Page 30 - The Muse 2021

I got off the train and went into the museum. I was looking around for where the next clue could be. I started to walk around throughout the main hall admiring the huge dinosaur which neck had to have been at least 30 feet. I didn't have any idea what the name of the creature was. I kept walking and then I thought about where it could be. I decided to walk towards the diorama exhibit. As I was walking through, I saw a diorama of Grizzly Bears looking like they were trying to find something in a log. Through the plexiglass I saw a little pamphlet in the log. I had to figure out how to get in. I didn't want to just break the glass. But what else was I to do. I was looking around. I saw behind the exhibit there was a little door. This was probably how museum staff got into the dioramas to maintain them. I saw a little service door next to the exhibit, so I decided to try my luck out there. I opened the door and it was the entrances to all the dioramas. I went into the diorama and grabbed the next pamphlet. “Competitors, congratulations. There is only one more clue left. Think for a moment where you started, where it began, near there where sunlight glistens on the surface of water is your next clue. Leave pamphlet for next competitors.” I had left the door open to the diorama so I could leave but suddenly the door closed. I heard somebody trying to lock it and before they could I opened the door. By that time the person was long gone. I hadn’t figured it out yet. I walked out of the staff section and went to the main part of the museum. I was sitting just thinking. Where I began was in a hospital. So how would the water part of the clue relate. The Museum of Natural History was right across from central park. We began the competition in the park. In the park there was also multiple lakes. I looked at my watch. I actually didn't know when the competition ended but I assumed it was at sundown. I walked across the street from the museum to Central Park. I walked back to where the competition had started. The same man who shot the blank and told everybody the rules was waiting there.
He said, “Congratulations, you've won the competition.”
I didn't win. I could say I did, and nobody would know. I would win and no other competitors who did it the right way could win. I just happened to stumble back to where we started. I didn't cheat. It wasn't right, it wasn't fair.
I spoke to the man “I haven’t won yet. I found the clue in the museum and it led me here to the park.” “Oh, well you have a little bit of time left to find that clue.” the man said.
“Yes, I know,” I replied.
“Well get a move on then,” The man said.
I started to go towards the big lake. I was walking over a bridge when I saw a little mini-island inside of the lake. The water was glistening with the warm glow of the sun getting lower in the sky. It was peaceful and beautiful to look at. I didn't know how I was going to get there. The water was much too cold to swim that far into the lake. I saw some canoes on the shore of the lake. I got in one and started to row towards the island. The island was very small only like twenty feet long and about ten feet wide. When I finally got to the island there was a feeling of relief. It flew all over my body. The final pamphlet was in a little bottle lodged in the sand of the island. I took out the cork from the bottle and read the clue. Congratulations, you've finished the scavenger hunt. If you want to win, then you need to bring the pamphlet as proof you won, and you will need to tell us where all the other clues were. I was walking back towards where the competition had started. When I got there the man was talking with Cole.
“Congratulations son you are the winner,” The man said. Cole replied, “Yes, I win, I win.”
The man said, “The pamphlet please.”
“What pamphlet,” Cole responded.
“The pamphlet of the last clue you were supposed to take it with you to show it as proof that you won,” The man said.
“I uh, I uh don't have it with me.”
“Ok. Well, what were all the other clues?”
I was standing there looking at them listening to the conversation.
“Where was the first clue,” the man said.
“The statue of liberty,” Cole responded.
“What about the second clue,”
“The Museum of Natural History.”
“And the third and final clue.”
“Central Park.”
“Stop!” I yelled.
It occurred to me that Cole followed me everywhere I went. I just couldn't understand how he got off the island. I asked him, “How did you get to Liberty Island?”
“I took a ferry,” he responded.
I knew this was a lie. There were no ferries stopping at the island. It occurred to me the loud thump me and John
had heard on the boat was Cole sneaking on. Then he must have followed me to the museum and was the person who tried 30