Day 66: Games

Gabu returned late at night when Mei was just starting to fall asleep. His day had been busier than Mei’s, but they both slept soundly until late in the morning.

Mii and Sagi were at Anything Day, as were most people Gabu and Mei knew, but neither Takkan nor Kuro-san were anywhere to be seen. Gabu noticed their absence too. “They’re not avoiding us, are they?” he asked after confirming Mei hadn’t seen them either.

“I didn’t get the impression that either of them had a reason to avoid us,” Mei said. He’d told Gabu about his friends’ visit the previous day. “Although neither of them came to see me themselves.”

When it came time to decide what activity to spend today doing, the most popular option was games. As for what games to play, there was no clear consensus. Athletic games invariably favoured some species over others, while more intellectual games held few people’s attention for long. As such, the group divided up according to what games people wanted to play, with many people moving from one game to another when they wanted a change.

Mei and Gabu started out playing Today I Saw, where everyone would take turns saying “Today I saw,” followed by some random object, and then have to list every object that had been said before. Anyone who forgot an object was out of the game, until the one remaining person was crowned the winner. Mei lasted three turns the first time he played it, and five turns the second time. Gabu kept going out in the first couple of turns.

Next, they joined another group playing Please, Mr Crocodile. Everyone lined up in front of the crocodile (Sagi) and chanted, “Please, Mr Crocodile, may we cross the river? If not, why not? What don’t you eat for dinner?”

Sagi replied, “Mice,” and the three mice in the group scampered past Sagi unhindered and lined up behind him. “As for the rest of you lot...” Everyone else tried to run past Sagi without being “eaten” by him. Gabu had only made it a few steps when Sagi flung himself onto the wolf in one leap.

The game started again with Gabu as the crocodile. Amazingly, almost no one shied away at the thought of a wolf trying to eat them, even if it was only pretend. Mei hoped that Gabu had the sense to avoid the few animals who seemed slightly afraid of him. Predictably, he let the only goat present pass freely, and he blocked a squirrel Mei didn’t know from running past.

After a few more rounds of that, they joined Mii and Greta for a game of Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. Greta explained the rules. “Everyone must walk around and make conversation with as many people as possible. One animal, chosen secretly by me, will be the wolf in sheep’s clothing. Their job is to wink at as many people as possible without anyone guessing who they are. If you’re winked at, talk to another two or three people so that no one can tell who winked at you, and then pretend to die. Anyone still alive can accuse someone of being the wolf in sheep’s clothing. If they get it right, they win. If they’re wrong, they’re out of the game. Understand?” Mei, the only one who didn’t already know how to play, nodded.

Everyone closed their eyes while Greta signalled to the wolf in sheep’s clothing who they were. Mei only knew that it wasn’t him. Then, everyone started walking around and chatting briefly to one another.

“Hello, nice to meet you,” an otter said.

“Lovely weather we’re having,” said a vole.

“Any idea who it is?” Gabu asked with a wink.

“Not a clue,” Mei replied. He fell down dramatically a few seconds later, after saying hello to Mii and the otter again. He kept an eye and an ear open to see what Gabu would do next.

The wolf talked to a few more people without incident, until suddenly the vole dropped down dead not long after talking to him. A few more fatalities followed shortly after.

Mei overheard Mii’s conversation with a shrew. “It’s a lovely day, isn’t it? Have you murdered anyone lately?” Mii asked.

“Why, no!” the shrew protested. “I would never do such a thing.”

“Hmm, that sounds to me like what a wolf in sheep’s clothing would say.” She narrowed her eyes at her. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Alison, and I am definitely not a wolf. You might try looking over there,” she said, pointing at Gabu.

Mii walked up to Gabu. “Good afternoon. Are you a wolf?”

Gabu became slightly flustered. “Uh, no. Definitely not. I’m a goat, just like you.”

“Really? But what a deep voice you have.”

“No deeper than yours,” Gabu said in a high-pitched voice.

“And goodness, what big eyes you have!” Mii was enjoying this far too much. “I bet anyone could see you winking a mile away.”

“I get them from my mother,” Gabu said, still in the high-pitched voice. “Anyway, got to be going.”

“Nice meeting you.” Mii walked back to Alison and said, “No, I’m pretty sure he’s a goat,” before promptly falling over sideways. She and Mei winked at each other harmlessly.

Alison ran over to Greta. “It’s Gabu! The wolf is Gabu!”

Greta declared the game over and Gabu was appointed to choose a new wolf in sheep’s clothing. “Don’t make it so obvious this time,” Mii requested. “If you choose Mei, I’ll know.”

Mei lasted until the end of the next game. This time, it was Greta who noticed that the wolf in sheep’s clothing was killing people in ascending order of size, so she figured out who would die next and paid close attention to who they spoke to. When she’d made her deductions, she called everyone together to dramatically reveal who the wolf was, followed by a brief scuffle in which the wolf (Alison) tried to wink at as many people as she could before they “caught” her.

When all the games were finished and everyone said their goodbyes, Gabu and Mei returned to Moonrise Hill. After all the day’s excitement, Mei had almost forgotten the events of two days prior. Darrel and Leo still hadn’t been seen, even by Greta, but Mei held out hope that the worst hadn’t come to pass. Perhaps the stags were so relieved to find Darrel’s wife alive that they wanted to stay with her for a few days? There was no sense worrying until they knew for sure.