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Dodging dragons!  A Natural Leaders adventure story

3/18/2018

1 Comment

 
By the Red Panda Queen, age 12
Photography by Hannah, age 11
​
​The wind blew foul as we gathered in a circle on the abandoned field. Despite the absence of two of our number, we were confident that we could make it through the day. We strode across the field and into the forest, despite the dangers. Nate and Ali snapped off branches to (hopefully) create a fire as we fought our way through the dense forest.
Picture
Ali leads the way with firewood, followed by classmates with staffs for the double-ball tournament to come...   
We leaped over the babbling creek and scurried up the hill to our shelter, which was still standing there, camouflaged under a bed of waterproof leaves. There Nick showed us how to minimize our visual impact on the landscape when harvesting saplings. Eyes seemed to glare at us from the shadows of the forest, and we hastily bid our farewell to the shelter and ran off.

We arrived at a new creek, and decided to set up a fire on the sandbar. We split into three groups, anxiously looking for any signs of dragons or other enemies. Hannah and Jane worked on bow-drill, while Nate and Ali created a fire structure.

After an unsuccessful attempt to split wood, Nick and Noora helped with the bow-drill. The hints of enemies were becoming more and more common, and it sped our bow-drilling. It was in vain, however, until Nick helped out. Then we managed to get a fire blazing. 
Picture
The fire ignites! 
We pulled out our only food available, which thankfully happened to be hot dogs, s'mores ingredients, and various chips.

The wind gusted across the fire, and sparks rose as Jane rose to tell us a very disturbing story. The flames flickered as she nailed the gruesome details, causing us to wince and glance around nervously.

All rather frightened, we packed up and put out our fire. Eager to begin our elemental tournament, we rushed through the forest and back onto the windswept field. It was the worst possible odds: Jane, Hannah, and Noora up against Nick. Nate and Ali ​took this time to perfect their staffs for the battle.

Nick, with no teammates to hinder him, swung his staff expertly, summoning wind and hurtling gumballs at us. We fought valiantly, creating flame and water, but Nick had spent years practicing spell-casting with other apprentices, and won by five points. We had scored many points, and it was very close at the end.

Elf songs and cheers could be heard during the game, but at the end they dwindled as we gathered in a closing circle, still carrying our staffs. We cheered, dashing off onto the field.

Two things had been accomplished. We had not died, and we had an amazing time.

This report was written by a Winter 2018 Natural Leaders student. All names have been changed to protect privacy.
1 Comment
Cyndi Gadhia
3/19/2018 06:53:00 am

Watch out, J.K. Rowling!

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