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=COLLABORATIVE STORY - FALL 2011=

I. (Ordinary World)

Polly Park is a dream come true for me and my friends, especially during off-season from football. It's a long green field where we can make long throws and great plays. On Sunday it could not be more perfect. My friends and I play non-stop football games.

Troy and I are always the first ones to be there. Jerry then comes, and Jeff. Jerry's a little overweight but he wants to be a linemen so it's okay. Jeff is always late because he's playing the lead in our school play and his character is hilarious which fits him perfectly. All three of us are decent players but I showed out amongst us all.

Troy's mom works in a cannery with a minimum wage pay, so I kinda feel bad for him. It must be a pretty bad vibe around the house. But Troy himself ignores that; he will always be very nice and always asking to help. He is a perfect angel. If you saw him on the street crying, with his blond hair and blue eyes, you would stop your car and ask him if he was okay. It kind of makes me mad how he gets all of the girl. But he's my best friend.

Me on the other hand, if you saw me on the street you would drive your car as fast as possible past me. Red hair, brown eyes. And I'm an orphan. Both my parents died in a plane crash when I was 4. I've gotten used to the no parent type thing -- you sort of use your friends as parents instead. At the orphanage, there's this girl my age named Samantha. She is in all my classes and she likes me, according to Troy. This Sunday, the orphanage is going to take all of us to the Detroit Lions football game. They're playing the New Orleans Saints. I want to take Samantha to lunch before the game and switch the tickets around so I can sit with her. Maybe we can call it a date.

II. (The Call to Adventure)

Friday after school I went to ask Samantha if she wanted to go to lunch with my friends and me on Sunday. As I walked toward her the world seemed to move in slow motion, and a weird heavy feeling manifested itself in my stomach. This was going to be harder than I realized, what with the crowd of giggling friends surrounding her. As I walked up Samantha spotted me then said something to her friends and the amount of giggling was increased. The weight in my stomach became drastically heavier and for a second I felt like I was going to throw up, but then she looked me with a warm smile and my confidence was boosted. I walked a little faster.

“Hey Samantha,” I paused to catch my breath; could I do this? “I was wondering if you wanted to go to lunch with my friends and me before the game.”

The next thing she said made an imprint in my mind for the next twenty years of my life. The word was “Yes.” I felt warmth spread through my whole body, and the weight that had been to the point of painful a few seconds ago was lifted and replaced with a feeling of light airiness.

“Cool,” I said, barely concealing my glee.

“See you then,” she said.

I almost said I love you but lucky for the newly formed and, for now, fragile relationship, I said, “Yeah, see you.” As I walked away I realized that I would soon be on a date with one of the prettiest girls I had ever met. I didn’t know that life could be this exciting.

III. (The Refusal of the Call)

I couldn’t believe I was going to hang out with Samantha. I had some doubts that she was going to show up. To be honest, I really didn’t know what to think. For a moment or two I thought about not showing up to the game or to what was a date in my world. All the thoughts were swirling in my brain like a tornado, ready to break a house and ruin some people’s lives. I was ready for the worst.

I called up one of my pals and told him that I might not come to the game or hang out with them, and he told me that my choice wasn’t an option. He said the team needed me. I was told by him that it wouldn’t be the same without me at the game. At first I thought that he was honest, but then I said to my self that he was saying this half hearted. I called Samantha told her she couldn’t come, and convinced myself that it was for the best.

IV. (Meeting with the Mentor)

I walked around the rest of that day feeling better about the situation I had just thrust myself into, yet at the same time there was still this emptiness inside of me. I tried to ignore it and decided to out side and practice my throws. I’d start at one end of the yard and throw the ball as far as I could, then I’d run over to where it landed and see if I could throw it even farther that time.

On about the fourth throw the ball went the farthest it had ever gone and went over the barb wired fence that lines the perimeter of the orphanage grounds. I walked over to the fence but couldn’t find away to get over it because it was too high. The fence was too long for me to go around and definitely to hard to climb so I had to go ask for help.

I walked over to where one of acquaintances, Lloyd, sat. Lloyd is a pretty smart guy with glasses and shaggy blonde hair, I don’t really know how he came here but the rumor is that his parents were murdered at their home while he was at a friends house.

“Hey Lloyd!” I said cordially, “I kind of threw the foot ball over the fence and don’t know how to get it back, I was hoping that you might know how to retrieve it.” Lloyd looked me over and could mean that I meant well.

“Well, you can’t climb over or go around but maybe you could dig your way under.”

“Good idea, Thanks” I said, not knowing if it was a good idea but I was still hoping that it would work.

So I went over to the fence and dug deep down into the soil until I could get to the other side. The football was stuck in a bush and took some tugging to get it loose but it finally came out. It was really pretty on this side of the fence and wanted to explore more but I really needed to get back to the other side. Reluctantly I weaseled my way back under the fence and back to the orphanage grounds with its dead grass. I looked around and that’s when I saw her. Polly. I decided to dig deeper.