Entry One

Entry One in the "What Chris is Doing In Colombia Over the Next Month" creative writing competition.

By Molly Greene, 15, of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Chris rises at dawn, drinks a glass of water and eats some Vegemite. On a rice cracker. He is prepared for a new day at a lovely seminar camp. Unfortunately, he discovers he can't discover or recall where he left his favorite shirt, dyed in the Himalayas by Wiccans in the most delicate shade of saffron. It is the only shirt that matches his parachute pants, the only clean pants he has. "Good grief," he thinks to himself. "Whatever shall I do?" At this moment a water spirit appears in the doorway. "Christopher, matchy-matchy is out, as everyone knows," the water spirit announced. She had long spidery hair carefully clothing her scale-y body and Christopher wondered how a naked water spirit could be advising him regarding style."What are you doing here?" he wondered aloud. "There isn't water for acres." "Ahh, foolish lad," she replied wisely. "The true water is found in the mind." At that moment, Chris knew what had befallen his favorite saffron shirt. "You!" he cried. "You have my shirt." "Nay, nay," she whispered. "The shirt too is found in the mind." Chris, usually a mild soul, began to lose his temper. "Beastly wench," he hissed. "Return my shirt to me immediately.""Only if you answer me one question: Why is the ocean blue?" She looked a thim smugly because surely no one knows why the ocean is blue. However, Christopher knew. "The ocean is blue because it reflects the sky, which is also blue." At that moment the water spirit disappeared, replaced by the saffron shirt, which Chris wore for the duration of the seminar camp and grew to love more and more every single day. The end.

Please send further entries to standardlinedelivery@gmail.com in order to fill the void in posts over the coming months.