That afternoon, after they had eaten their rice lunch, John called Essay on the radio. "Essay, I've decided we should really talk face to face and clear up anything that needs clearing up. I also have several documents on safety precautions, instructions on how to light a fire in torrential downpour, a book on leadership and two or three other tools I think will be helpful. how do you feel about a visit?"
Essay tole RIOT about John's plan to come and see them - but instead of feeling excited, most of the kids and the other three leaders were nervous. Riggs turned white as a ghost when she heard the news. "I have a better idea," Giggie spoke up, trembling. "How 'bout you go and talk with John and we will wait here with the kids? We'll just... talk to each other...?"
John Friesen came streaming across Mary Lake on MBC's brand new hovercraft. He was followed by a cloud (of mist) and even from a distance you could tell he was headed somewhere with purpose. Sensé, Riggs and Giggie pushed Essay's canoe out onto the lake. "Quick," Sensé called out, "wash your hands, gather up that trash and try and look respectable! They we'll go do something fun." Essay turned around. "Just don't play any contact games until I find out what the rules are, okay? Err... just to be sure, don't play any games until I get back. I shouldn't be that long anyway - why don't you try and build something?"
Essay met John on the water a few minutes later. "Okay," John began. "Let's get to it, shall we?" For four hours John taught Essay everything she would need to know to finish the island trip well. He trained her in First Aid, he showed her what kind of berries they could eat and which ones to avoid, he gave instructions on how to build the best and strongest tents and how to boost the signal on her walkie-talkie. He also reminded her of the dress codes an emphasized that even though it was very hot that she and her team needed to maintain the appropriate conduct for leaders as outlined in the summer staff handbook. Finally, John handed over a long, hand written document that summarized every last detail of what he had just told her. Then Essay got back in her canoe and drifted back to the island, while John headed to Mini-Yo-We to discuss their offensively offensive attack. And to visit. Just before Essay was out of earshot, John called out to her. "If your people rebel, I will deal with them when you get back to Camp. Make sure they listen or there will be severe consequences for them and their families!" "Don't be too harsh with them, sir," Essay advocated. "I know they will listen anyway - just let me talk to them." "Essay, don't compromise the rules. If they disobey, send them straight home."
While Essay was out on the water with John the RIOT kids had gotten restless. The girls approached Sensé because it seemed to everyone that he had been left in charge. "Seeeennséé...." they began, batting their eyelashes and trying to look cute. "Can we please, please, please play a game?" He thought for a moment. "Okay... but we need to come up with a way of deciding fairly. How about we make one of those... you know? The things with the squares?" Chloe threw her hand up into the air. "A cootie catcher!"
Monday, February 22, 2010
Exiting Us: Part Two
At the island Essay made sure that the ground rules clearly included talking to John Friesen more frequently. Everyone in RIOT had been reassured of John's leadership skills (after all, anyone with perfect arching accuracy is someone worth paying attention to). Essay was also pretty on-the-ball, so their dedication and focus was given, for a time.
As with any group of ten-to-thirteen-year-olds, their attention began to wander when they realized just how small Widji Island really was. There was no running water. In fact, with the supplies dumped out in order to get more people into less canoes, there was no clean water at all. And no food. And no fire. So far luck was with them...
Helga led the chorus of whiners in several out-of-tune rounds of "It's a Hard Knock Life" from Annie and a few boys decided it was a good idea to squirt the dirty lake water at Giggie through their teeth. "What are we supposed to drink, Essay?"
She hadn't thought this through yet. Widjiitiwin Island was deceptively far away from the MBC shores and a return trip would take way to long for water. Essay grabbed the walkie-talkie from her backpack. "John?" No response. "John!" Riggs figured out that the radio was of the short-wave variety but her explanation of the electronic mechanics behind the whole system was so advanced that only Mike Fondse would have been able to understand. "Basically," she summarized, "You'll have to get closer and probably quieter to communicate. Why don't you float off shore a bit?"
So Essay took the walkie-talkie and headed out to talk to John. Before to long his voice came over the radio waves, loud and clear and calm. "I'm here, Essay. What's going on at the island?"
Chaos!" she admitted. "There is no water! What am I going to do?! I can't just come back!" But John was, as usual, way ahead of her. "I put some water purifying kits into the backpack you were carrying around on Monday. I knew they would come in handy eventually. It's a chemical thing - you just pour them into the water like Kool-Aid and it's okay to drink. Just make sure you ration them."
Essay paddled back to shore and showed the kits to her team. They decided to have a volunteer try the water first, just to make sure it was good, and Zack was the first to shoot up his hand. "It tastes a little like soap... but it's kind of sweet too." Then he poured the rest of the can he was drinking from over his face and smiled. Before long everyone was drinking the sweet and sudsy freshwater liquid from reused juice boxes, old cans found around the fire pit and anything else they could find that wouldn't leak. As the day got hotter and the sun got brighter, the people got restless and hungry. Water wasn't enough anymore. "Essay, what are we going to eat?!"
Essay, once again at the end of her rope and without any creative solutions of her own, jumped into the docked canoe and pushed off, walkie-talkie in hand. "John, they are getting hungry and grouchy and I have nothing to give them! One of my boys was talking about roasting up his flip-flop if I didn't come up with something soon - and I don't think he was kidding! Any ideas?"
John didn't miss a beat. "I've got an idea and I'll get Program on it immediately. You know the giant catapult we've been using on beach day? The water balloon one. Well, I've always wanted to try something on a bigger scale." John explained the rest of his plan and told Essay to go and get the kids ready for their meal. In a half an hour every RIOT member was wading in the water up to their belly buttons, waiting for lunch. "I feel ridiculous," Max said to Adam and Larissa. They shushed him as Essay walked out in front of the group.
Okay. I know some of you may be feeling a little ridiculous, but John has promised me that he is going to send food falling from the sky - so pay attention and keep your eyes on the horizon!" For a moment nothing happened... little did they know that there was an epic feat of brilliance going on right across the lake...
Chief, Wingspan, Gritz and Jemima were putting John's master plan into action. With the help of Ruben and his truck they had constructed a catapult (built mainly out of surgical tubing, balloons, rubber bands and extremely congealed spaghetti) that stretched back from two huge trees at the beach - one near the marina and the other by the swing set. The elastic part was pulled overtop of the docked boats, reached past the chained road block and was pulled almost all the way to Widji Road. In the basket (borrowed from housekeeping who was still out with several cases of swimmers ear), John himself placed the first care package. It was filled with chocolate bars, hot dogs, marshmallows, potato chips and rice. The rice was for the main dish - the other things were intended to mix into the rice and flavour it up a bit. When it was time to send it over, John gave the signal and Ruben let it fly.
Up and over the water the care package flew. In less than three minutes from it's launch at Widji Road the giant bag filled with supplies shot into view growing (it seemed) larger every second. With a HUGE splash their gifts landed just two feet in front of Essay. With lake water so far up her nose that she was a little worried about brain damage, Essay proudly hauled the bag back to shore. "See," she smiled in spite of her obviously pained, squinty expression, "John's got out back. It's even in a waterproof bag!"
For the next few hours everyone drank their water and ate their provisions with a song in their heart and a skip in their step. they played a few games and wrote a few cheers for John Friesen (to be recited when they finally returned to MBC mainland). After dinnertime, however, with nothing left to eat except flavourless rice and with every last purifying package used, RIOT got a little grumbly and sent Giggie to talk with Essay. "Ess, we need a better solution than water cleansers if we are going to stay here for long."
Essay climbed into her boat and went out to talk with John once more. "What am I supposed to do with these kids?" Once again John had been thinking ahead. "I've been working on figuring out that problem since I first heard you wanted to go. Tetnus has done some research and now I can tell you exactly what to do. Listen carefully..."
After she said her thank-yous and good-byes to John Essay headed back to the camp. The RIOT kids were planning a midnight canoe back to mainland, but Essay convinced them to stay and watch what would happen next. She took her paddle, marched over to a tree on the far side of the island and before anyone could protest or try and stop her she slashed the tree - HARD - with the thin wooden blade of her weapon. The tree shook and the paddle stuck deep into the bark as though it had been an axe, not an oar. RIOT gasped. Never before had they seen Essay do something so brash. Before she even had time to explain herself the sap began to flow. This rare, off-season maple tree was pouring out fresh, sweet sappy water at a quick and steady rate. "Don't doubt John and his resources, people," Essay said as she filled their vessels. "He knows what's up."
That night everyone slept as soundly as possible, considering that they had no blankets or pillows or toothbrushes or... well, anything, really. In the morning, Essay found another food package bobbing up and down in the water just off shore. They rejoiced over a fresh round of food, this one containing cinnamon buns and boxes of cereal along with more rice and hot dogs. All went well, until ten o'clock when they heard a strange sound... from the water, or rather from out on top of the water, came what sounded like shouts of war! Mini-Yo-We was attacking!!
"Battle of the camps, MBC!" Asterix and his crew shouted. "We're going to pirate this island for MYW so we can host a Survivor Day all our own! Into your ships and back to your beaches, RIOT!"
Essay pulled her thoughts together quickly. "Sensé!" She tossed him her paddle and grabbed the emergency kit tied to her canoe. "Take two boats of our strongest, fastest and most annoying kids. If we're going to keep this island you'll have to tip them!"
Sensé grabbed James, Ethan, Matt Bykiv and Denver along with a few others and headed out to meet Mini-Yo-We's navy. Meanwhile, Essay got some of the girls to gather up the small mirrors from each emergency kit. She then taped then to her canoe's other paddle and held in above her head, facing the oncoming canoers. The glass reflected the sunlight perfectly, right into their attackers eyes! Between the light they couldn't avoid and the distracting trumpet blasts from Matt's toy horn, the other camp didn't stand a chance. Billy-Diana held up Essays arms when she got tired and before long two of Mini-Yo-We's boats were tipped. They managed to rescue their watercrafts just before they sank into the depths of Mary Lake, but the remaining boats were in no shape to continue a fight. Astrix and his would-be pirates paddled back to their home shores, embarrassed, defeated and sopping wet. As they were leaving Essay called John and told him their story. "That's great!" he said, almost too proudly. "You should write that down and use it as a story or something one day - it is definitely an encounter worth remembering!"
As with any group of ten-to-thirteen-year-olds, their attention began to wander when they realized just how small Widji Island really was. There was no running water. In fact, with the supplies dumped out in order to get more people into less canoes, there was no clean water at all. And no food. And no fire. So far luck was with them...
Helga led the chorus of whiners in several out-of-tune rounds of "It's a Hard Knock Life" from Annie and a few boys decided it was a good idea to squirt the dirty lake water at Giggie through their teeth. "What are we supposed to drink, Essay?"
She hadn't thought this through yet. Widjiitiwin Island was deceptively far away from the MBC shores and a return trip would take way to long for water. Essay grabbed the walkie-talkie from her backpack. "John?" No response. "John!" Riggs figured out that the radio was of the short-wave variety but her explanation of the electronic mechanics behind the whole system was so advanced that only Mike Fondse would have been able to understand. "Basically," she summarized, "You'll have to get closer and probably quieter to communicate. Why don't you float off shore a bit?"
So Essay took the walkie-talkie and headed out to talk to John. Before to long his voice came over the radio waves, loud and clear and calm. "I'm here, Essay. What's going on at the island?"
Chaos!" she admitted. "There is no water! What am I going to do?! I can't just come back!" But John was, as usual, way ahead of her. "I put some water purifying kits into the backpack you were carrying around on Monday. I knew they would come in handy eventually. It's a chemical thing - you just pour them into the water like Kool-Aid and it's okay to drink. Just make sure you ration them."
Essay paddled back to shore and showed the kits to her team. They decided to have a volunteer try the water first, just to make sure it was good, and Zack was the first to shoot up his hand. "It tastes a little like soap... but it's kind of sweet too." Then he poured the rest of the can he was drinking from over his face and smiled. Before long everyone was drinking the sweet and sudsy freshwater liquid from reused juice boxes, old cans found around the fire pit and anything else they could find that wouldn't leak. As the day got hotter and the sun got brighter, the people got restless and hungry. Water wasn't enough anymore. "Essay, what are we going to eat?!"
Essay, once again at the end of her rope and without any creative solutions of her own, jumped into the docked canoe and pushed off, walkie-talkie in hand. "John, they are getting hungry and grouchy and I have nothing to give them! One of my boys was talking about roasting up his flip-flop if I didn't come up with something soon - and I don't think he was kidding! Any ideas?"
John didn't miss a beat. "I've got an idea and I'll get Program on it immediately. You know the giant catapult we've been using on beach day? The water balloon one. Well, I've always wanted to try something on a bigger scale." John explained the rest of his plan and told Essay to go and get the kids ready for their meal. In a half an hour every RIOT member was wading in the water up to their belly buttons, waiting for lunch. "I feel ridiculous," Max said to Adam and Larissa. They shushed him as Essay walked out in front of the group.
Okay. I know some of you may be feeling a little ridiculous, but John has promised me that he is going to send food falling from the sky - so pay attention and keep your eyes on the horizon!" For a moment nothing happened... little did they know that there was an epic feat of brilliance going on right across the lake...
Chief, Wingspan, Gritz and Jemima were putting John's master plan into action. With the help of Ruben and his truck they had constructed a catapult (built mainly out of surgical tubing, balloons, rubber bands and extremely congealed spaghetti) that stretched back from two huge trees at the beach - one near the marina and the other by the swing set. The elastic part was pulled overtop of the docked boats, reached past the chained road block and was pulled almost all the way to Widji Road. In the basket (borrowed from housekeeping who was still out with several cases of swimmers ear), John himself placed the first care package. It was filled with chocolate bars, hot dogs, marshmallows, potato chips and rice. The rice was for the main dish - the other things were intended to mix into the rice and flavour it up a bit. When it was time to send it over, John gave the signal and Ruben let it fly.
Up and over the water the care package flew. In less than three minutes from it's launch at Widji Road the giant bag filled with supplies shot into view growing (it seemed) larger every second. With a HUGE splash their gifts landed just two feet in front of Essay. With lake water so far up her nose that she was a little worried about brain damage, Essay proudly hauled the bag back to shore. "See," she smiled in spite of her obviously pained, squinty expression, "John's got out back. It's even in a waterproof bag!"
For the next few hours everyone drank their water and ate their provisions with a song in their heart and a skip in their step. they played a few games and wrote a few cheers for John Friesen (to be recited when they finally returned to MBC mainland). After dinnertime, however, with nothing left to eat except flavourless rice and with every last purifying package used, RIOT got a little grumbly and sent Giggie to talk with Essay. "Ess, we need a better solution than water cleansers if we are going to stay here for long."
Essay climbed into her boat and went out to talk with John once more. "What am I supposed to do with these kids?" Once again John had been thinking ahead. "I've been working on figuring out that problem since I first heard you wanted to go. Tetnus has done some research and now I can tell you exactly what to do. Listen carefully..."
After she said her thank-yous and good-byes to John Essay headed back to the camp. The RIOT kids were planning a midnight canoe back to mainland, but Essay convinced them to stay and watch what would happen next. She took her paddle, marched over to a tree on the far side of the island and before anyone could protest or try and stop her she slashed the tree - HARD - with the thin wooden blade of her weapon. The tree shook and the paddle stuck deep into the bark as though it had been an axe, not an oar. RIOT gasped. Never before had they seen Essay do something so brash. Before she even had time to explain herself the sap began to flow. This rare, off-season maple tree was pouring out fresh, sweet sappy water at a quick and steady rate. "Don't doubt John and his resources, people," Essay said as she filled their vessels. "He knows what's up."
That night everyone slept as soundly as possible, considering that they had no blankets or pillows or toothbrushes or... well, anything, really. In the morning, Essay found another food package bobbing up and down in the water just off shore. They rejoiced over a fresh round of food, this one containing cinnamon buns and boxes of cereal along with more rice and hot dogs. All went well, until ten o'clock when they heard a strange sound... from the water, or rather from out on top of the water, came what sounded like shouts of war! Mini-Yo-We was attacking!!
"Battle of the camps, MBC!" Asterix and his crew shouted. "We're going to pirate this island for MYW so we can host a Survivor Day all our own! Into your ships and back to your beaches, RIOT!"
Essay pulled her thoughts together quickly. "Sensé!" She tossed him her paddle and grabbed the emergency kit tied to her canoe. "Take two boats of our strongest, fastest and most annoying kids. If we're going to keep this island you'll have to tip them!"
Sensé grabbed James, Ethan, Matt Bykiv and Denver along with a few others and headed out to meet Mini-Yo-We's navy. Meanwhile, Essay got some of the girls to gather up the small mirrors from each emergency kit. She then taped then to her canoe's other paddle and held in above her head, facing the oncoming canoers. The glass reflected the sunlight perfectly, right into their attackers eyes! Between the light they couldn't avoid and the distracting trumpet blasts from Matt's toy horn, the other camp didn't stand a chance. Billy-Diana held up Essays arms when she got tired and before long two of Mini-Yo-We's boats were tipped. They managed to rescue their watercrafts just before they sank into the depths of Mary Lake, but the remaining boats were in no shape to continue a fight. Astrix and his would-be pirates paddled back to their home shores, embarrassed, defeated and sopping wet. As they were leaving Essay called John and told him their story. "That's great!" he said, almost too proudly. "You should write that down and use it as a story or something one day - it is definitely an encounter worth remembering!"
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Exiting Us: Part One
RIOT has always been the coolest place at Muskoka Bible Centre. Everyone has known this truth for years – the program is highly favoured, generally amazing and those people who are uninvolved are, naturally, quite green with envy. MBC leadership has also favoured RIOT for their dedication to the cause, brilliance in program and their friendly, creative, good looking staff. It also helped that RIOT’s leader, Essay, was on John Friesen’s good side. All in all you might say that RIOT had it made as far as the summers went... except for one thing.
MBC’s maintenance department had gotten a little bossy in 2009. Gord, the King of the Shop and Keeper of the Keys, had “enlisted” the help of the RIOT staff and kids. The more popular RIOT became, the more people Gord sought to use in his “volunteer” garden weeding army. Luckily for RIOT, John Friesen knows just about everything that goes on around the grounds, and he decided to help.
During Essay’s lesson one morning, John Friesen called her over the radio. “Essay, this is John. We need to talk.” Knowing that this conversation would require her full attention and a quiet space, Essay grabbed the walkie-talkie and left Sensé to lead a game of Poopdeck. She went outside and sat on the chair out front, facing the maintenance shop. Gord was by the Laundry room, watching her and awaiting the end of her conversation... waiting to pounce on the opportunity to trick her into helping again. "Essay," John said, drawing her attention back to the conversation at hand, "I need you to switch to Channel 4." She did and he continued. "Some of your kids came up to me at lunch today. What is this I hear about Gord and the gardens?" Essay quickly explained the situation from her perspective. "Okay. I will do what I can, but I'm off property all day today and tomorrow, so I need you to follow the following instructions to the letter. And don't worry - Gord works for me and we will work this out, whether you know how or not. Trust me."
For the next few minutes John Friesen told Essay what needed to be done to keep Gord from abusing his power over them. No sooner did she "Over and Out" than Gord slammed the door of his tell-tale blueish-green car, and walked across the parking lot. "Essay," he began in his quiet, grandfatherly way, "the gardens by Founders Hall are in need of a good weeding and I don't have the labour force to get it done today. Would you mind bringing your kids over and working on the flower beds for a few hours of program this morning?"
Essay cringed. She mustered her bravery together and gulped back the lump of intimidated fear that had grown in her throat. Remembering John's words she looked Gord in the eye. "No, Gord. My kids need to play, not work. They're here to learn and have fun! Please, give us a break for a session and let us go to the beach in peace!" Gord laughed. "Wow, finally standing up to me. How about I make you a deal... you and your kids go weed that garden and wash all of the windows on the ground floor, and we'll call it even for today." Essay blinked back tears and stammered out, "J-j-john says..." but Gord cut her off. "John Friesen's not the boss of me! We all know that I am the one who is keeping this place running. Now, go in there and explain your new responsibilities to all those little junior high kids. And do it with a smile."
Essay went back to RIOT with a smile on her face but with tears in her eyes. She handed out gloves and assigned a wheelbarrow to Giggie and Riggs and Sensé. Spades, shovels, squeegees and spray bottles of a copycat Windex glass cleaner were distributed among the scowling grade sixes, sevens and eights. In a single file line, with Gord waving from the maintenance shed, RIOT trooped down to Founders and worked right until lunchtime.
At noon Essay called John using her walkie-talkie on Channel 4. "John!" she cried. "Gord is being even meaner than usual. Now he's got us washing the windows, for crying out loud!" John, as always, was very calm. "Essay, you're still doing the right thing. I will send in reinforcements, but I'm afraid I'm still at Fair Havens until tomorrow. Tell Gord to knock it off or I'll have Program egg his car."
That evening Gord returned to Treetops with a honey-do list as long as his arm. "Okay, Essay. I thought up a few more things to keep RIOT out of trouble, and I think you might even enjoy the work! Scrubbing down all of the MBC vehicles, or taking out all of the kitchen garbage, or my favourite, cutting the grass with nail clippers! That last one is really just for my own entertainment." Essay got up on her tiptoes, trying to maximize every inch of her potential height. "Gord, you had better stop right there - or John Friesen is going to egg your car."
Gord laughed in her face for a long, long time.
When he finally pulled himself together, he did not even resemble the kindly, Cap'n Crunch loving, elderly man that everyone knew. He looked at her with an icy expression and without even a hint of irony or sarcasm he said, "I am going to make sure you never have another fun program as long as you live."
Essay took the list back into the RIOT room. As she let it drop to the floor, she shut the door behind her. Sensé picked it up and read it to the group. Squeeks stood up and said he thought the list was bogus. Reid and many others nodded quietly. "Well," said Essay, "I hope that John's got something a little more dramatic than egging up his sleeve."
John was indeed planning something far, far more dramatic. With the help of Chief and Wingspan, John not only had Gord's car egged in the middle of the night, but they also toilet papered his house, painted his car pink and yellow, died his hair green, uprooted every last flower in his own personal garden, ate his Cap'n Cruch and drank all but a teaspoon of his milk and set fire to his secret stash of fireworks, wasting them in the forest where only the two of them could see. Chief and Wingspan videotaped the whole thing and sent it to John (and Gord) the next morning.
John was ecstatic, Essay was so nervous her teeth were chattering and Gord was absolutely livid. He fumed over to RIOT headquarters and kicked the door open with one blow - at exactly ten o'clock. "FINE!" he hollered, throwing up his hands and knocking off the baseball cap that was covering the hair that was usually quite white. "TAKE YOUR BEACH DAY! I don't want your help anymore anyway! I never want to see you weed another thing in your lives! And here - here's fifty bucks for ice-cream while you're at it! Now, GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"
Treetops was suddenly filled with shouts and cheers of joy and excited chaos. Quick as a whip they were packed up and marching boldly down to the waterfront.
It only took Gord about three minutes to realize his error. It was Jaime Brown who pointed out the problem first. "Won't this mean that we'll have to do the work ourselves?"
In a flash Gord had rounded up the entire maintenance department and even some of the gung-ho housekeeping staff. "Everybody grab something with wheels!" Trevor, Kevin and Ernie grabbed tractors. Kyle took a riding mower, Arthur detoured the hayride that was still full of Skippers, and Jamie grabbed a wheelbarrow... but then he swapped it in for a golf cart after Gord hit him upside the head with last year's Brutus stick for making a bad choice. The housekeepers took all of the vehicles with keys in the ignition (which was, not-so-surprisingly, most of them)and Gord lead the charge in his pink and yellow station wagon. The chase was on.
RIOT has been walking to the beach slowly until they heard the all too familiar honk of Gord's vehicle. With one look over her shoulder, Essay screamed "RUN!" and RIOT took off down Hub Hill, tumbling most of the way to the bottom. They were nearly mowed down by the mob of machinery behind them, but Gord's army had come via Founders Hall and was delayed by the chain which only served as a thirty second stall because Gord (of course) had the key. By the time RIOT made it to the Marina's little boat house, Gord was passing the Chip Truck at a frightening pace! Essay screamed frantically into the radio! "JOHN! WE NEED SOME BACK-UP!!!"
Out of nowhere Chief and Wingspan ran with rapid-fire paintball guns, sending weltable splatters of colour in every direction. Both of them were decked out from head to foot in redneck-camouflage-flannel-meets-ninja-stealth-black-leather body suits. They definitely looked intimidating. "Quick!" Chief shouted to Essay, "We've got 1000 paintballs here and then you're on your own again. Get to the canoes! Head for Widji Island!"
Essay hustled the RIOT kids into the canoes while she and Frooger grabbed kayaks. By the time Program ran out of paint they were already out past the floating docks and making good speed. Unfortunately Gord also had a key for the MBC boat. Maintenance and housekeeping held several quick rounds of rock-paper-scissors to decide who got to ride in the boat and everyone else jumped on the banana shaped tube that was trailing along behind it. The not-so-gentle man started his engine and tore onto the lake in hot pursuit.
Just then John Friesen drove Old Man Van across the beach and fishtailed to a stop. In a move that can only be compared to Robin Hood he pulled an arrow back on the string of a large compound bow and let it fly. Program gasped as the arrow pierced a perfect hole right through the motor, causing the engine to flood and the boat to begin to sink. His next arrow shot the tube and sent everyone aboard flying into Mary Lake. When Gord finally swam back to shore John took back all of his keys, fired him and banished him from MBC property forever. RIOT got safely to the island.
MBC’s maintenance department had gotten a little bossy in 2009. Gord, the King of the Shop and Keeper of the Keys, had “enlisted” the help of the RIOT staff and kids. The more popular RIOT became, the more people Gord sought to use in his “volunteer” garden weeding army. Luckily for RIOT, John Friesen knows just about everything that goes on around the grounds, and he decided to help.
During Essay’s lesson one morning, John Friesen called her over the radio. “Essay, this is John. We need to talk.” Knowing that this conversation would require her full attention and a quiet space, Essay grabbed the walkie-talkie and left Sensé to lead a game of Poopdeck. She went outside and sat on the chair out front, facing the maintenance shop. Gord was by the Laundry room, watching her and awaiting the end of her conversation... waiting to pounce on the opportunity to trick her into helping again. "Essay," John said, drawing her attention back to the conversation at hand, "I need you to switch to Channel 4." She did and he continued. "Some of your kids came up to me at lunch today. What is this I hear about Gord and the gardens?" Essay quickly explained the situation from her perspective. "Okay. I will do what I can, but I'm off property all day today and tomorrow, so I need you to follow the following instructions to the letter. And don't worry - Gord works for me and we will work this out, whether you know how or not. Trust me."
For the next few minutes John Friesen told Essay what needed to be done to keep Gord from abusing his power over them. No sooner did she "Over and Out" than Gord slammed the door of his tell-tale blueish-green car, and walked across the parking lot. "Essay," he began in his quiet, grandfatherly way, "the gardens by Founders Hall are in need of a good weeding and I don't have the labour force to get it done today. Would you mind bringing your kids over and working on the flower beds for a few hours of program this morning?"
Essay cringed. She mustered her bravery together and gulped back the lump of intimidated fear that had grown in her throat. Remembering John's words she looked Gord in the eye. "No, Gord. My kids need to play, not work. They're here to learn and have fun! Please, give us a break for a session and let us go to the beach in peace!" Gord laughed. "Wow, finally standing up to me. How about I make you a deal... you and your kids go weed that garden and wash all of the windows on the ground floor, and we'll call it even for today." Essay blinked back tears and stammered out, "J-j-john says..." but Gord cut her off. "John Friesen's not the boss of me! We all know that I am the one who is keeping this place running. Now, go in there and explain your new responsibilities to all those little junior high kids. And do it with a smile."
Essay went back to RIOT with a smile on her face but with tears in her eyes. She handed out gloves and assigned a wheelbarrow to Giggie and Riggs and Sensé. Spades, shovels, squeegees and spray bottles of a copycat Windex glass cleaner were distributed among the scowling grade sixes, sevens and eights. In a single file line, with Gord waving from the maintenance shed, RIOT trooped down to Founders and worked right until lunchtime.
At noon Essay called John using her walkie-talkie on Channel 4. "John!" she cried. "Gord is being even meaner than usual. Now he's got us washing the windows, for crying out loud!" John, as always, was very calm. "Essay, you're still doing the right thing. I will send in reinforcements, but I'm afraid I'm still at Fair Havens until tomorrow. Tell Gord to knock it off or I'll have Program egg his car."
That evening Gord returned to Treetops with a honey-do list as long as his arm. "Okay, Essay. I thought up a few more things to keep RIOT out of trouble, and I think you might even enjoy the work! Scrubbing down all of the MBC vehicles, or taking out all of the kitchen garbage, or my favourite, cutting the grass with nail clippers! That last one is really just for my own entertainment." Essay got up on her tiptoes, trying to maximize every inch of her potential height. "Gord, you had better stop right there - or John Friesen is going to egg your car."
Gord laughed in her face for a long, long time.
When he finally pulled himself together, he did not even resemble the kindly, Cap'n Crunch loving, elderly man that everyone knew. He looked at her with an icy expression and without even a hint of irony or sarcasm he said, "I am going to make sure you never have another fun program as long as you live."
Essay took the list back into the RIOT room. As she let it drop to the floor, she shut the door behind her. Sensé picked it up and read it to the group. Squeeks stood up and said he thought the list was bogus. Reid and many others nodded quietly. "Well," said Essay, "I hope that John's got something a little more dramatic than egging up his sleeve."
John was indeed planning something far, far more dramatic. With the help of Chief and Wingspan, John not only had Gord's car egged in the middle of the night, but they also toilet papered his house, painted his car pink and yellow, died his hair green, uprooted every last flower in his own personal garden, ate his Cap'n Cruch and drank all but a teaspoon of his milk and set fire to his secret stash of fireworks, wasting them in the forest where only the two of them could see. Chief and Wingspan videotaped the whole thing and sent it to John (and Gord) the next morning.
John was ecstatic, Essay was so nervous her teeth were chattering and Gord was absolutely livid. He fumed over to RIOT headquarters and kicked the door open with one blow - at exactly ten o'clock. "FINE!" he hollered, throwing up his hands and knocking off the baseball cap that was covering the hair that was usually quite white. "TAKE YOUR BEACH DAY! I don't want your help anymore anyway! I never want to see you weed another thing in your lives! And here - here's fifty bucks for ice-cream while you're at it! Now, GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"
Treetops was suddenly filled with shouts and cheers of joy and excited chaos. Quick as a whip they were packed up and marching boldly down to the waterfront.
It only took Gord about three minutes to realize his error. It was Jaime Brown who pointed out the problem first. "Won't this mean that we'll have to do the work ourselves?"
In a flash Gord had rounded up the entire maintenance department and even some of the gung-ho housekeeping staff. "Everybody grab something with wheels!" Trevor, Kevin and Ernie grabbed tractors. Kyle took a riding mower, Arthur detoured the hayride that was still full of Skippers, and Jamie grabbed a wheelbarrow... but then he swapped it in for a golf cart after Gord hit him upside the head with last year's Brutus stick for making a bad choice. The housekeepers took all of the vehicles with keys in the ignition (which was, not-so-surprisingly, most of them)and Gord lead the charge in his pink and yellow station wagon. The chase was on.
RIOT has been walking to the beach slowly until they heard the all too familiar honk of Gord's vehicle. With one look over her shoulder, Essay screamed "RUN!" and RIOT took off down Hub Hill, tumbling most of the way to the bottom. They were nearly mowed down by the mob of machinery behind them, but Gord's army had come via Founders Hall and was delayed by the chain which only served as a thirty second stall because Gord (of course) had the key. By the time RIOT made it to the Marina's little boat house, Gord was passing the Chip Truck at a frightening pace! Essay screamed frantically into the radio! "JOHN! WE NEED SOME BACK-UP!!!"
Out of nowhere Chief and Wingspan ran with rapid-fire paintball guns, sending weltable splatters of colour in every direction. Both of them were decked out from head to foot in redneck-camouflage-flannel-meets-ninja-stealth-black-leather body suits. They definitely looked intimidating. "Quick!" Chief shouted to Essay, "We've got 1000 paintballs here and then you're on your own again. Get to the canoes! Head for Widji Island!"
Essay hustled the RIOT kids into the canoes while she and Frooger grabbed kayaks. By the time Program ran out of paint they were already out past the floating docks and making good speed. Unfortunately Gord also had a key for the MBC boat. Maintenance and housekeeping held several quick rounds of rock-paper-scissors to decide who got to ride in the boat and everyone else jumped on the banana shaped tube that was trailing along behind it. The not-so-gentle man started his engine and tore onto the lake in hot pursuit.
Just then John Friesen drove Old Man Van across the beach and fishtailed to a stop. In a move that can only be compared to Robin Hood he pulled an arrow back on the string of a large compound bow and let it fly. Program gasped as the arrow pierced a perfect hole right through the motor, causing the engine to flood and the boat to begin to sink. His next arrow shot the tube and sent everyone aboard flying into Mary Lake. When Gord finally swam back to shore John took back all of his keys, fired him and banished him from MBC property forever. RIOT got safely to the island.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
B. Ball Academy
Rick, Sam and Alex were three-way best friends and the three best players on their school’s basketball team. Successful sports had been the school’s pride and joy for the past three years and unfortunately for the rest of the school, the athletic program was really the only thing that the school ever put any money into. Before long, the school had an amazing gymnasium, brand new uniforms, a wonderful basketball team and a building full of classrooms that were totally falling apart. After a while the board shut down their school and all of the kids had to find new places to study. Big schools from the city came and collected students for enrolment, and one of these schools was the B. Ball Academy for Boys.
Sir Benjamin Ball, the man that the school was named after, was a huge fan of basketball. Down every hallway of his school there were gigantic trophy cases filled to the brim with all kinds of metals and pictures and awards. Mr. Nezz, the basketball team coach at B. Ball Academy, was always looking for more players to help him win. He had the best basketball team in the whole province and he hadn’t lost a single game all season. As soon as he heard about a school closing its doors, he made sure he was right in the middle of the chaos to scoop up all of the really great players.
Rick, Sam and Alex were at the very top of Mr. Nezz’s list. Before they even realized what was going on they were suited up in the Academy uniforms at their first practice. “Welcome to the team, boys!” said Mr. Nezz as everyone got together before their work began. “As many of you know, this year we are finally in the running for national championships! And this is what we are going to be working for...”
Mr. Nezz unrolled a giant poster of the national championship trophy. It was a huge, shiny, golden masterpiece of metal. “Okay boys, here’s what we’re going to do. Ten minutes before every game we play this season, I’m going to start this CD and for the first three songs we are going to sit in front of this poster and visualize.”
Mr. Nezz explained that visualizing meant that they were going to picture themselves winning the final game and holding this trophy above their heads. Then they were supposed to think hard about how much the trophy meant to each person and to the team as a whole. After the third song was over they would get up and chant “Champions! Champions! Champions!” until the game began.
“Anyone who does not do this as part of the team I will assume does not want to part of the team at all. I won’t kick you off, however you won’t be allowed to play for the rest of the season. Instead, you will become a waterboy and equipment manager, in charge of doing the laundry and washing the change rooms. Make your choice and make it quickly. Our first game starts tomorrow morning.”
The next day the team gathered together in the locker room. The poster of the trophy had been framed and put up on the wall above the drinking fountain. The whole team sat in a circle and ten minutes before the game began, Mr. Nezz started his music. The team closed their eyes and started to visualize.
Rick, Sam and Alex did not shut their eyes or bow their heads in visualization. Instead, they stood up and walked over to Mr. Nezz who was mumbling “championship” under his breath. Alex tapped him on the shoulder. “Umm, sir? We really don’t want to do this... it’s... wrong. Can we please leave?”
Mr. Nezz looked frustrated. “Are you sick? Are you going to throw up?” Rick shook his head. “No, sir. We just think it’s wrong to focus on the trophy like this. We don’t want to visualize. We just want to play basketball.” Rick and Sam nodded.
Mr. Nezz stood up and cleared his throat. Everyone looked up from their visualization. “Well boys, looks like we found ourselves a couple of waterboys already! Let’s get these kids to work!” Two of the older kids got up and grabbed Alex under the armpits and lifted him up off the ground. A few other boys came and picked up Sam and Rick the same way. Then the bigger players carried Rick, Sam and Alex through the locker room and into the change rooms where the laundry was kept. Rick, Sam and Alex were thrown into the bins along with the dirty uniforms and smelly gym socks.
“Have fun cleaning, boys!” Mr. Nezz and the rest of the team walked out to the gymnasium to play the game. All that could be heard was the chanting of “Champions! Champions!” as the door to the change rooms swung closed.
Rick, Sam and Alex climbed out of the laundry hamper. They looked around the room, expecting to see a huge mess but instead they saw sparkling floors and tidy equipment. They looked back in the laundry hamper they had just climbed out of. The laundry was mysteriously clean and folded. They looked towards the door that the team had just walked out of. There, leaning against the wall with a mop in hand was a kid in a strange uniform.
“Enjoy your night, boys! I'm pretty proud of you for standing up for yourselves and for what you believe in. Well done.” At that moment the door opened and Mr. Nezz came back in. He was reaching out for his whistle when he froze and stared at the floor. It was all... sparkly. His jaw dropped as he looked around the room and then up into the faces of Rick, Sam, Alex and the mysterious new kid. He blinked hard and gave his head a bit of a shake. When he opened his eyes again, the fourth kid was gone. “What just happened here?!”
“That kid...” Rick was having a hard time making sense of it himself. “He just... did everything so fast and he saved us like... hours and hours of work! Then he just... disappeared!”
Mr. Nezz was in shock. “Wow, I... don’t know... I mean, that kid! ...You know? Okay, boys. I don’t know what just happened, but if you can clean this fast you must be like Speedy Gonzalez on the court! You’re back on the team for sure. And no more of this crazy visualization stuff anymore. Clearly you don’t need it! It’s probably not a great idea anyway. Maybe it’s even wrong. I’m sorry I tried to force you. Will you come and play now?”
Rick, Sam and Alex played an amazing game that night and Sam was even made captain a few weeks later. The coach made sure they never had to visualize anything about that trophy ever again... and they still won the championship!
Sir Benjamin Ball, the man that the school was named after, was a huge fan of basketball. Down every hallway of his school there were gigantic trophy cases filled to the brim with all kinds of metals and pictures and awards. Mr. Nezz, the basketball team coach at B. Ball Academy, was always looking for more players to help him win. He had the best basketball team in the whole province and he hadn’t lost a single game all season. As soon as he heard about a school closing its doors, he made sure he was right in the middle of the chaos to scoop up all of the really great players.
Rick, Sam and Alex were at the very top of Mr. Nezz’s list. Before they even realized what was going on they were suited up in the Academy uniforms at their first practice. “Welcome to the team, boys!” said Mr. Nezz as everyone got together before their work began. “As many of you know, this year we are finally in the running for national championships! And this is what we are going to be working for...”
Mr. Nezz unrolled a giant poster of the national championship trophy. It was a huge, shiny, golden masterpiece of metal. “Okay boys, here’s what we’re going to do. Ten minutes before every game we play this season, I’m going to start this CD and for the first three songs we are going to sit in front of this poster and visualize.”
Mr. Nezz explained that visualizing meant that they were going to picture themselves winning the final game and holding this trophy above their heads. Then they were supposed to think hard about how much the trophy meant to each person and to the team as a whole. After the third song was over they would get up and chant “Champions! Champions! Champions!” until the game began.
“Anyone who does not do this as part of the team I will assume does not want to part of the team at all. I won’t kick you off, however you won’t be allowed to play for the rest of the season. Instead, you will become a waterboy and equipment manager, in charge of doing the laundry and washing the change rooms. Make your choice and make it quickly. Our first game starts tomorrow morning.”
The next day the team gathered together in the locker room. The poster of the trophy had been framed and put up on the wall above the drinking fountain. The whole team sat in a circle and ten minutes before the game began, Mr. Nezz started his music. The team closed their eyes and started to visualize.
Rick, Sam and Alex did not shut their eyes or bow their heads in visualization. Instead, they stood up and walked over to Mr. Nezz who was mumbling “championship” under his breath. Alex tapped him on the shoulder. “Umm, sir? We really don’t want to do this... it’s... wrong. Can we please leave?”
Mr. Nezz looked frustrated. “Are you sick? Are you going to throw up?” Rick shook his head. “No, sir. We just think it’s wrong to focus on the trophy like this. We don’t want to visualize. We just want to play basketball.” Rick and Sam nodded.
Mr. Nezz stood up and cleared his throat. Everyone looked up from their visualization. “Well boys, looks like we found ourselves a couple of waterboys already! Let’s get these kids to work!” Two of the older kids got up and grabbed Alex under the armpits and lifted him up off the ground. A few other boys came and picked up Sam and Rick the same way. Then the bigger players carried Rick, Sam and Alex through the locker room and into the change rooms where the laundry was kept. Rick, Sam and Alex were thrown into the bins along with the dirty uniforms and smelly gym socks.
“Have fun cleaning, boys!” Mr. Nezz and the rest of the team walked out to the gymnasium to play the game. All that could be heard was the chanting of “Champions! Champions!” as the door to the change rooms swung closed.
Rick, Sam and Alex climbed out of the laundry hamper. They looked around the room, expecting to see a huge mess but instead they saw sparkling floors and tidy equipment. They looked back in the laundry hamper they had just climbed out of. The laundry was mysteriously clean and folded. They looked towards the door that the team had just walked out of. There, leaning against the wall with a mop in hand was a kid in a strange uniform.
“Enjoy your night, boys! I'm pretty proud of you for standing up for yourselves and for what you believe in. Well done.” At that moment the door opened and Mr. Nezz came back in. He was reaching out for his whistle when he froze and stared at the floor. It was all... sparkly. His jaw dropped as he looked around the room and then up into the faces of Rick, Sam, Alex and the mysterious new kid. He blinked hard and gave his head a bit of a shake. When he opened his eyes again, the fourth kid was gone. “What just happened here?!”
“That kid...” Rick was having a hard time making sense of it himself. “He just... did everything so fast and he saved us like... hours and hours of work! Then he just... disappeared!”
Mr. Nezz was in shock. “Wow, I... don’t know... I mean, that kid! ...You know? Okay, boys. I don’t know what just happened, but if you can clean this fast you must be like Speedy Gonzalez on the court! You’re back on the team for sure. And no more of this crazy visualization stuff anymore. Clearly you don’t need it! It’s probably not a great idea anyway. Maybe it’s even wrong. I’m sorry I tried to force you. Will you come and play now?”
Rick, Sam and Alex played an amazing game that night and Sam was even made captain a few weeks later. The coach made sure they never had to visualize anything about that trophy ever again... and they still won the championship!
The Nicest Know-It-All
Gregory Tattle was a pretty special kid. He was great at math, read tons of books and he knew so much random information that it could make your head spin. He was pretty good at picking the right news to tell to the right people, too. If you were feeling kind of sad, Gregory could think of a brand-new joke that would make you smile and maybe even laugh right out loud. If you didn’t know what to do, or if you were having a tough time making a big decision, Gregory was the guy to ask because he always seemed to have an answer, even if it was completely silly or a little impossible. So, Gregory became pretty well known around the school as the nicest know-it-all that the fourth grade had ever seen.
Gregory loved to learn all kinds of things, and one of the places he learned the very most from was the radio that he listened to right before he went to school every morning. While he was munching down on his breakfast cereal (usually a mix between Rice Krispies and Cap’t Crunch), he turned up the radio in the kitchen and listened very carefully to whatever the voices were saying. Sometimes Gregory learned about what was happening in one of the popular TV shows, other times he heard about new stores that were going to open or new movies, and every once in a while he listened to the news.
This was one of those mornings. Gregory, running a little bit early for breakfast, flicked on the radio at exactly 7:02, just as the news reporters started talking about the weather. “Wow, Jim it sure is going to be hot-hot-hot out there today!” “You bet, Sue! You could roast an egg on the sidewalk on one of these days! Hey, a word of advice to all of you listening out there this morning, don’t forget to bring a water bottle wherever you go today! You’re going to need it!”
With that, Gregory stuffed the last bite of cereal into his mouth, swallowed up the left over milk, gave his mom a hug good-bye and grabbed his water bottle, heading out the door to school.
Every year, Mrs. Mallow’s fourth grade class goes on a field trip to the farm in the next town. They usually go in the middle of their animal unit, but this year it had rained the entire week, so their trip was postponed almost a month. Now, even though they were already studying the Solar System, it was finally time for their field trip to the farm. The entire class was super excited for the trip, and Gregory was no exception. He loved travelling anywhere on a bus, which might seem a little silly except that he lived really close to the school and never got to ride on one except for field trips. He spent the entire night before reading about horses and goats and cows and chickens so that he could answer anybody’s questions when they finally got to the farm.
Right after "Oh Canada", Gregory and his class lined up at the class room door. They all boarded the bus together and settled into a round of “the wheels on the bus go round and round” that seemed to last the entire 45 minute trip.
The farm was really big, and there were so many animals to see that as soon as the bus pulled up to the big barn, the kids jumped out and started going everywhere. Some of them ran over to the horses right away, some went to the pigs, some went to the sheep and Gregory went to the pond in the back to see the two huge white swans. “Be back here in an hour!” shouted Mrs. Mallow as everyone scattered. Then she went into the barn to meet up with the farmer and probably find a drink of lemonade. It was REALLY hot! Gregory had already finished his water bottle on the ride over, so when he got down to the pond he did the most sensible thing he could think of, and filled it up right out of the pond. Gregory wandered around for a while and had a look at the horses and goats, but eventually he ended up back at the pond with the swans. I could stay here forever, Gregory thought. Then he lied down on the soft grass... and fell asleep!
Gregory woke up two hours later. It was still really hot. He jumped up and ran out to the bus. Well, he ran out to where the bus should have been. The bus was gone. His friends were gone. His teacher was gone. Even the farmer was gone! They had left without him.
Gregory walked back to the pond and filled his water bottle right to the very top and then drank the whole thing. It was really hot! Then he filled it up again and started to walk down the long dirt road back towards his home. He walked for a long time in the heat, walking quickly in the sunny places and a little slower in the shady ones, trying to get home. He walked and walked and walked. An hour later, his water was gone. An hour after that, he was just about ready to dry up he was so thirsty, and an hour after that he felt like he was going to shrivel up like a raisin die! He was just about to give up hope when he caught sight of a billboard: Fresh blueberries, 1 kilometre. Gregory was overjoyed! Suddenly he felt like he had a bit of his energy back. He stood up straight and ran all the way to the blueberry stand.
The girl at the booth was counting up a jar of quarters when he got there. “Hey!” He tried to shout but because he was so thirsty and his mouth was so dry, it came out more like a whisper. “Do you have any water?” The girl looked up from her money. “Yes, of course! Here!” She handed him her own ice-cold water bottle. “And, do you think you might be able to spare a few blueberries? I’m starving!” The girl stared at Gregory sadly. “Hey, I wish I could, but I just sold my last box and I already picked almost all of the ripe berries. I’m just counting up my earnings so I can take it home to my Mom. She’s kind of sick, and we only started this stand so we could get a little money so we can take her to the hospital and get the right medicine. I need the berries that are left for tomorrow, so we can earn enough. So, I wish I could help you, but I’m really stuck.”
Gregory smiled at the girl. The girl looked confused. “Go and take the money to your parents, but first, get me a small handful of berries and then pick the ones you need for the morning. I heard on the radio that it is going to stay super hot for the next few weeks, and I know that blueberries get ripe really, really quickly when it’s super, super hot. They happen to get a lot bigger too. Not only that, but it’s the long weekend and the radio said there was going to be a huge number of tourists up this weekend, so your stand should do really well. So, don’t worry! Between the costumers and the heat, you will definitely have enough until it rains again!”
The little girl gave Gregory a funny look, turned around and gathered the berries. She gave a handful to Gregory and put the rest of them in a little plastic basket. Then they walked to the girl’s house so that Gregory could call his mom... and his school. Twenty minutes later, Gregory’s Dad was on his way to pick him up from the blueberry stand. Gregory and Alicia, the little girl, walked back together. Alicia went to collect a few more berries for Gregory and herself to eat while they were waiting, and after a few minutes, she came running back.
“Gregory, I can’t believe it!” She half shouted, half sang. “It’s the berries! They’re already more ripe, and look at how many are ready to eat right now! Dozens and dozens! Here, come and see!”
Sure enough, Gregory had been right about the blueberries. There were more bushes than he has even imagined, and there were large, blue berries hanging off of every one. “There are even more little ones, just beginning to grow, too! Look!” They picked and ate berries until they heard Gregory’s dad honking the horn. Then they took what they had picked back to Gregory’s car.
Alicia opened her stand again every day for a week, and the berries kept growing in the heat until the day it rained, just like Gregory had said. Her family did get the right medicine for Alicia's mom and she got much, much better. In fact, every year since all of this happened Alicia and her mom run that road-side blueberry stand together for three weeks. And as for Gregory's class and his teacher? Well, let’s just say that now they make sure to count every person twice before they leave to go anywhere on a bus!
Gregory loved to learn all kinds of things, and one of the places he learned the very most from was the radio that he listened to right before he went to school every morning. While he was munching down on his breakfast cereal (usually a mix between Rice Krispies and Cap’t Crunch), he turned up the radio in the kitchen and listened very carefully to whatever the voices were saying. Sometimes Gregory learned about what was happening in one of the popular TV shows, other times he heard about new stores that were going to open or new movies, and every once in a while he listened to the news.
This was one of those mornings. Gregory, running a little bit early for breakfast, flicked on the radio at exactly 7:02, just as the news reporters started talking about the weather. “Wow, Jim it sure is going to be hot-hot-hot out there today!” “You bet, Sue! You could roast an egg on the sidewalk on one of these days! Hey, a word of advice to all of you listening out there this morning, don’t forget to bring a water bottle wherever you go today! You’re going to need it!”
With that, Gregory stuffed the last bite of cereal into his mouth, swallowed up the left over milk, gave his mom a hug good-bye and grabbed his water bottle, heading out the door to school.
Every year, Mrs. Mallow’s fourth grade class goes on a field trip to the farm in the next town. They usually go in the middle of their animal unit, but this year it had rained the entire week, so their trip was postponed almost a month. Now, even though they were already studying the Solar System, it was finally time for their field trip to the farm. The entire class was super excited for the trip, and Gregory was no exception. He loved travelling anywhere on a bus, which might seem a little silly except that he lived really close to the school and never got to ride on one except for field trips. He spent the entire night before reading about horses and goats and cows and chickens so that he could answer anybody’s questions when they finally got to the farm.
Right after "Oh Canada", Gregory and his class lined up at the class room door. They all boarded the bus together and settled into a round of “the wheels on the bus go round and round” that seemed to last the entire 45 minute trip.
The farm was really big, and there were so many animals to see that as soon as the bus pulled up to the big barn, the kids jumped out and started going everywhere. Some of them ran over to the horses right away, some went to the pigs, some went to the sheep and Gregory went to the pond in the back to see the two huge white swans. “Be back here in an hour!” shouted Mrs. Mallow as everyone scattered. Then she went into the barn to meet up with the farmer and probably find a drink of lemonade. It was REALLY hot! Gregory had already finished his water bottle on the ride over, so when he got down to the pond he did the most sensible thing he could think of, and filled it up right out of the pond. Gregory wandered around for a while and had a look at the horses and goats, but eventually he ended up back at the pond with the swans. I could stay here forever, Gregory thought. Then he lied down on the soft grass... and fell asleep!
Gregory woke up two hours later. It was still really hot. He jumped up and ran out to the bus. Well, he ran out to where the bus should have been. The bus was gone. His friends were gone. His teacher was gone. Even the farmer was gone! They had left without him.
Gregory walked back to the pond and filled his water bottle right to the very top and then drank the whole thing. It was really hot! Then he filled it up again and started to walk down the long dirt road back towards his home. He walked for a long time in the heat, walking quickly in the sunny places and a little slower in the shady ones, trying to get home. He walked and walked and walked. An hour later, his water was gone. An hour after that, he was just about ready to dry up he was so thirsty, and an hour after that he felt like he was going to shrivel up like a raisin die! He was just about to give up hope when he caught sight of a billboard: Fresh blueberries, 1 kilometre. Gregory was overjoyed! Suddenly he felt like he had a bit of his energy back. He stood up straight and ran all the way to the blueberry stand.
The girl at the booth was counting up a jar of quarters when he got there. “Hey!” He tried to shout but because he was so thirsty and his mouth was so dry, it came out more like a whisper. “Do you have any water?” The girl looked up from her money. “Yes, of course! Here!” She handed him her own ice-cold water bottle. “And, do you think you might be able to spare a few blueberries? I’m starving!” The girl stared at Gregory sadly. “Hey, I wish I could, but I just sold my last box and I already picked almost all of the ripe berries. I’m just counting up my earnings so I can take it home to my Mom. She’s kind of sick, and we only started this stand so we could get a little money so we can take her to the hospital and get the right medicine. I need the berries that are left for tomorrow, so we can earn enough. So, I wish I could help you, but I’m really stuck.”
Gregory smiled at the girl. The girl looked confused. “Go and take the money to your parents, but first, get me a small handful of berries and then pick the ones you need for the morning. I heard on the radio that it is going to stay super hot for the next few weeks, and I know that blueberries get ripe really, really quickly when it’s super, super hot. They happen to get a lot bigger too. Not only that, but it’s the long weekend and the radio said there was going to be a huge number of tourists up this weekend, so your stand should do really well. So, don’t worry! Between the costumers and the heat, you will definitely have enough until it rains again!”
The little girl gave Gregory a funny look, turned around and gathered the berries. She gave a handful to Gregory and put the rest of them in a little plastic basket. Then they walked to the girl’s house so that Gregory could call his mom... and his school. Twenty minutes later, Gregory’s Dad was on his way to pick him up from the blueberry stand. Gregory and Alicia, the little girl, walked back together. Alicia went to collect a few more berries for Gregory and herself to eat while they were waiting, and after a few minutes, she came running back.
“Gregory, I can’t believe it!” She half shouted, half sang. “It’s the berries! They’re already more ripe, and look at how many are ready to eat right now! Dozens and dozens! Here, come and see!”
Sure enough, Gregory had been right about the blueberries. There were more bushes than he has even imagined, and there were large, blue berries hanging off of every one. “There are even more little ones, just beginning to grow, too! Look!” They picked and ate berries until they heard Gregory’s dad honking the horn. Then they took what they had picked back to Gregory’s car.
Alicia opened her stand again every day for a week, and the berries kept growing in the heat until the day it rained, just like Gregory had said. Her family did get the right medicine for Alicia's mom and she got much, much better. In fact, every year since all of this happened Alicia and her mom run that road-side blueberry stand together for three weeks. And as for Gregory's class and his teacher? Well, let’s just say that now they make sure to count every person twice before they leave to go anywhere on a bus!
Pencils
Katie was an artist. Everything she did was beautiful; she could draw people so real that you would expect them to speak, she could write in a way that painted vivid pictures in your mind and she even decorated her sandwiches with creative designs using mustard and mayonnaise. Katie was a good student in school, but by the last month of classes, her mind and her heart were not in her homework... she was thinking about art camp.
For the past three years Katie had dreamed of and waited for the day that she would finally be old enough to go to camp all by herself. Katie’s sister had gone to camp for soccer, her older brother went to a camp that taught you how to canoe and rock-climb and both of them would talk about nothing except camp for the rest of the summer. But this summer wasn’t about her siblings or their memories... this summer was about making her own memories at a camp of her own.
Katie has been looking through art camp brochures for months. Finally after a lot of thinking, Katie had made her decision: The Paintbrush Ranch. Granted, it was in the middle of nowhere, but it had the best of the best instructors. The only scary thing about it was that the program she wanted to go into was three weeks long and started the day after school was out for the summer. It was a long time to be away from home and the camp started so soon... she had only six more days until she was no longer in the fifth grade. One more week ’til camp!
Katie started packing her bags the night before she left. “I don’t know why you left this packing until the very last minute, Katie,” commented her mother at about 8:00 that night. “You’ve known you were leaving for camp tomorrow for a long time! Why didn’t you pack anything last week? Or even yesterday?” Katie rolled her eyes, just a little. “Mom, if I had packed before I would have forgotten something. But I have been making a list all year! Here, see?” Katie held up a very neat checklist for her mom to look at. “Everything I need to pack and a little box I can check off when it’s in my bag. Don’t worry, Mom! I know what I’m doing!” Katie had gathered all the things on her list in an hour and a half and the bags were piled against the front door.
The next morning, Katie’s parents drove her to the Paintbrush Ranch. They signed her in, dropped off her bags, gave her a hug and drove away, headed for home. Katie hardly had time to feel homesick at all because two minutes later, Katie’s cabin was filled up with eight other girls and two cabin leaders, both with red hair. The girl that was living on the bottom bed of Katie’s bunk introduced herself as Theresa and explained the schedule for the day: lunch at 12:00, introductions and rules and a few games until dinner, then dinner, then their first art class. It was going to be a pretty long day, but Katie was so excited that it wasn’t until after dinner when they were getting ready for their first class when she finally had time to get a little nervous. Theresa came and sat down beside her. “Wow! The first lesson! I wonder what we’re going to be learning?” “I don’t know! But I can’t wait to find out!”
One of the leaders of the camp, a tall guy with blondish hair, stood at the front of the room. “Welcome everyone! And welcome to your first art session. My name is Max and I’m going to be your instructor in Sketch Class. Can everyone please take out your pencils and some paper and we will get started!”
Katie’s heart stopped for a second and her face went a little pale. So did Theresa’s. They looked at each other. Katie whispered first, “I don’t have a pencil! I don’t think I brought one! It wasn’t on the list!” Theresa wasn’t smiling anymore. “I don’t have one either! How did we get to ART camp without remembering to pack a pencil?!” Max was waiting for the other kids to get out their pencils too. Nobody moved, but everyone looked a little squirmy. Some of the other leaders came up to Max. “Max, they don’t have pencils! Our craft order hasn’t come in yet and even if we get it tomorrow, it’s not going to help tonight!” “Go and find some pencils for them, then,” Max answered. “Max, there aren’t any. We can’t just go to the vending machine and get fifty pencils you know! The store would be closed by now and even if it were open we can’t get there! What do you expect us to do?”
Max looked around the room at all of the people. “Well, how many pencils do we have?” The leaders looked a little awkward and then walked around the room asking every kid if they had any kind of pencil that they would share. Finally one of the leaders brought back a half-chewed eraser-less knob of a pencil. “Here, from the kid three rows from the back... blue shirt over there.”
Max was beaming. He thanked the leaders and thanked the kid, held up the pencil and snapped it in half. Then he took both of those pieces and snapped them in half. Then he took those pieces and snapped them in half and so on and so on. The leaders cupped their hands together and Max poured little one-inch pieces of pencil into them. The leaders walked around with a fist full of pencil bits and a sharpener, handing out pencil chunks to every kid. Somehow, every kid got a one-inch piece of pencil and there were still a few left over... not just a few... enough so that the extra pencil jar was overflowing with little chunks of sharpened pencil!
Max turned around and started drawing on the board without saying a word about what just happened. Katie was in shock... it didn’t make any sense! How could a chewed-up five inch pencil make so many one inch pencils?! It was by far the coolest thing she had ever seen.
Katie was definitely going to have the best camp memories when she got home after this... But she was going to have a tough time getting her family to believe the story about the multiplying pencils!
For the past three years Katie had dreamed of and waited for the day that she would finally be old enough to go to camp all by herself. Katie’s sister had gone to camp for soccer, her older brother went to a camp that taught you how to canoe and rock-climb and both of them would talk about nothing except camp for the rest of the summer. But this summer wasn’t about her siblings or their memories... this summer was about making her own memories at a camp of her own.
Katie has been looking through art camp brochures for months. Finally after a lot of thinking, Katie had made her decision: The Paintbrush Ranch. Granted, it was in the middle of nowhere, but it had the best of the best instructors. The only scary thing about it was that the program she wanted to go into was three weeks long and started the day after school was out for the summer. It was a long time to be away from home and the camp started so soon... she had only six more days until she was no longer in the fifth grade. One more week ’til camp!
Katie started packing her bags the night before she left. “I don’t know why you left this packing until the very last minute, Katie,” commented her mother at about 8:00 that night. “You’ve known you were leaving for camp tomorrow for a long time! Why didn’t you pack anything last week? Or even yesterday?” Katie rolled her eyes, just a little. “Mom, if I had packed before I would have forgotten something. But I have been making a list all year! Here, see?” Katie held up a very neat checklist for her mom to look at. “Everything I need to pack and a little box I can check off when it’s in my bag. Don’t worry, Mom! I know what I’m doing!” Katie had gathered all the things on her list in an hour and a half and the bags were piled against the front door.
The next morning, Katie’s parents drove her to the Paintbrush Ranch. They signed her in, dropped off her bags, gave her a hug and drove away, headed for home. Katie hardly had time to feel homesick at all because two minutes later, Katie’s cabin was filled up with eight other girls and two cabin leaders, both with red hair. The girl that was living on the bottom bed of Katie’s bunk introduced herself as Theresa and explained the schedule for the day: lunch at 12:00, introductions and rules and a few games until dinner, then dinner, then their first art class. It was going to be a pretty long day, but Katie was so excited that it wasn’t until after dinner when they were getting ready for their first class when she finally had time to get a little nervous. Theresa came and sat down beside her. “Wow! The first lesson! I wonder what we’re going to be learning?” “I don’t know! But I can’t wait to find out!”
One of the leaders of the camp, a tall guy with blondish hair, stood at the front of the room. “Welcome everyone! And welcome to your first art session. My name is Max and I’m going to be your instructor in Sketch Class. Can everyone please take out your pencils and some paper and we will get started!”
Katie’s heart stopped for a second and her face went a little pale. So did Theresa’s. They looked at each other. Katie whispered first, “I don’t have a pencil! I don’t think I brought one! It wasn’t on the list!” Theresa wasn’t smiling anymore. “I don’t have one either! How did we get to ART camp without remembering to pack a pencil?!” Max was waiting for the other kids to get out their pencils too. Nobody moved, but everyone looked a little squirmy. Some of the other leaders came up to Max. “Max, they don’t have pencils! Our craft order hasn’t come in yet and even if we get it tomorrow, it’s not going to help tonight!” “Go and find some pencils for them, then,” Max answered. “Max, there aren’t any. We can’t just go to the vending machine and get fifty pencils you know! The store would be closed by now and even if it were open we can’t get there! What do you expect us to do?”
Max looked around the room at all of the people. “Well, how many pencils do we have?” The leaders looked a little awkward and then walked around the room asking every kid if they had any kind of pencil that they would share. Finally one of the leaders brought back a half-chewed eraser-less knob of a pencil. “Here, from the kid three rows from the back... blue shirt over there.”
Max was beaming. He thanked the leaders and thanked the kid, held up the pencil and snapped it in half. Then he took both of those pieces and snapped them in half. Then he took those pieces and snapped them in half and so on and so on. The leaders cupped their hands together and Max poured little one-inch pieces of pencil into them. The leaders walked around with a fist full of pencil bits and a sharpener, handing out pencil chunks to every kid. Somehow, every kid got a one-inch piece of pencil and there were still a few left over... not just a few... enough so that the extra pencil jar was overflowing with little chunks of sharpened pencil!
Max turned around and started drawing on the board without saying a word about what just happened. Katie was in shock... it didn’t make any sense! How could a chewed-up five inch pencil make so many one inch pencils?! It was by far the coolest thing she had ever seen.
Katie was definitely going to have the best camp memories when she got home after this... But she was going to have a tough time getting her family to believe the story about the multiplying pencils!
The Bathroom Bully
Spencer is a bully. He is in the seventh grade of Center Public School for the third time! All of the kids are afraid of him and so are some of the teachers. Spencer’s locker is in the hallway right between the gym and the bathrooms. Everyone used to pass by his locker every day, until last semester when Spencer started keeping count. In October, one of the fourth grade boys passed Spencer’s locker eight times in one lunch period, so he beat him up and stole his pizza money. Since that day, everyone took the long way around to the bathrooms. Well, almost everybody.
Adam was the new kid. It was his third day in Mrs. Menno’s gym class and they were playing a big game against their rival school, the Toronto Tyrants. Right in the middle of the game, Adam had to pee; so, he got up, got a hall pass from his teacher, pushed open the big double doors to the gym and turned left, walking down the hall to the bathroom. He only got about five steps before he noticed that he was not alone.
Spencer was skipping his math test and leaning against his locker, shuffling through a deck of playing cards. Adam walked down the hall cautiously... slower and slower and slower... until he was right across from the bully. Spencer stared at Adam. Adam stared back. Spencer took a step out into the hallway and blocked the bathroom door.
“The bathroom is closed, new kid.” Spencer smiled a mean smile. “But while you’re here, I’m going to need your pizza money. And maybe the hat you’re wearing. Nice shoes! You’d better gimme those too.” Adam really had to pee. He didn’t empty his pockets or hand over his cap. Instead he said, “Please move! I’m in a bit of a hurry here!”
Spencer was not impressed. He hated it when any kid didn’t do what he told them to, but he really hated it when that person was a new kid. Spencer took Adam by the shoulders and pushed him into the lockers, then he grabbed Adam’s hat and put it on his own head. When Adam tried to fight back, Spencer kicked his really hard, right in the stomach! Adam couldn’t breathe! Then he realized the worst thing of all. He didn’t have to pee anymore.
Spencer laughed a mean laugh that matched his mean smile. Suddenly someone came around the corner and into their long hallway. In a flash Spencer was gone and Adam was left alone, beaten up and with wet pants.
The kid walking up the hall was Emily Morton, one of the girls he had eaten lunch with earlier that day. Emily had shared her Dunkaroos so Adam was sure that this new friend would help him out. Emily had been singing but when she saw Adam lying on the floor her singing turned to humming and then her humming stopped too. Worry and fear took over her face. She paused about ten feet away from him and turned sharply down another hallway on her right, without saying a word.
Adam was hurt, not only from his bruising ribs and splitting headache, but also because Emily had completely avoided him... not very friendly after all.
A minute later, one of the kids from his gym class came out and headed towards the bathroom. As soon as he saw Adam crumpled against the wall he turned around and took the long way. Three minutes later the boy snuck around and dashed into the bathroom from the other direction.
Adam, holding his stomach and trying so hard not to cry struggled to stand up. He tried breathing deeply and taking a few steps but he collapsed onto the floor once again. It was hopeless.
The door to the gym opened. It was Tyrant Number 14, a member of the rival volleyball team he was supposed to be playing right now. “Oh man,” Adam thought. “Here it comes again.” But Number 14 did something completely unexpected. As soon as he saw Adam sprawled out on the floor he ran over, bent down and spoke gently.
“Hey, are you okay? Man! What happened to you? Here, let me give you a hand up. Actually, wait a minute... I have an idea, I’ll be right back.” The boy jogged down the hall and into a nearby classroom. He came out pushing a large rolling computer chair. Number 14 helped Adam into the seat and pushed him all the way to the principal’s office. There he gave the secretary two quarters so that Adam could call his mom. The secretary cleaned up his cuts and gave Adam a superman Band-Aid.
When Number 14 returned to the game and his team in the gym, he traded e-mails with his new friend and they have remained friends ever since.
(Spencer kept bullying kids until he finally graduated and went to a high school where the teachers didn’t let him get away with being cruel and mean to anyone. In fact, he had to do extra homework for four months!)
Adam was the new kid. It was his third day in Mrs. Menno’s gym class and they were playing a big game against their rival school, the Toronto Tyrants. Right in the middle of the game, Adam had to pee; so, he got up, got a hall pass from his teacher, pushed open the big double doors to the gym and turned left, walking down the hall to the bathroom. He only got about five steps before he noticed that he was not alone.
Spencer was skipping his math test and leaning against his locker, shuffling through a deck of playing cards. Adam walked down the hall cautiously... slower and slower and slower... until he was right across from the bully. Spencer stared at Adam. Adam stared back. Spencer took a step out into the hallway and blocked the bathroom door.
“The bathroom is closed, new kid.” Spencer smiled a mean smile. “But while you’re here, I’m going to need your pizza money. And maybe the hat you’re wearing. Nice shoes! You’d better gimme those too.” Adam really had to pee. He didn’t empty his pockets or hand over his cap. Instead he said, “Please move! I’m in a bit of a hurry here!”
Spencer was not impressed. He hated it when any kid didn’t do what he told them to, but he really hated it when that person was a new kid. Spencer took Adam by the shoulders and pushed him into the lockers, then he grabbed Adam’s hat and put it on his own head. When Adam tried to fight back, Spencer kicked his really hard, right in the stomach! Adam couldn’t breathe! Then he realized the worst thing of all. He didn’t have to pee anymore.
Spencer laughed a mean laugh that matched his mean smile. Suddenly someone came around the corner and into their long hallway. In a flash Spencer was gone and Adam was left alone, beaten up and with wet pants.
The kid walking up the hall was Emily Morton, one of the girls he had eaten lunch with earlier that day. Emily had shared her Dunkaroos so Adam was sure that this new friend would help him out. Emily had been singing but when she saw Adam lying on the floor her singing turned to humming and then her humming stopped too. Worry and fear took over her face. She paused about ten feet away from him and turned sharply down another hallway on her right, without saying a word.
Adam was hurt, not only from his bruising ribs and splitting headache, but also because Emily had completely avoided him... not very friendly after all.
A minute later, one of the kids from his gym class came out and headed towards the bathroom. As soon as he saw Adam crumpled against the wall he turned around and took the long way. Three minutes later the boy snuck around and dashed into the bathroom from the other direction.
Adam, holding his stomach and trying so hard not to cry struggled to stand up. He tried breathing deeply and taking a few steps but he collapsed onto the floor once again. It was hopeless.
The door to the gym opened. It was Tyrant Number 14, a member of the rival volleyball team he was supposed to be playing right now. “Oh man,” Adam thought. “Here it comes again.” But Number 14 did something completely unexpected. As soon as he saw Adam sprawled out on the floor he ran over, bent down and spoke gently.
“Hey, are you okay? Man! What happened to you? Here, let me give you a hand up. Actually, wait a minute... I have an idea, I’ll be right back.” The boy jogged down the hall and into a nearby classroom. He came out pushing a large rolling computer chair. Number 14 helped Adam into the seat and pushed him all the way to the principal’s office. There he gave the secretary two quarters so that Adam could call his mom. The secretary cleaned up his cuts and gave Adam a superman Band-Aid.
When Number 14 returned to the game and his team in the gym, he traded e-mails with his new friend and they have remained friends ever since.
(Spencer kept bullying kids until he finally graduated and went to a high school where the teachers didn’t let him get away with being cruel and mean to anyone. In fact, he had to do extra homework for four months!)
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