Lost Treasures

Ten

HOSEA

It turned out that today's first game was tug-of-war. But, it looked like there would be a slight addition: food.

The game counselor explained it like this: We would have two teams go against each other, while the staff sprayed tomato juice and threw pancake batter and other grossness on us. It sounded disgusting!

We were all wearing old clothes, though, so at least nothing would be ruined.

Today, the Black Mamba was against the Lucky Charms, so I got to play with Israel. "You are so going down!" he jeered as we gave each other a 'you're on' high five.

My team arranged ourselves from strongest in the back to shortest and smallest in the front. That way, the stronger people could pull harder. I felt kinda proud to be third from the back.

In the middle of the rope was a white handkerchief. It looked like we'd be playing on a tarp... That didn't look very durable for tug of war.

"Oh, one more thing," the games counselor said, and everyone turned to watch. He and some of the other staff squirted four bottles of dish soap onto the tarp. No way! It would be completely slippery now!

"The game will start in three...two...one!"

Immediately, both teams started yanking and pulling, trying to get it to their side. But some people lost their footing in all the soap, and started to slip and fall, bringing their part of the rope down with them. It was a real struggle to see who would win!

Adding to all of that, the staff started spraying us with a hose that somehow had tomato juice in it. Others tossed pancake mix on our clothes, and I did my best to dodge it all.

Eventually, Israel's team tugged the rope further onto their side and won. I felt a little discouraged, but also amped up. These games were fun!

ASPEN

After all the teams had played tug-of-war (mine lost to pink), we started a new game. This one was sponge tag. Everyone was already lathered up with tomato juice and pancake mix, and now we were supposed to run around an empty field with wet sponges, trying to hit people with them! It was ridiculous, but also ridiculously exhilarating.

I couldn't believe how competitive I was being! We played one team against the other, and mine went against the Pink Starbursts again. I guessed they had you play the same teams for all of that day's games, which was actually fine with me. There were a lot of cute guys on the pink team.

It was also a good bonding moment for me and my sister Eden. Playing together helped us connect and be more like-minded as we worked together to achieve a goal.

This time, the Yellow Jackets got the victory! We cheered and did our team's victory dance, which was acting like bees and buzzing in a huddle. I felt pumped up and energized from the day's activities, and it was only 12:00!

My stomach growled, and I realized just how hungry I was. Luckily, lunch was up next.

"Hey, after we get all cleaned up, why don't we call it a truce and sit with the pink team today?" our leader, Calvin, suggested.

We agreed that it was a good idea and went our separate ways to the dorms. I was in desperate need of a shower before lunchtime!