After choosing who would be on the Red and Blue team, we began to make our way to the forest. It wasn't a huge one and if you walked to the edge of the forest, you would find several homes surrounding it.

Coming into contact with patches of forests and thus parks were very common here in Canada.

The closest forest near Sparrow's Creek High was relatively large. Lots of places to run, while being mindful of the protruding tree roots, different levels and there was a small creek that went through the entire forest. If you somehow had gotten lost (although unlikely), you would just need to follow the creek and find the small wooden bridge.

The bridge was there so it would be easier go across the creek and avoid the rushing water, which was dangerous around autumn and winter, due to melting snow and heavy rainfall (a common occurrence here).

Though, unlikely you would be in serious risk, the creek would sweep you off and send you down to the deep crevice; created from time and erosion from the water digging bit by bit of dirt.

Because of the water levels were slow, it wasn't likely you would be swept off.

I remember my teachers teaching us if we did fall into the deep crevice (well deep for Elementary school kids), you could follow to the end and get to the hill or yell for help. Considering now though we were old enough and tall enough, we could technically climb out if you were able to walk. It wasn't suggested if the weather was wet and cold however.

As we got to the entrance of the forest, you could see the small memorial there and beyond that the shade of the forest. It was relatively dark and that meant it would be cooler then standing out in bright light.

I smiled and took in a deep breath.

The sound of the creek bubbling and washing over each other brushed in my ear. The smell of dirt, sunshine, trees, and clean air filled my nostril and my lungs.

"Alright kids!" yelled out Mr. Jensen and the chatter between us died down, "We're going to play Cops and Robbers! We've played this before but just in case, one team will be the Cops and the other will be Robbers. The cops will chase and capture the robbers; who are going to try to rob the flag-"

Mrs. Jensen grinned and took out a flag, before she spread it open for us to see.

We laughed and cheered as we saw our red and white maple Canadian flag.

"-Hey Mr. Jensen, wouldn't it be better if the cops were Mounties instead?!" yelled out one of my classmates.

I recognized it as Sara from my PE class.

We all cheered at that agreement and Mr. Jensen and Mrs. Jensen looked at each other with (fake) exasperated looks.

"Fine, we'll be playing Mounties and Robbers" sighed dramatically Mrs. Jensen.

We cheered and hollered.

"Now, now-" yelled Mr. Jensen; gathering our attention again. "The game ends when either all the Robbers are captured and brought to the checkpoint, or the Robbers successfully bring back the captured flag."

"Remember, the Mounties have to tag and escort the Robbers, but fellow Robbers can save each other by either tagging the Mountie or tagging their captured Robber. Either which, the Mountie has to stay still for 30 seconds before they are allowed to give chase and chase after However, if the Mountie manages to tag the second Robber, they're also captured." explained Mrs. Jensen.

From it was all reminders. Robbers could tag Mounties and basically freeze them, only allowing to be set free by fellow Mounties. We weren't allowed to push each other or do anything unnecessary (i.e. tripping others or tackling them) and nothing harsh. The Mounties weren't allowed to hide the flag and it had to be in plain sight. It was also not allowed to have the flag be tied up on a high branch either.

It seemed like common sense, so previous teachers didn't say it. This led a few times where kids managed to climb up the tall pine trees and tied the flag to a branch, making it impossible to get it. One kid got themselves stuck that way and we had to call the Fire Department to come.

It took an entire day to get that kid out of the tree.

And the flag was nowhere to be found after that.

It was a loophole that had gone wrong.

As we made the pledge to follow the rules, our respective teachers began to decide one team member from each team to flip a coin.

This way we decided which team would be the Mounties and the Robbers.

From the Red Team, it was Jason to be our representative.

From the Blue Team, it was Alex.

I didn't know why but something felt off a bit.

"Okay, Heads or Tails? Whatever one the side appears up first becomes the Mounties" asked Mrs. Jensen.

"Tails" called out Jason.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. People always went for Heads first. So why Tails?

"Alright, I guess Heads for the Blue team" nodding Mrs. Jensen.

Mr. Jensen took out a coin and he flipped it off with a "TING!"

And then...at that moment. Time seemed slow down. I could literally see the coin turning and flipping. I looked and saw Alex's violet eyes widening and we made eye contact. I didn't linger long before I looked and I swore I saw a grin appearing on Jason's face.

Everything felt cold despite the summer heat and then-

There was a SMACK! And we looked to see Mr. Jensen catching the coin with his palm over the coin.

Everything seemed to go back to normal and I almost slumped over. Hunter's arm immediately dashed out to hold me up and he looked at me in slight concern. I gave him a thumbs up and patted his shoulder as a way of saying I was okay.

My legs felt slightly weak, shaking as I tried to stand up straight. I stuffed my hands into my jacket, hiding my curling, nail piercing fist.

Mr. Jensen removed his hand and announced the coin flip.

"HEADS!"

The Blue team cheered as the Red team sighed but shrugged. I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding.

It was probably my wild imagination after all.

"Alright, let's go and play!"

We cheered and followed after our teachers. Mr. Jensen followed the Blue Team to make sure they tied the flag somewhere reachable.

We the Red team, the Robbers, gathered around and waited. I waved to our friends on the Blue team and we began to strategize.

Jason was taking lead and he selected a few of us to be the "scouts" to find the flag. The fastest people were chosen to grab the flag and some of us were the "dummies" to distract the Mounties while they grabbed the flag. The rest of us were to stop any Mounties or lead them away.

Hunter didn't seem too keen on following Jason's plan but alas, majority wins.

Mr. Jensen came back and he nodded before Mrs. Jensen readied her whistle.

She nodded and blew the whistle.

The sharp REET! Of the whistle ran through the entire forest, cutting through.

"Alright break!" yelled Jason as we charged. We immediately separated into groups. The scouts were already running to find the flag and the retrievers followed close behind.

"See you later!" I cheered to Hunter, holding up a hand up.

Hunter grinned and high-fived me, "See you with the flag" he said before running. Hunter was chosen to be a retriever since he could run and he was super agile. Plus he had the stamina to outrun any Mounties.

I was part of the distracting team and I was running. Jason was with me as another group to retrieve the flag and yelled to any Mounties.

They took the bait and ran after me and I booked for it.

I wasn't fast nor did I have good stamina.

I just kept bobbing and weaving between trees, using my small stature to slip through thin spaces.

I jumped over several tree roots, avoiding tripping.

I lost the small group of three Mounties behind me as I slammed my hand against a truck, before sweeping around the log. A Mountie that was behind me caught himself before accidentally losing his footing.

I stopped to make sure he was alright.

He groaned and got up, shaking out the twigs and leaves in his hair before I decided he was fine. I booked for it and kept repeating in my head.

I tried to will my little legs to run faster and ducked out of the way, diving for the shrubbery. I sat down on the dirt and slid myself lower, to minimize the chance of someone catching me. I could hear yelling and the sound of feet hitting the ground fade away.

I let out a sigh of relief and caught up on my breathing. My heart was hammering against my chest and my lungs were burning.

It felt good to run but I couldn't do it for too long.

I tried to control my breathing and looked up. Through the canopy of the trees, I watched their branches and leaves brush against each other from the blow of the wind. They created scratches and rustles, easing my mind.

The vibrant, blue sky filled the spaces of the trees while sunlight peeked through.

I felt calmer and my mind wandered for a moment.

'What kind of blue is the sky today?' I thought to myself. It wasn't sky blue since the tint wasn't exactly right and the colour of the sky was a lot deeper.

Birds chirped through and my mind recognized some of them. Robins, Sparrows, Chick-a-dee-

I heard a sudden rustle of a bush and I got up immediately. My heart picked up again and it roared slightly. I tried to calm down and listened to the sound.

I could hear slight thumping and I got up, reading to book for it.

I saw a flash of dark auburn hair. I recognized the head shape and I cursed to myself.

Of course it would be Amanda. I booked immediately and barely missed Amanda lugging at me.

I ran but I was trying to be careful of the roots. I was going downhill and that meant gravity was pushing me down.

I could hear Amanda's feet behind me and I turned around to slip through the trees' trunk. From my peripheral vision, Amanda was still there and I kept on running.

I was slowing down and my legs were aching.

"Got you now Kai!" declared Amanda and then-

I fell over.

(1/2)