Contestants

Once I was a child

Susan

  "We should play mom and dad." says Della.
The little girl and her friends are playing in a clearing in the forest.
  "I'll be the dad and Susan can be the mom." Tretan says. 
  "Eww, then don't you have to kiss." Says Waren.
  "No, we're only pretending. If it's a game you don't kiss." Susan says blushing then changes the subject "Mina can be our baby."
  "Then who will be our baby?" asks Stefan "I want to be a dad too and Keri can be my wife."
  "We can have Waren." Says Keri
  "No, I'm the dog!" Waren yells.
  "Fine, Della will be our baby then." Says Keri.
  "I don't want to be a baby, I want to be the mom!" Della says almost in tears.
  "You can't be the mom but don't worry Della, you can be our big girl." Stefan says soothing her. 
  "Let's build a house!" says Ralph, who is tired of all the baby talk.
  Stefan says "Us boys will get the sticks."
  "Well then what can we do?" Susan asks.
  "You girls can clear a spot for the house." says Tretan.
The boys leave to find wood, and the girls clear a spot and then find some sticks of their own. The boys come back proudly carrying the wood they found.
  "It will have to be a tent," says Stefan "we could only find two forked sticks."
  Keri starts directing the boys on how to set up the tent. Susan takes Della, Mina, and Waren, the dog, to get moss and sticks to make beds.
  Susan directs the girls on the best moss to get and the dog somehow manages to help with the moss by using his 'paws'. The tent slowly gets built. The last stick is added and then the whole thing collapses.
  The children seem shocked but then all laugh and start building it again.
  Once it is finished Susan and Keri make beds inside and everyone comes in.
  "This half is our house." says Stefan.
  "We can live on this side." Susan says.
  They sit unsure of what to do until Waren's stomach gurgles making them laugh.
  "We'll make supper!" says Keri, glad for something to do.
  "Tretan and Stefan, you go get some vegetables from the field. Ralph you take the dog and go hunting" Susan says.
  The boys leave in the direction of the field and Ralph picks up a stick and takes Waren 'hunting'.
  Susan and Keri busy themselves with making plates and bowls to hold the food out of bark. While they work Della pretends to make a garden and Mina plays in the dirt.
  Ralph comes back saying he killed a deer and pretends to butcher it. Susan takes flint from a pocket in her dress and makes a small fire to cook the fake deer.
  Tretan and Stefan get back, Stefan carrying tomatoes, potato's , and beans, and Tretan, triumphantly carrying a real squirrel.
  The girls are thrilled that they actually get to cook and send Ralph to get water. Keri has the best bowl and they use that.
Tretan starts cleaning the squirrel and when Ralph gets back gives the bones to the girls.
  They put the bowl over the fire and stew the bones in the water. Tretan cooks the meat and adds it to the broth. The girls add the vegetables and wait for it to get warm.
  The boys start to get bored with waiting and take the younger children for a walk. When they get back the girls decide the soup is ready. They pour it into bowls and everyone starts eating.
  Their game continues for the rest of the day until they get hungry again, but this time for more and better food. They go home to their mothers who are wondering why they never came home for lunch.