So, I wrote an introduction post, then decided to take a break and organize my ideas by reading a few handy writing guides. I was so busy reading about writing that I actually forgot to get the writing done. That, until I stumbled upon these two particular paragraphs: "distractions" and "time management". And realized it was 7pm. [facepalm] Based on my own adventures with my cousins and sister. I had to resist the temptation to name the characters after them, but ultimately decided to go on some common Italian names. Enjoy!
| Pretty. Wish I could say that when I break my neck on that fallen tree. |
"Yup."
"But it looks dangerous."
"Come on, Fra! Didn't you want an adventure?" a much taller girl turned around to face the boy, her hazel eyes gleaming with a challenge. A second girl, slightly smaller than the first, appeared from behind a tree.
"Don't even try. You know Francesco, he always whines about something."
"That's not true!" Francesco whined.
Martina raised an eyebrow and threw a sarcastic look at the boy, while Giorgia chuckled lightly and ruffled her cousin's hair.
"Giorgia, I'm falling!"
Giorgia spun around and shot out a hand to a small blonde, who was sliding down the hill's slope. She caught her arm and pulled her up, but the ground beneath their feet crumbled and they both tumbled down. The elder girl finally managed to grab a fistful of grass and slow their descent, until they were both sitting still, breathing heavily.
"Are you okay?" Martina asked, making her way to the duo. Giorgia brushed off some leaves from her shorts and helped the small girl do the same.
"Yeah. Come on, I saw the valley. Be very careful where you put your feet, though. The terrain is frail." Martina rolled her eyes at the obvious statement.
"How about we let Fiona go first, like we do with the younger scouts?"
"How about Fiona falls again and you're not there to stop her if she goes first?"
Giorgia chuckled and ignored her sister's comeback in favour of leading the way.
"Here we are! We can just run down now!" she said, the words fading in the wind as she sprinted down the last bit of hill and to the valley.
"Come on Marty, you can do it!"
"I'd prefer not to break my neck, thank you very much." the other replied while carefully holding to a tree and lowering a foot. Francesco, having reached the girls, gave up on caution and sprinted down, somehow tripping on a root and rolling his way down the slope, laughing with glee all the way. Fiona had magically teleported down and was already picking flowers, no one knew or bothered to question how. By the time Martina finished her cautious descent, the blonde was starting to arrange a flower crown.
"So where are we having our adventure?" Francesco asked, hopping impatiently. Giorgia pointed to a forest at a few hundred meters' distance.
"There! There is a beautiful river and a lot of trees, and lots of flowers to pick and space to run. There's even a road so we won't get lost! Then..." she paused for dramatic effect, slouching down and curling her fingers "There are the monsters of the forest!"
Francesco's eyes shone. "Monsters"
"Yes! In this forest there are trolls. They look like trees, so be careful, or they may want to eat you! In fact..." she picked up a fallen branch and waved it around as if it were a sword "The only way to know a troll from a tree is when it moves! And when it moves it's to kill you! So find a weapon to defend yourself and fight the monsters!"
Without being told twice, Francesco ran off, only to come seconds later armed with a few small stones. Martina opened her mouth to protest, but Giorgia preceded her.
"Be careful not to hit anyone, Francy!"
"Giorgia... are there really monsters there? I don't wanna go..." Fiona tried to complain, but her brother ran over to her and dropped to a knee.
"I'll protect you from the monsters, my princess!"" he claimed, puffing out his small chest.
"Are you even old enough to be a knight?" Martina asked, watching amused as the boy scrambled back to his feet.
"Of course I am! I'm eight, you know, I'm a grown-up now! And I'm older than Fiona, so I have to protect her!"
"Giorgia is fourteen, she's older than you."
"But Giorgia's a girl! She can't be a knight!" the little boy paused, considering something.
"She's more like an awesome ninja! Ninjas can be girls! Giorgia is like a ninja and Fiona is the princess, so you are... another ninja maybe?"
"No! Martina is a pirate!!" Fiona exclaimed, giggling.
Silence reigned in the forest's edge, a ninja, a princess and a knight waiting for the girl's response.
"Aargh! Run, or I'll kill ye with my hook!" Fiona and Francesco screamed and dashed inside the forest, while Giorgia and her younger sister exchanged an amused look.
"Hey! Wait for us!"
"Look, look Martina, it's floating!"
"Of course, it's surface is bigger than it's wei--" Giorgia elbowed her sister in the side "I mean, it's a boat after all, of course it floats."
"Marty, I made one too!" Fiona announced, showing up with a small boat made from two leaves impaled with a stick. Martina examined it, adjusted its "sails" and lay it on the rivulet of water, the four of them watching the miniature vehicle float away.
"Maybe a river nymph will see it and like it, and give us her magic powers." Giorgia interrupted the thoughtful silence.
"River nymph?" Fiona queried.
"Yes! River nymphs are very beautiful, so Francy will have to watch out and avoid falling in love with them. But come to think of it, they're not as beautiful as you, puppy, so he should be safe. Anyway, if we please the river nymphs they'll give us their magic powers to fight the trolls."
"I don't need the powers! And I won't fall in love with them, I'm not that old!" Francesco protested, before turning around. "Look! That troll is moving!"
Fiona screamed and hugged her brother, while he extracted a few stones from his pocket and started throwing them in the general directions of a random group of trees.
Giorgia picked up her staff-sword and lunged at the trees, hitting one of them repeatedly while yelling something about "Friggerboying troll dandeleds", while Martina sighed and decided to sit this one out.
After an acrobatic dive (and a few scrapes and bruises) on Giorgia's part and a perfect hit on a spider net by Francesco, Fiona let go of her brother.
"Guys, you killed it! Thank you, Fra!" she kissed the boy on the cheek, then went on to do the same to Giorgia. "Thank you too, master ninja! You are now my personal guard. But Francesco is still my first guard, so you'll be the second. You don't have to be offended, it's just that Francy came first."
"I'm honored to be your guard, my princess." Giorgia bowed slightly, using the motion to pick Fiona up and spin her in the air.
"Look! Another troll!" Francesco ran off to fight the invisible monster and Fiona jumped from Giorgia's arms to follow after him. The ninja seemed to consider following them, before leaving the cousins to play their own game and squatting down near her sister.
"Won't you help us in our mission?"
"Pirates pillage and kill. I'm supposed to attack the princess, not defend her from trolls."
"You can be a good pirate, you know."
"I'm not too keen on the thought of running around yelling made-up insults and waving a decaying tree branch probably filled with worms at inexistent monsters."
"But you did that when you were younger. And you found it funny."
"I'm not a child anymore, Giorgia!" the younger sister complained with a small pout.
"You're eleven, right? Adolescence begins at thirteen. Adulthood at eighteen. You're still a kid, and you can play with us."
"I'd feel ridiculous."
"So what's the problem? You'd have fun. There are no adults around. Look at me, I do stupid things and have fun! Do I look like a give a friggerboying graft about others' opinion? Besides, a ninja and a knight are cool, but we need a pirate. We can't do it without a pirate, it would be like Sharknado without the sharks."
Martina winced at the mention of the movie, but smiled slightly. "Promise not to tell mom and dad?"
"Of course! Scout's Honor!"
"Then you have your shark pirate." she started running towards their cousins, then suddenly turned around.
"And I get to loot the corpse!"
AN: Wow. That eneded up VERY different from what I had planned out. I had planned the four getting lost in the forest, no real message, and an overall boring stories with no ninjas and knights and pirates. Trust me, it's much better for all of us that Francy decided he didn't give a friggerboying graft about my plot and made up his own. By the way... I'd have fun to see my American readers try and figure out the correct pronounciation of the names!
No comments:
Post a Comment