demanding the remaining four candidates stay silent.
"Good, let's continue. I choose rock." The Proctor held a
fist out in front of him to represent a rock.
It was a trick then, Persephone thought. Because the
Proctor chose his object before the students could select
theirs, he had destroyed his own odds of winning.
Next, the Proctor approached Calista and asked,
"What is your choice?"
Calista extended a flat hand signifying paper, knowing
it smothered rock. The Proctor moved on to Ezekiel, who
hesitated and then extended paper as well. Would they
both be approved as Deciders? Persephone knew it
couldn't be that easy because nothing in her twelve years
at the Academy had been that easy.
Eleni, to Persephone's left, obviously agreed, for on her
turn she thrust two fingers forward to represent scissors.
an immediate loss by the traditional rules of the game.
Eleni must be thinking the wisest choice was to accept
defeat by letting the Proctor's rock crush her scissors-but
how could intentionally losing be the right answer?
Complete the sentences to describe
what happens in this part of the
story.
The Proctor has
the
game by showing his hand first. He
chooses rock. Calista and Ezekiel both
show paper, which
rock.
Next, Eleni's hand shows scissors,
which means she has
the game on purpose. Persephone
all of her classmates'
choices.