in the spotlight for the next mission to earn a correction. I really hope I stay on.”

***

Zachary: “You’re revising? I think I shall revise too.”

Lisa: “Great. Thanks to Zachary all the past memories are flooding back in.”

Lisa: “It was like this. I was investigating a crime syndicate. In order to expose their crime I had to meet them personally. They tried to kill me but I feigned death. My adopted brother betrayed me, but fortunately he didn’t think twice about whether I was dead. My adoptive mother was killed when she tried to save me. My father died in a fire before that. My biological mother died too. To avoid suspicion I had to seek refuge in Egypt. I came back disguised to protect my sister, who was living with my adoptive brother. The syndicate escaped. I had to seek justice for myself and my family. So I left clues for my sister to follow and eventually managed to get my brother arrested. My life is a complicated one. Nobody can understand that.”

***

Lisa: “Malcolm left his journal here. I shall try to deceive the others by using it for a while.”

***

Moxie: “Lisa, do you really want to read the journal here?”

Donovan: “What do you have in there…oh! You suspect me?”

Lisa: “You peeped in my journal?”

Moxie: “You were the one who chose to sit here.”

Donovan: “Looks like none of us trust one another.”

***

Quiz time. Lisa uses both her remaining corrections.

Q1: Is the Mole male or female?

A: Male

B: Female

Q2: Which room does the Mole sleep in?

A: Red Room

B: White Room

C: Brown Room

Q3: Has the Mole ever earned a correction?

A: Yes

B: No

Q4: Has the Mole ever used a correction?

A: Yes

B: No

Q5: In Mission 5, who was to the left of the Mole?

A: Donovan Lee

B: Eleanor Darklight

C: Lisa Brown

D: Moxie Hills

E: Zachary Douffet

Q6: Who was seated to the right of the Mole in Mission 5?

A: Donovan Lee

B: Eleanor Darklight

C: Lisa Brown

D: Moxie Hills

E: Zachary Douffet

Q7: In Mission 5, did the Mole keep his/her envelope?

A: Yes

B: No

Q8: In Mission 5, did the Mole take an envelope in the end?

A: Yes

B: No

Q9: How many envelopes did the Mole have in the end of Mission 5?

A: 0

B: 1

C: 2

Q10: Who is the Mole?

A: Donovan Lee

B: Eleanor Darklight

C: Lisa Brown

D: Moxie Hills

E: Zachary Douffet

***

“Welcome to the next execution ceremony! This is the first time it’s being held indoors. Without further ado, shall we begin?”

“Moxie Hills, you chose to take 2 envelopes, and lucky for you, incurred no penalty. Will you be so lucky as to join Zachary in the final 4?”

Moxie: “You better let me stay on.”

“Moxie Hills, you are…

safe!”

Moxie: “Terrific!”

“Donovan Lee, you chose to earn points and sacrificed your envelope. It was a wise choice in retrospect, but would passing a penalty on to someone else really be something you’d want to do?”

Donovan: “This is so nerve-wracking. The fewer the number, the harder it is.”

“Donovan Lee, you…

are safe!”

Donovan: “Thank goodness.”

“That means between the two of you, one of you will be saying goodbye. Eleanor Darklight, you hesitated but in the end decided to earn money instead. Was it to lessen suspicion or is it really truly out of team spirit? Lisa Brown, you took 2 envelopes, but unluckily for you, you lost a joker and received a penalty. Fortunately your previous missions left you with jokers to cancel the effect, but is it enough?”

“Lisa Brown, you are the….

last to be safe.”

Lisa: “Phew.”

Eleanor: “What?”

“Sorry Eleanor Darklight, but you are the next to be executed. Please pack your bags and leave.”

Moxie: “That’s a surprise.”

Zachary: “You’re quite a fast quiz taker, aren’t you?”

Lisa: “I’m safe! I really need to stop doubting myself.”

Donovan: “At least I won’t have to deal with your insults.”

Eleanor: “I did not see this coming. Oh well. Some things can’t be forced. I played, I lost, but at least I played. It was a great experience. I just made a bold move too early and was lucky to survive so long. I guess it teaches me that I should always have a backup plan. Maybe I can go find Hope now.”

Zachary: “As the numbers get smaller, it gets harder to let go. You start to bond with everyone, even though there are ups and downs. You don’t want anyone to leave, you want us all to make it to the end. But someone has to go. And I’m glad it’s not me.”

***