And now a word . . .

Well, Jeniuses, it's been a year---well, a school year---and I hope the risks and challenges of creating these many blog posts have helped you to grow in the writing direction you were aiming toward.

As we all know, my commentary has not been as rich and flowing as your poetry and prose. [I hate that last sentence, and I may revise this post later, but I think you need to hear from me.] My goal for this course was to provide a forum for free-form exploration. And I did that for a reason: My own experience in high school was to have my initial efforts at creative writing stifled and overcorrected by a pedantic teacher who consistently found my plots "contrived" and my characters "unbelievable." Clearly, the expectation of her class was that my writing sound like her writing.

I want my writers to find their own voices. To experiment with genre. To find a particular turn of phrase. To discover their unique styles. To write like themselves.

And I think you have. Well, except for the part where you got lost in the wilderness. We are just teasing you, you know. And you would have "gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for" that pesky salmon!!!! But, you know----this is the first time all year, you tried to "do an assignment."

But when you write as yourselves----James, you are funny and succinct and get at the heart of human folly. Sara---you are wise and deep---truly a poet. And you are both---both---philosophers. Your writing takes us on a quest for meaning and takes the time to experience the joy that is in the journey. Thank you for being my students. I'm proud of you.

Just then . . .

. . . a slightly stooped, elderly-looking woman broke from the forest cover and approached the group.

"I have been listening to you kids caterwauling all up and down the river for the past week, and I can't take it anymore!" She wasn't so elderly as she first appeared, but she was definitely stooped, if only to more easily bear the weight of a ridiculously oversized backpack.

"Who are you?" Erin started to ask--

"It doesn't matter. Just please, please, please--just don't talk anymore. And if I hear that shriek one more time, I'm just gonna snap!"

With that, the woman snapped a few twigs, grabbed some pine straw, and in minutes had a crackling fire going. Like magic, she drew from the pack a gourmet camp kitchen and snapped out a fresh white linen tablecloth onto the ground. Dishes, forks, spoons, napkins flew around the cloth and in minutes it looked like the table-top of a five star restaurant.

As she strode briskly down to the water, the woman cast a disdainful glance in the direction of Blake and Adam who were just getting pathetic now, still whining and moaning over their various contusions. She grabbed the branch of a nearby shrub and tossed it to the boys.

"You might want to put some witch hazel on those cuts, then go help the girls gather up some fire wood. Jeez."

"Who is that?" the boys looked at each other and shrugged.

Adam and Blake, as beat up and disoriented as they were, didn't fail to take advantage of the retreating beast and got out of the water as fast as they could. Blake could feel his pulse beating through the veins in his head and had to sit down; with each beat, the aching grew stronger and stronger. "Oh, Blake! I'm so sorry!" said Erin. "It's ok... it's ok... I'll be fine." replied Blake slowly. Adam had several cuts on his foot, but was certainly in better condition than Blake. When Adam had caught his breath, he said: "Wow... wow, that was crazy! What are we supposed to do without a canoe?" At this he groaned and laid back down. Erin and Caitlin had gotten the med kit and were now doing what they could for the boys. After the wounds of both were dressed, and Blake loaded with ibuprofen, Erin and Caitlin helped Adam and Blake over to the fire. It was time to eat, and most importantly, figure out what they were going to do next.

Blake tried frantically to pull the salmon off of Adam's foot but the thing was latched on tighter than Rut's hand in a cookie jar. The monster lashed violently, cutting Blake's cheek. With one humungous slap of its tail, the salmon crushed the canoe. It shattered and floated down the river, piece by piece.

Caitlin and Erin rushed down to the shore to see the commotion. Caitlin let out a terrible, Tony-like shriek as the salmon tried to eat Adam. By instinct, Erin snatched a few rocks and tried to hit the beast. Almost every rock hit Blake in the forehead. She picked up a larger rock, about the size of a bowling ball. Blake, with a look of terror in his eye, tried to swim away from the target, which was difficult in the current. Caitlin pulled the rock behind her head and flung it forward. Blake caught it in his stomach but was able to recover and smash it into the salmon's face. The beast retreated, but for how long?

Ever since Caitlin had sent the salmon flying, he had been plotting his revenge quietly in the river. Sure, the girl had sent him away to lick his wounds, but he knew he'd get them back in due time. After all, he had only wanted to play with them before. And how did they thank him? By nearly killing him! He expected he'd only have the opportunity to snatch one of their paddles away, or merely cause some turbulence in their travels, but this new development opened up a whole new world of possibilities. When he looked up and saw Adam falling at him, everything seemed to move in slow motion. His eyes widened, a true feat. for a salmon, and he knew this was his moment. The boy broke the surface of the water, and the salmon seized his opportunity, latching onto Adam's foot.

The morning came too fast for Blake. Without realizing it, he fell asleep on the rock as the group was stargazing. He woke up a little chilled and confused. A blanket of leaves, dirt, and moss mysteriously found its way on top of Blake. Evidently, the rest of the group didn't want to wake the sleeping babe, and decided to make him a makeshift bed sheet, instead. He rolled over, spilling his blanket onto the rock, and crawled to the edge.

He spied his friends, sitting around the fire, completely unaware. Like Tarzan or George of the Jungle, Blake leaped from the boulder and caught a tree branch. He pulled himself up and hid behind the leaves. The group below heard the acrobatics but disregarded it as any forest creature. Very sneakily, Blake hung upside down from the tree about 15 feet in the air. Adam walked by towards the river. In one swift motion Blake swung down from the tree, landed in a pouncing position, and tackled Adam into the water.

Blake resurfaced ready to gloat but Adam was still underwater. Puzzled, Blake stared at the bubbles floating to the surface where Adam would emerge. Adam suddenly popped up gasping for breathe.

"Something's got a hold of my foot!" he screamed as a fin cut through the surface of the water with a splash.

It was the salmon that Caitlin sent flying twenty feet in the air, back for revenge!

The quartet reached the opening, and it was quite a lovely place. There was a large boulder setting up along the hill, and Adam promptly bolted up to claim it as his own and check out the view. Blake proceeded to build a fire, Caitlin made sure that the boat and the supplies were all secured, and Erin pulled out a skillet to make dinner. They would have some of the fish they had caught earlier as well as a few provisions they brought from home. As they ate, they talked about the adventure the day had offered, how things were going in their lives, and made up crazy stories that made them laugh until their sides heart. All the while they could hear the wildlife hooting, stomping, climbing, scratching, sniffing, singing and calling all around them. It was peaceful, loud, calm, and exciting all at once; they just hoped that a bear wouldn't stumble upon them in the middle of the night. After a couple of hours at camp, the stars overhead captured Erin's attention. Blake caught her gaze and looked up as well. "Whoa," Blake uttered softly. Adam and Caitlin then looked up, and the same soft expressions of wonder fell from their lips. "We need to go up to that boulder I claimed earlier, the trees open up around it, and I think the view there will be absolutely brilliant." So, the four of them let the campfire burn down to embers so that they could keep an eye on it and it wouldn't burn completely out, grabbed a flashlight, and started for the boulder.