Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Infamous Four: Summer Camp Story 2

This story is copyrighted by me, Kyt. The characters are mine, and they in no way reflect anyone living or dead no matter when they were born or will be born. Anyone interested in paying me for the story, or creating a movie out of this story, just comment below and email me with the legalities. Thanks!

Please be advised, that this story is still being worked on and expanded, as currently, it is short.
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Dora spoke quickly to her 3 friends, “I want us to be on multiples of 4!”
Mr. Erikson spoke over the loud chattering of the campers, “Please line up and keep it down. Okay now, I want you to count by 4’s. Starting with you Priscilla.”
“1”, “2”, … the children counted.
Mr. Erikson raised his voice above the chatter once more, “I want all the 1’s behind Priscilla, the 2’s behind Andrew, 3’s behind Markus, 4’s behind Ella. Mary you can sit this out if you want.”
“No, I can do it.”
“Take it easy. I don’t want you over doing it!”



“Now, what you see before you is an obstacle course. First, you will place each foot or hands - if you walk on your hands instead of your feet, in each tire going left first then right. Next, you will climb this rope and grab one and only one flag. The other flags your team mates will need! Anyone who does not heed this instruction will disqualify their team. Take that flag with you to the next obstacle where you will harness up like we were taught and rock climb to the top and place the flag in the bucket. If you toss the flag and miss, you will have to retrieve the flag and start over - so be careful! After that, you will then proceed to the monkey bars and go across touching the bars and not by walking on top! Walking on top will disqualify your team for safety reasons. Yes, you may skip as many bars as your arms will reach, you fall and you will start over from the beginning of the monkey bars. Lastly, you will run as fast as you can to the end where you will pull this lever here to raise the flag to signal the next player to go. As soon as you see the flag beginning to raise, you may take off. Let go of the lever, and the flag will fall in time for your team mate to raise it. Any questions? Good, on your mark, get set, go!”
Andrew took the lead easily, leaving even Markus in the dust. Priscilla kept tripping over her feet as she went through the tires, but still didn’t lose much time. The various team members yelled cheers to help motivate their team members to victory. Andrew went through each obstacle as if he was merely walking down the street. Markus was furiously trying to catch up. Markus practically threw his harness on and started climbing the wall like a spider moving quickly away from danger. Ella was only 5 seconds behind. She threw on her harness and started climbing, gaining on Markus. Rock climbing was always her best event. Priscilla was in last place. She methodically put on the harness and started to climb, looking very carefully for the next footing and hand held. She slipped several times, but kept on going, finally reaching the top as Andrew was lifting the lever. Eddie took off across the tires like a pro-obstacle player. Markus and Ella were neck and neck running for the monkey bars. Markus leaped up for the bars and skipped 2 at a time easily with his long arms. Ella could only skip 1 bar and consequently, lost time on Markus. Markus jumped down the ladder and sprinted to the lever. Ella did the same but arrived once more 5 seconds behind Markus. Eduardo took off for the tires and then Dora sprinted for the tires. Dora thought to herself, “tiny ups and downs, tiny ups and downs, faster, faster, you can do it.” Priscilla reached the lever and Isannah took off. Isannah was good at tires and very good at sprinting. She easily caught up with Eduardo and Dora. Eddie, however, harnessed himself in as the others sprinted to the rope. Dora jumped as high as she could and started pulling herself up the rope by trying to throw her body up the rope to gain as much distance with each pull as possible. Eduardo tried to mimic the technique without much success, so resigned to pulling himself the way most people climb ropes. Isannah was not so strong in the arms and climbed much slower. Dora seemed to leap up for the flag and then slid down the rope until she was close enough to the ground and then threw her body towards the rock climb and let go of the rope. She easily gained 5 feet ahead of Eduardo. Eddie was almost at the top of the rock. He had only 3 feet to go. Dora harnessed herself and took off, trying to leap up the wall like she did the rope. It worked. She distanced herself from the competition by leaps and bounds and was only a few feet from Eddie. Eddie grabbed the flag and let himself down in double time. Dora leaped up and threw the flag into the bucket, slam dunking it in the process. Eduardo was half-way up the rock climb as Dora breezed downwards. She unhooked the harness before she even reached ground while hanging on to the rope. Throwing her body towards the next obstacle, she sprinted to the monkey bars, gaining on Eddie. Isannah was only 2 feet behind Eduardo, as she tried to gain speed. Eduardo placed his flag in the bucket and let himself down a little more carefully then was required. Isannah threw her flag in the bucket and then breezed by Eduardo, leaped to the ground, unharnessed herself and sprinted to the monkey bars. Dora threw her body through the air in such a way that she was able to skip 4 bars at a time. She had practiced this at school when she was bored and found that this really relieved frustration. Eddie skipped 3 bars at a time and tried in vain to catch up. Dora leaped to the ground and sprinted to the lever as Eduardo sprinted to the monkey bars. Isannah was ¼ of the way across when Eduardo reached the bars, and Eddie jumped off the bars and sprinted towards home. Dora pulled the lever and David took off. He was not athletically inclined and so lost some ground on the tires. He sprinted, trying to mimic Dora who was the fastest in school. Eddie finally reached the lever and Thomas took off reaching the tires in no time at all. Pamela and Lawrence started not that long afterwards. Pamela lost ground to Lawrence. Lawrence started gaining on David rapidly. David jumped up the rope and reached as high as he could. He used every muscle in his body trying to climb the rope as fast as possible. He grabbed the flag and darted down the rope. He swung the rope and leaped off, gaining valuable distance towards the rock climb. Thomas grabbed his flag and took off after David. He dropped the flag on the ground and had to pick it up before sprinting to the rock climb. Lawrence stayed in third and Pamela in fourth as they tried in vain to catch up. Thomas became faster and stronger as he climbed the rocks. David didn’t even think, he just grabbed and pulled as fast as he could. Thomas started getting closer and closer. David gave one last pull, reached up for the bucket, tossed in his flag and let himself down. While hanging on to the rope, he unhooked his harness and swung himself towards the monkey bars. Thomas tossed in his flag and quickly let himself down. Lawrence and Pamela were neck to neck climbing the rock climb. Pamela started gaining on Lawrence. Lawrence’s feet were too big in spots and would slip from time to time. David sprinted like Dora to the monkey bars, jumped up and leaped from bar to bar, just keeping ahead of Thomas who did the same. David jumped from the bars and sprinted to the lever while Pamela sprinted to the Monkey bars and Lawrence unhooked his harness. Thomas sprinted after David, reaching the lever just half a second after David. Mary was already on the ground, waiting for the signal. Dora wished Mary would have sat this one out. They could win easily if Dora was allowed to go twice. Mary took off, letting her hands and arms carry her to the tires effortlessly. Robert took off thinking easy win against Mary. Liz and Marsha took off across the tires as Mary climbed the rope twice as fast as anyone that day. Everybody stopped cheering and looked on in amazement. Well, everybody except David who kept saying, “That’s my girl! Go Mary!”
Robert tried in vain to not lose anymore ground. Liz and Marsha fell way behind. Rope climbing was not their best subject. Mary grabbed her flag and let the rope slip between her fingers. The gloves she wore for her wheelchair gave her an unfair advantage here. Robert grabbed his flag and darted down the rope as fast as he could without causing rope burn. Marsha finally grabbed her flag as Robert sprinted to the rock climb. Mary was already harnessed and half way up the rock climb and distancing herself from the competition faster with each pull. She only used her hands and let her feet dangle beneath her. Mr. Erikson looked on frantically, waiting for Mary to make a false move and fall. He stopped himself several times from spotting her. He knew that he would only be in her way. Robert harnessed himself and started the climb. Marsha gained a little on Robert and distanced herself from Liz who has just grabbed her flag. Robert climbed up with ease while Marsha attempted to make better use of her leg strength to leap up the wall. It worked. She started gaining on Robert, slowly - slowly. Liz quickly got left behind as she sprinted to the rock climb. Robert placed his flag in the bucket and quickly let himself down. Mary had reached the monkey bars and was leaping across, skipping 2 bars at a time. She dared not leap through the air like Dora did. Marsha put her flag in and went down, reaching the ground at the same time Robert did. They both sprinted towards the monkey bars, Marsha reaching it just seconds before Robert did. Liz put her flag in the bucket and descended, not thinking her team had any chance of winning. Robert leaped across the bars just like Dora did. Marsha did the same. Robert slipped and had to start over. Liz reached the monkey bars and jumped up. She decided to try for third by skipping 3 bars at a time. Her arms were just long enough. Robert also skipped 3 bars at a time so kept neck to neck with Liz. Mary had grabbed one of the poles that held the monkey bars and slid down, being careful not to get entangled in the ladder. Marsha was quickly catching up with Mary. Mary ran on her hands towards the finish, letting her feet drag behind. Marsha leapt to the ground and sprinted towards the finish, gaining on Mary. Mary pretended that the cops were about to catch her and throw her back with her parents and take her forever away from David. This did the trick. All of a sudden, Mary took off with a new burst of speed no one, not even herself, knew she had in her. She mustered as much adrenaline as possible. Marsha tried sheer determination to make her legs move faster and faster. Liz jumped from the monkey bars just a second before Robert and sprinted like she never sprinted before. Robert jumped down and took off as if running the 600 yard dash - heel , toe, heel toe. Liz decided to make herself believe a bear was chasing was her. She started to sweat as she chopped through each bit of air, trying to make herself as wind resistant as possible. The team mates cheered louder and louder. Mary jumped up to reach the lever, just missing it. She jumped once more and pulled it as Marsha took one last leap to grab her lever. Everybody cheered as Mary came in first and Marsha an extremely close second. It was now up to Robert and Liz. Liz gasped for breath as she tore across the field. Robert tore after her, making some ground. Finally, he remembered sprinting and started running on toes only. With only seconds to go, he caught up to Liz. Both Liz and Robert took a leap for the lever, pulling the lever at exactly the same time. A tie for third.
Everybody ran to congratulate Mary as Dora ran back for her wheelchair. Everybody walked to the mess hall for the awards ceremony, chattering excitedly all the way.
Marcus asked Mary, “How did you do it? I mean, I saw, but your arms are so fast!”
“I lift weights.”
Robert chimed in, “I missed it! No fair.”
“Just wait until baseball,” Eddie offered. “You will see her shine there.”
Marsha wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “She is good. Scores homeruns and nothing less.”
Andrew cut into the conversation, “Too bad they don’t allow girls to play baseball. They have to play softball.”
Dora put her hands on her hips. “They just have to let Mary play baseball. The softball is just too big for her hands!”
“It isn’t but we could try that line,” Mary corrected.
“Well, I will tell them that my family will not support this camp anymore if they don’t let Mary play baseball!” Priscilla then stomped her feet. “I mean, my team simply just can’t win against Mary!”
Mr. Erikson, overhearing the argument, interjected. “The baseball is just too fast and too hard for Mary to play.”
“Want to make a bet? Male-chauvinist will get no where.” Mary argued. “First, you want me to sit out the obstacle course. I proved too your thick head that I could do it. Don’t think I didn’t notice you fretting over my every move! I play baseball at home and not softball. I hit baseballs well beyond the field I am suppose to be playing in. But, I will tell you what…”
“No ifs, ands or buts. Rules are rules. You can’t play ball with the boys!”
“I will have a homerun derby contest with you. If you win, I play with the girls who are so beneath my abilities that it will not even be fair. If I win, I play with boys on David’s team.”
“I can have the contest but I still can’t let you play baseball.”
“We’ll see about that,” Priscilla said in a haute voice.
Ella’s team all won ribbons and envelopes with cash prices of 10,000 Euro each. Dora and Ella decided to save their money for when they finally ran off together. David and Mary decided the same. Neither of the two groups told each other though.


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