Janel
1-20-05

Red Bear

Splash went the water when it hit my face. The water sprayed my face and cooled it off in the hot sunlight. My friend, Stephanie, and I had just gotten on the canoe boat ride at Great America. We were looking around at all the twisty tubes and deep dips we would pass through on the ride. Everything was quiet until…

"I am Red Bear!" Stephanie shouted with a stiff, stern face as she clenched her fists around her pretend paddle. She looked around, as if she were surrounded with trees and animals…even though we were sitting in a plastic canoe and there were no animals in sight. As we went down the first dip, she said, "Those were some rough rapids!" and as we turned the curves she shouted, "Everybody! Hold onto your paddles! Listen to me! For I Am Red Bear!"

When she declared this, she waved her arms above her head and started to howl like a maniac. As we went down the largest, scariest, and biggest dip, she hollered like a crazy parrot. Instead of screaming, I cracked up. When we got off the ride, she whispered to me, "That was one tall waterfall."