text: Sean Morrison was walking to town with his son Daniel. They both loved going to their favorite sandwich shop out by Ashsoll Run River. Daniel would always laugh and giggle about the ridiculous name, and Sean would too, but being the adult, he had to carry himself more seriously. It was a warm spring day, and it was perfect for relaxing on the park bench and watch the river roll by. Sean would like to tear little bits of bread off his sandwich and throw it to the ducks, thinking about the inevitable. Daniel, being the absent-minded child he was, would be playing his video game, worried only about how happy the characters were. After Sean had given most of his bread to the birds and Daniel only got a bite out of his, before the damn ducks took the whole sandwich, they got up and started off on their “field trip” of sorts. “Are we going to the flea market?” Daniel had asked. “Yes, we are, we just got to make a stop by the doctor so we can get you checked up alright?” “Fine” Daniel muttered. Sean was worried about Daniels declining health and was trying anything he could to help his son recover. He had spent all his money, took off weeks just to stay with Daniel and take care of him, He even left his wife because she didn’t care about Daniel. He would do anything for Daniel. They came up to a small doctor’s office which looked more like a crack house then a doctor’s office, but it was all Sean could afford. The doctor already tried hundreds of tests to try and find out what was wrong with Daniel, to even get an idea. But nothing came of it, all they could do was just hope it gets better and monitor his health with routine checkups. “It seems to just be getting worse and worse doc, are you sure there is nothing we can do?” Sean knew the answer, but he thought he would at least ask. “How long does he have?” “At this rate we aren’t even sure, months, weeks, days even.” “I am sorry Mr. Morrison but I think our best bet is to put him in a hospital room where we can monitor him and see if we can’t find out anything else about this disease.” “Would that really help?” Sean asked the doctor. “It's either that or he may never recover.” Sean was devastated. He didn't want to leave his son, but he also didn’t want him to be hurt. He thought about it for a while and reluctantly accepted. “Dad lets go, I wanna go get the Tom Nook toy, the guy said he would save it just for me.” Sean didn’t know how to put it. “Daniel you’re gonna have to stay here for a while alright bud?” “But dad you promised, you said we would go.” whined Daniel. “I know I did but we really need you to stay here, I don’t want you to get hurt.” “I am a big boy I won’t get hurt, please, you promised.” “How about this.” Sean offered “I’ll go to the flea market and get your toy.” “However, you must stay here, deal?” Daniel thought about it for a moment then, knowing he wouldn’t get a better deal, accepted his dad’s terms “Ok well I guess I am off, please try and act good for the doctors alright?” “Yes sir.” And with that Sean was off. Sean was looking around the flea market and when he finally got to the table with the small Tom Nook toy, he picked it up and examined it. He chuckled a little but, wondering what was so damn fascinating about a small little raccoon toy. Then he turned the toy around to look at the tag. TEN DOLLARS FOR A LITTLE FIGURINE! Of course, he had to get it, anything for Daniel. He looked in his wallet and all he had was eight dollars and 20 cents. “Sir is there any way you could take a little less for the raccoon toy?” “What, really? I already held the toy for over a week, and you now want a discount?” the clerk sighed “Fine how much do you have?” Sean showed the man his money and the clerk took it with a bit of anger in his tone. Sure, Sean felt bad, but he just had to get that stupid raccoon toy. I mean what kind of father would he be if he broke a second promise. On his way out of the flea market Sean noticed a small man sitting in front of a small wooden hut of sorts with a sign that said, “Welcome to The Gauntlet of Isdall.” Sean was a little confused about the stand, so he went up to the man. “Hello, I was just wondering, what is it that you sell?” “We don’t sell anything; we offer up a challenge.” The man spoke in a weird accent, but Sean was more interested in the challenge. “You can enter through this curtain but know that in every room you go through, you will have to give up something very dear to you.” “What is the prize?” Sean asked. “The prize is determined by you.” “Whatever you desire most will meet you at the end of the gauntlet.” “However, if at any time you decide to turn back, you will gain nothing and will have lost whatever you gave up.” Sean was sort of mesmerized by the idea of such a challenge. “Anything I want...” He was thinking. “Yes, and you can enter for free.” the man said as if he had heard what Sean was thinking. “So, are you up for the challenge?” Sean looked at the entrance and then back at the man, he thought about what he could wish for. Could he really wish for his son to get better? Sean desperately wanted his son to get better, and he would do anything for Daniel. Finally, he decided he would do it; he would face the challenge. “It can’t be THAT hard right...?” The small man opened the curtains and Sean disappeared inside. The first room looked a bit like a dungeon, it had gray painted walls with a table in the middle. Sitting on the table was a Speaker with a bowl in front of it. “For your first challenge you must break a promise.” It spoke “You must give up the toy. Do you wish to continue?” Sean was surprised at how the small man knew about his promise to his son, he had not told him this fact. He was also a little bit confused as to why the small old man would want a little toy raccoon. He needed to give it to his son, but he also didn’t want to lose the challenge over something so stupid as a toy. Sean knew he would never hear the end of it from Daniel, but he didn’t want to waste his only opportunity to help his son get better, even if this whole thing seems nonsensical. “Yes, I wish to continue” Sean said. “Place the toy in the bowl, then step back and wait until told otherwise.” Sean placed the toy in the bowl and stepped back. The next door slowly creaked open and the speaker told Sean to move into the next room. As Sean stepped into the next room, he noticed that the wall was a little bit darker... but still gray. The room was very similar to the other room with another table, that looked exactly like the last room. However, in this room the speaker was suspended from the ceiling, very low from the ceiling, but suspended nonetheless, and there was no bowl. After Sean got a good look in the room the door closed behind him, making him feel like an animal trapped in a cage. The speaker started to speak “For your second challenge you must give up your emotions. Do you wish to continue?” Sean was kind of scared by that statement. How was he going to give up his emotions? Could he really give up something like that? He thought about it for a few minutes and realized that he couldn’t really turn back now, he had already given up Daniels’s toy. I mean what kind of father would he be if he really turned around and walked out, over something so insane. I mean it can’t REALLY take away his emotions, could it...? “Yes, I wish to continue.” “To start close your eyes and count to ten.” the speaker replied. “Easy enough” Sean thought, and closed his eyes. “One, Two, Three,” Sean was counting slow but as each number rose higher, he was getting more and more nervous. “Four, Five, Six,” I mean all he had to do was count, but he could notice himself speaking slower. “Seven, Eight, Nine,” Sean held out on the last number, struggling to get it out of his mouth. Would he really be able to live without emotions? “No” he thought, forget about that, all Sean should focus on was Daniel, anything for Daniel. “Ten.” As Sean said the last number, he readied himself for some sort of change, but he didn’t feel anything. He just felt like himself, no different. He chuckled at how he believed such a stupid idea, he couldn't really lose his emotions. The door to the next room opened and before the speaker even said anything Sean stepped into the next room. “How many damn challenges are there?” Sean was wondering to himself. “The hut was tiny on the outside.” As he walked into the next room, he saw that the walls were ever darker than before, almost more of a black than a gray color, but it still had some white to it. There was a table in the middle just like the last and, of course, looked exactly like the last table. This speaker was also hung up on the ceiling, however it was a bit higher, as if in the middle ground of the table and the ceiling. Sean realized that this time something was sitting on the table. The bowl had returned, a bit bigger than last time, but back. Next to the bowl was a powered handsaw, which gave Sean the chills. The door closed behind Sean and the speaker then spoke “For your third challenge you must give up the hand you gave to your ex-wife in marriage. Do you wish to continue?” Sean felt his heart drop. “What kind of sick game was this!?” Did the game really want him to give up his hand? HIS OWN HAND! Sean’s head was spinning in circles, he couldn’t give up a HAND! Then he thought about Daniel, how sick he was, how if he did nothing that he would... “FINE” Sean stormed over to the power tool and grabbed it, anything for Daniel. His hands were shaking with fear. He didn’t even know if he could follow through with cutting off his entire hand. He pushed the thoughts out of his head. He turned on the saw... then he started inching the saw closer and closer and as he was, the fear... went... away? He started to get braver! Sean felt like he could take on the world. He cut into his wrist and to his surprise it didn’t hurt. “What the fuck is going on?” before he knew it his hand was sitting there motionless, detached from his body. Sean picked up the hand and threw it in the bowl, as if it was nothing. Sean looked at all that was left of his hand and felt... happy. Happy that he passed the challenge, Happy that he was one step closer to getting his wish. The next door opened, and Sean walked through the door. The speaker didn’t even make a sound this time. This room was black, there was no gray left on this wall, only black. There was again, another table, this table had nothing on it but a button. Above the table was a speaker, suspended by the ceiling, however it was even higher than the last, almost touching the ceiling. Sean stepped in and just as before the door closed behind him. Sean was getting tired of these challenges by now and all he wanted to do was get his wish. He wanted to help Daniel, but he also wanted to try and get something for himself too... I mean why not, it couldn’t hurt. “For your fourth challenge you must give up your morals. You must kill a sick child. Do you wish to continue?” Sean was taken aback. “Another child? I can’t hurt another child!” Sean couldn’t pinpoint what to think about this situation. A human being, a living human being. Could he end a life? Sean then thought about Daniel, what he had already given up, what he would lose if he didn’t do the challenge. “Yes, I wish to continue.” Sean said coldly, the voice answered back “To complete the challenge you must press the button, when you do a sick child will die. The child’s name is Jarred Stout.” Sean didn’t want to hear the child’s name. All it did was make it harder to press the button. Sean moved closer to the button and looked at it. It was a red shiny button, despite its purpose it looked kind of... pretty. The shine on the button reflecting Sean’s face didn’t help but he knew he had to decide, and he knew that thinking about it would only make it harder. “Anything for Daniel.” The door opened and Sean stepped through. The next room was darker than the last room, Sean didn’t even know how that was possible. In fact, the room was so dark he couldn’t even tell how long it was. There was another table in the room with a button, however this one was black instead of red, you could barely even see the button it was so black. The speaker this time was embedded in the ceiling, you could barely see it either. The door closed and Sean just ignored it. He didn’t care what this next challenge was going to be, he was going to complete it no matter what. However, he wasn’t doing it for Daniel anymore, Daniel was the one that caused this. Daniel was the one that Caused him to cut off his own hand, and even caused him to kill a KID! Sean just knew that when he gets his wish, he was going to spend it how HE wanted. Daniel’s time was over. Daniel had never given up anything for Sean anyway. And with this wish Sean could get his life back. He could do anything HE wanted. The speaker suddenly spoke “For your fifth and final challenge, you must give up your hope. You must give up Daniel.