The Journey
By Chrishad Nash
It was a sunny, summer Saturday afternoon in Peoria, IL and Alonzo made plans earlier in the week to go hiking today in the creek by his friends’ houses. He brought water bottles, rope, a knife, some snacks, and a lighter. Anything else they might need he would gather at their houses. He met his friends at 9:00AM at the end of the cul de sac. One by one they showed up until all 8 friends were together. After everyone had arrived, they started their journey, entering the creek by the church that was across from the cul de sac. Inside the forest was a waterfall. The water, cascading from at least 10 meters, was a beautiful sight. A few meters away the water slowed into a calm, shallow creek flowing north and leafy green trees as far as the eye could see.
Alonzo and his friends were ready for a long day hike. After walking for about an hour, they encountered deep water and the only way to get across was to walk across a stone bridge that had fallen. Alonzo wasn't worried, he'd accomplished feats like this plenty times before. His friends however, were not as agile. Alonzo spotted a long stick laying on the shore on the other side. He tied the rope around it and threw it up into a tree so his friends could swing across.
As Alonzo and his friends continued hiking along the creek, they found a few pieces of trash too. One thing that really caught their eyes was a Blue raspberry Fanta bottle. The lettering was faded but it wasn't too hard to read; definitely not a cool find but it reminded Dylan that he brought a few 2 litres of Blue Fanta. They shared the drinks, downing all 4 bottles in 2 minutes, and continued on the journey. They stumbled upon an old bicycle wheel, stepped on a clay pot, and scratched themselves on some old tools.
The friends decided a couple torches along the way for fun. They started by gathering some dry grass and leaves to use as a base for the fire to get it going. Then, they gathered a bunch of small twigs to put on top of the grass and leaves so the fire would last for more than just a few seconds. One of Alonz...
