Here is the story Gascon students and I came up with:
Setting: in the future, summer, in Montana, in the woods
Characters: Main character is Christian, a trickster- static character(doesn’t change)
Secondary character is Ociel
Problem: the characters come across a creature in the woods they must fight
Ending: sad
YOU CAN'T FOOL MOTHER NATURE
Christian and Ociel crept slowly through the dense forest. The trees were so close together they could barely squeeze between them as they walked. They took a few more steps and stopped.
Christian put his finger to his lips. “Shhh. It sounds like it’s coming from this way.” He led Ociel, his newest friend, forward, brushing past the low branches of the trees.
“Is this safe?” asked Ociel. “We’re not even on the path anymore.”
“Shhhh,” hushed Christian. He pulled a branch back so they could pass.
The boys were sweating in the hot summer sun. They had their sun gear on for protection since the ozone layer had dissolved years ago. All the extra clothing covering their skin from the dangerous sun was almost unbearable. The tall trees provided most of the protection, but every now and then a dangerous beam of sunlight burned its way through the trees’ defenses, searching for skin to burn. That’s why their sun gear was so important.
“Did you hear that?” asked Christian.
“Hear what?” said Ociel. “I didn’t hear anything.”
“It sounds like it’s coming from over there,” said Christian. He pointed through the thick branches.
While Ociel was pulling branches away from his face so he could see, Christian snuck a fake rubber tarantula from his pocket and placed it on Ociel’s shoulder. Then with an alarming voice he said, “What’s that on your shoulder?”
Ociel looked down and screamed his head off. His eyes practically popped out their sockets. Quickly, he brushed his hand across his shoulder, knocking the fake spider to the ground. As if trying to put out a small fire, he started stomping on it.
Christian clutched at his stomach, laughing hysterically. Between laughs he said, “I can’t believe you fell for the fake spider bit.”
Feeling a little foolish, Ociel said, “Very funny.”
“Don’t worry,” said Christian. “A lot of people fall for it. Come on. Let’s go see what’s making that noise.”
“I still don’t hear anything,” said Ociel.
Christian checked his watch, making sure that the sun would not burn his arm when he pulled back his sleeve.
“Why do you keep checking the time?” asked Ociel.
“No reason,” said Christian. “Hey, let’s go rest on that log up there.”
Ociel shrugged his shoulders.
While sitting on an old snag, Christian took a bottle of water out of his backpack. He looked at his watch again. He began to smile, seemingly for no reason, so he drank from his bottle to conceal his happiness.
Before Christian could finish swallowing his water, it happened. The loudest, ear-piercing roar echoed in the boys’ ears. Ociel’s body jerked up in the air and came back down awkwardly on the log. He lost his balance and fell backwards to the forest floor, his legs sticking up in the air.
Christian broke out in a fit of laughter and couldn’t stop. His face was turning red, and he could barely breathe. It was his best trick to date.
Ociel scrambled to his feet and started sprinting back the way they had come.
“Wait!” yelled Christian. “Come back here!”
Ociel turned around and watched Christian reach into the hollow log. Carefully, he pulled out a tape recorder.
With a proud look on his face, Christian said, “I had it set to go off at this time.”
Ociel was beginning to understand why Christian didn’t have many friends.
“I don’t even care if there is a river hidden up here anymore,” said Ociel. “I just want to go home.”
“Come on,” pleaded Christian. “We’re so close. Wait till you see how big those fish are!”
He just had to mention the fish, thought Ociel. I gotta see those fish.
“Okay,” agreed Ociel. “But no more tricks.”
“I’m all out of tricks anyways,” said Christian. “The river’s this way. Let’s go.” He jumped over the log and pulled a small branch aside for both of them to pass.
***
After 10 minutes of walking and ducking through low lying branches, the river was in view. They had heard it all along; they just couldn’t see it until this point.
Ociel was anxious to see those big fish that Christian was talking about. He raced out in front, and as he did, a little brown squirrel hopped out of his path.
“Wait!” shouted Christian. “Watch this.” Christian made some smacking sounds with his lips like he was calling a puppy. Then he held out his hand, pretending he had food in it.
The squirrel, acting shy, jumped a couple of feet toward Christian and then waited.
Christian moved his hand up and down like he had something in it.
The squirrel hopped closer.
Ociel stood off to the side and watched patiently. The fish weren’t going anywhere.
When the squirrel was about two feet away, it did something unexpected. It charged at Christian.
Christian, not expecting a little creature to attack him, was unprepared for the assault. Startled, he fell backwards. The squirrel leaped on his back.
“Ahhh! Help me!"
Ociel started laughing. In between chuckles he said, “See what you get for tricking people. Maybe that’s what I should have done too.”
“It’s not funny. Get him off. He’s biting me.”
Ociel finally gave in and walked toward the fight. As he did, another squirrel joined the scene. Normally, it would not have alarmed Ociel, but after watching this other squirrel attack Christian, he had suddenly found a newfound respect for the little creatures.
Once Ociel helped Christian to his feet, two more squirrels appeared. Now there were four of them, and they were all looking at the boys with angry eyes.
“Follow me!” yelled Christian. He ran toward the river. Ociel chased after him, and so did the squirrels.
When Christian reached the river, he didn’t stop. He plunged into the cold water. Ociel splashed in next. The squirrels all stopped at the water’s edge and stared at the boys for a few minutes before deciding to go back.
“Those were some crazy squirrels,” said Ociel.
“Yeah, it must be the heat,” said Christian.
As soon as he made the comment, Christian and Ociel both realized their faces were both exposed to the sun. The cool water had been masking the burning effect.
“Quick, let’s get to the shade,” said Christian with alarm.
They reached a shady place under a tree and looked each other over. Their faces were covered with blisters. They each had a tube of Burn-be-gone that they applied generously to their scorched faces. If they were lucky, there would be no permanent scarring.
Not done with his adventure yet, Christian said, “Come on. Let’s go check out those fish.”
They put their ski masks on over their heads so that they could withstand the sun’s damaging rays and then waded out into the water. They didn’t have to walk far. The fish were all over the place, and they were huge.
“Look at this one!” shouted Christian. He reached down and scooped it up with his water-soaked shirt sleeves. “I caught it! I caught it!”
“Uh, I think you should let it go,” said Ociel with a worried voice. He tapped Christian on the shoulder and pointed a few yards down the river.
A large brown bear, his nose close to the water, was walking their way. He stopped and clawed at the river's edge. A fish leaped out and splashed back into the water. The bear seemed to be chasing it, not realizing he was about to run into two humans.
“Bears are afraid of people,” said Christian with a challenging voice.
“Don’t even think about it,” said Ociel. “I’m getting out of here.”
“You going back to the killer squirrels?”
“I think I’ll take my chances,” answered Ociel.
Christian clutched his fish tightly with both hands and held it up high like a trophy. “Hey bear! Looks like I’m a better fisherman than you!”
The bear stopped and sniffed the air in their direction. Then he rose up high on his two hind legs.
“See you later,” said Ociel. “I’m outta here. Remember, if he catches you, pretend you’re dead. It’s your only chance.” Ociel reached the shore and sprinted across the rocks back toward the thick forest.
“Don’t go!” yelled Christian. “He’s just bluffing. He’s not going to come after us.”
The bear’s feet fell back to the water with a splash, and then he started running. To Christian’s surprise, he wasn’t running away; he was charging right at him.
“Holy cow!” shrieked Christian. He threw the fish back in the river and started trudging through the water to reach the shore.
Once Christian made it out of the water, the bear was practically on top of him.
Ociel glanced back just once, right before he disappeared into the forest. Remember, pretend that you’re dead. He shot through the trees and disappeared.
When Ociel reached his house, his parents rushed him to the hospital. His face was burned pretty badly.
***
A few days later, Ociel was released from the hospital. The police and Christian’s parents asked him where Christian was.
Ociel’s response was the same for both. “He’s pretending he’s dead.”