The Game

A Not So Funny Joke

Chapter Four- A Not So Funny Joke







  We had entered the deeper part of the forest, nearing the border for Washington, as Mr. Johansen had announced. We would most likely reach the border Thursday morning, rather than Wednesday, since our sidetracking to the waterfall had taken us off schedule. There were no complaints, however, to the time loss. Whoever the source was whom had told Nate about the waterfall had given him great information.




"We're heading down a slope now, and that means we're heading towards water." Mr. Johansen said. Periodically, he would shout out some tips about staying safe, and how to survive in the wilderness. For me, it was old news, basics I had heard a thousand times, but for the others, they could not get enough of his wisdom and soaked up his advice like sponges.

 I had decided after getting out of the water, which was at a definite freezing temperature, that I would stay at the front of the group from now on, at the right hand of Mr. Johansen so I could stay caught up. Also, so I could speak with the man who had been the fatherly figure for much of my life. I was not yet decided on whether that was a good thing or not.

  My subconscious would like to convince me that it was neither my relationship with Mr. Johansen nor the desire to hear the survival tips that kept me in the front, but rather a pair of boys that always brought up the rear. My subconscious would love to convince me of this, but I was not buying it.

 Yes, they were annoying. Yes, I very nearly despised them, but I would never, I repeat never, let them dictate the decisions I made. I could not let myself care about them even that much. It would mean letting them win. And, in case you had missed that valuable piece of information, I never lost.

 "Sir?" said a nasally voice at my elbow.

 Mr. Johansen cracked his neck several times, took a deep breath, releasing slowly, before replying, “Yes, Anthony?” He sounded tired.

 “What would you say is the correct walking speed to not expel all your energy too quickly?” He pushed his glasses up the frame of his nose, but they slid back down from all the sweat. His hair was sticking to his forehead and his shirt was drenched. I feared he would become dehydrated from all the water loss. Then again, perhaps dehydration would finally be what it would take to make him shut up.

 My instructor sighed, “If you can talk while you are walking then you are at a reasonable pace. Huffing and puffing are signs that you are using up all of the energy your body has reserved.” Mr. Johansen looked straight ahead as he said, “And from the amount of talking you’ve been doing I would say your pace is a tad too slow.”

 Samuel burst out laughing a few feet behind me, making him stumble a bit, but his humor distracted him. Mr. Johansen’s lips twitched into a smile and I could tell he was smiling. “But honestly, Anthony, tone it down with the questions. You don’t have to know everything.”

 Anthony looked shell-shocked. “What do you mean by that, sir?”

 Samuel’s lighthearted guffaws filled the air, and were joined by his sister’s tinnier, softer laughter. I turned around to look at Claire, who had barely spoken a word this entire trip. She had a sweet, round face, with dark eyes and long braids hanging around her large cheeks. Her clothes hung loosely on her, which made me wonder if she had inherited them from an older sibling or perhaps a thrift shop. The way her arms swung timidly, and her feet stepped with trepidation gave me the idea that she was quiet-natured, not exactly shy, but a more sensitive-to-the-world girl. Shy would be saying that she needed time to warm up to you, and that her true self was hidden underneath, but I believed that Claire was not hiding anything. She seemed to truly be a subdued, peaceful soul, whose brother was a protective shield around her.