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"I thought we cancelled the hiking challenge," Ben said to Adam, panting, as they climbed down the small hill past some food stalls.
"This heat wave sucks so much," Adam said back, "And it's only May, fuck climate change!"
"Look! 101 degrees right now, according to my phone."
"That's like 37 degrees Celsius. We're in France right now, Ben. I'm pretty sure measuring in Fahrenheit will get you kicked out."
"Here's a hot take, the number 37 is not nearly high enough to show completely oppressive this heat is right now."
On the bus ride to the amusement park they finished their carnival game research; double checking which games are almost always rigged and which games are entirely luck. They really need something skill based, something they could both win fast to complete this challenge and get back into some air conditioning.
They finally reached the game area and started looking around. All these games were in more direct sunlight than Ben had hoped. This challenge was already replacing a kayaking challenge, he really didn't want then to have to cancel this one too.
He noticed one of the games was a tall board tilted at an slight angle with lot of holes. Attached to this board by two pieces of rope on pulleys was a small curved piece of wood. "This is one of those ball guiding type games, like the ones in Survivor challenges" said Ben "I think it look easier than the ones I've seen on TV.
"You think you can can handle it, Ben?"
"I think we should at least give it a try."
So Adam walked up to a man in a booth nearby and handed him one euro in exchange for a wooden ball.
He placed the ball at the bottom, then yanked the ropes too hard and the ball went straight into a center hole on the first row.
"Shit!" said Adam.
"You got this, you'll get the hang of it."
But three balls later and Adam had barely managed to get it a quarter way up.
Ben was itching to give it a go, but annoyingly Adam was already heading over to the booth to get another ball, "Hey Adam, could I try with the next one?"
"Sure, watching you try could help me figure it out," Adam said stepping back a few feet after handing Ben the ball.
There was a small area on the board before any holes. Ben grabbed the rope handles and let the ball drift back a forth across the small, curved wooden block for a minute to get a feel for the ball's speed and momentum. He pulled the ropes slowly and then tugged left one slightly harder to get the ball up past the first two rows. Then carefully working the ball back and forth he managed to get the ball halfway up the board before he pulled slightly too much to the right. Disappointed, he watch it disappear into the hole.
"Not a bad start!" Adam patted him on the back.
But then Ben only managed to get the next couple balls a third of the way up. He started feeling his shoulder muscles getting fatigued.
"I don't know," said Adam, "This game is pretty tricky. I've been looking around and see a few other games we could try."
But Ben had a good feeling about the next ball. He pulled the ropes just right, focusing only on the ball. Slowly it got halfway up; then three quarters of the way up; then he was just below the final, winning hole. With just slight movement to the left the ball rolled into the top hole that was surrounded by rainbow colored ring. The ball rang a bell on the other side.
"Yes!" Ben yelled.
Adam hugged him from the side, "Way to go, buddy!"
The man in the booth gestured over at the shelf of stuffed hamsters for him to pick one out.
"Wow Ben, that was really impressive," Adam said as Ben grabbed a fluffy hamster with green and blue fur.
"Sweet, we should be done with this in no time now."
After a close up of his new hamster friend, he put it in his pocket and focused his attention on filming Adam's next attempts. Those were were two balls that barely got started, then one that almost got halfway up, then three more that didn't. He tried to think of any advice he could give, but "pull the right rope" isn't super helpful.
Ben could tell Adam was starting to get frustrated. "We could try something else..."
But Adam was walking back over to the booth. "No, I'm just losing focus when I go to get more balls. I'm sure I've almost got it. How much for that whole bucket?" He asked the man.
"This is fifteen balls here"
"Okay" said Adam as he handed over fifteen euros, then placed the bucket next to the game.
It looked like they were going to be here for a while.
Ben could feel the sweat dripping down the back of his neck as he stood still filming each of Adam's attempts, trying to add some amusing quips here and there. But the heat was god awful. He just needed a little break, just to get out of the sun for a couple minutes.
Adam was so focused on the game he didn't even notice Ben setting up his phone on the ground to get Adam's next few attempts. He could always edit the more dramatic footage from earlier together with the winning ball which he hoped was coming soon. The park was completely deserted. So he wasn't worried about someone stealing his phone as he walked to a bench in the shade a little ways away.
Since he didn't have his phone, he didn't have much to do. So he just sat on the bench watching few bees and butterflies flittering around. All he could tell about Adam's progress was he still hadn't heard that stinkin' bell ring. He leaned against his bag, the heat and the boredom and the jet lag getting to him. He was just so tired...
He was startled by a hand on his shoulder. "Adam, good job!" he yelled still half asleep.
But it wasn't Adam who woke him; it was the man from the booth. "Your friend just bought another twenty balls. I don't care how much money he spends, but I don't want someone passing out under my watch."
"I'll get him" said Ben groggily.
"No refund on the balls."
Ben followed the man back to the game. He grabbed his phone off the ground and realized they've been filming in the carnival for over an hour in the 2 pm sun. And boy did Adam look it. His face was red and there was sweat soaking his t-shirt, but he was still going. Ben was slowly realizing this could actually turn into a real risk for Adam's health.
Adam had the current ball barely at halfway point as Ben approached him. "Hey Adam," he said gently, "Why don't you take a short break after this one."
"I've going to get it in," he says angrily back to Ben just as he knocked this ball into a losing hole, "Look what you made me do!"
"At least have some water," he says pulling a bottle off Adam's bag; trying to hand it to him.
"Like I said I got it." He went to grab another ball out of the bucket.
But Ben put an arm around Adams waist and slowly started to pull him away from the game. "I saw a nice spot with some picnic tables in the shade over there. We're going to go there, get some water and regroup"
Adam was breathing heavy and seemed too exhausted to fight back against Ben. Ben knew he could easily get away from him if he had the energy.
"Drink the water." Ben firmly handed Adam a bottle after they sat at the tables.
Adam still didn't look happy, but he at least started to drink.
They sat silently together and all Ben could focus on was how red Adam's face was. He needed a wash cloth or an extra t-shirt or something to use as a cold compress. He grabbed his water bottle and something out of his pocket.
He slid up close to Adam and started dabbing at his forehead. Adam smacked Ben's hand away, "Get your wet hamster off my face." The moist stuffed animal flew out of Ben's hand and landed on the table.
"Hey!" cried Ben and there was a moment of tension. Ben considered holding his tongue with what popped into his head, but he's never had good impulse control, "Sorry, You never had any complaints about my wet hamster before."
Adam barked out half a laugh which turned into choking on the water he'd been drinking. Ben jumped to the other side of Adam and started rubbing his back as Adam kept coughing.
After a few sips of water Adam's breathing went back to normal and Ben decided to start rubbing Adam's shoulders, "My shoulder kind of hurt after my attempts. I can't imagine how yours feel."
Ben considered it a success that Adam didn't try to shove him off this time. So Adam sipped water and Ben dug his fingers into Adam's back and shoulders through his sweat-soaked t-shirt.
"I guess I'm being a little ridiculous about a dumb carnival game aren't I?"
"Maybe I'd just consider it ridiculous, if it actually wasn't kind of dangerous. This heat is no joke." Ben took his hands off of Adam, he didn't seem to get how serious this was.
"I genuinely don't think I'm that close to heat stroke or heat exhaustion or whatever." Adam said still sounding frustrated.
"Ok I get that, but I'm gonna to be clear, we've always implied Jet Lag the Game has a 'don't die for Jet Lag the Game' rule, but I'll make it official now. No one's allowed to die for the Jet Lag the Game. Another thing I've just decided, if anyone breaks this new rule Sam automatically wins and you know we can't have that."
"Well you better not tell Sam that, who knows what he'd try. "
Ben was trying to lighten the mood, but something still felt off between them. Not to mention Adam's stubbornness was bothering him. Then he realized something, "Did you really have to put yourself at risk to just prove I wasn't better at something than you? "
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm fine with you taking the lead on physical stuff. I get it I'm not good at running or whatever. But you had to keep going and going just prove you could win the same game I won?"
"The rules were we both had to win at the same game. If we moved to another game you would have to win that one too."
"And you think I couldn't do that?" Ben didn't understand what was happening here, usually they were on the same page. "I'm not as helpless as you think I am."
"Oh bud-Ben, I didn't mean that. Ok maybe I was a little annoyed at just how fast you got it. But each time I failed and I'd think I can't let Ben's effort go to waste. I don't like letting you down."
"You can let me down sometimes Adam. We're at our best when we're figuring things out together," then Ben got an idea, "But maybe this time can I should take charge?" Ben scooted up the bench and pressed his chest to Adam's back.
"What are you implying?"
"I'll be behind you and I'll put my hand over yours and then I'll get the ball in the hole" Ben smirked.
"You mean like a guy trying to flirt by teaching his date mini golf?"
"Exactly. You won't need to do any of the work."
"That sounds nice, but I'm pretty sure that's cheating."
"Well if we're cheating, Sam gets a break from having all the cheating complaints thrown at him. Besides I'm shorter than you they might not even notice I'm there."
"Yes, okay," Adam laughed "Our turn to bend the rules, but can you get off me now? Your body heat is not helping me recover from heat exhaustion." Then Adam grabbed the hamster from the table and smushed it against Ben's cheek.
After they mutually agreed Adam wasn't overheating anymore, they made their way back to the game. The setup a camera and Adam grabbed the handles and Ben got behind him. After three tries, Ben managed to get the ball through the top to ring the bell.
"Yes!" Adam cried, turning around and giving Ben a hug, "Next time I promise I'll not get so carried away with trying to prove myself."
"Great! And next time I'll not fall asleep when you're in danger of heat exhaustion."
"What did you do?!"