You follow the creek, feeling smart about taking a path that won’t get you lost.  You walk for an hour, laughing and joking with your friend.

“I bet it’s gold!” he says.

You look over and stick out your tongue.  “No way, I bet it’s a dragon!”

“Nuh uh!” he says.

“Yeah huh!” you say as you both start pushing each other.  Sadly, you’re not watching where you’re going and he pushes you into a big rock, which you trip over and fall into the creek.

When you started following it, the creek was just a trickle, but now, it’s more like a rushing river.  And it’s just above freezing.  You try to grab onto every branch you see and finally, after getting pushed underwater over and over, you cling tightly onto one that finally doesn’t snap.

Your best friend grabs your hand and over quite a few minutes and a lot of work, finally pulls you out of the river.  You can’t stop shivering and need his help to get back to your bike.  You ride it for a while, but you feel so weak, you have to abandon it halfway home and ride on his handlebars home.

You go home and crawl into bed and wake up the next morning feeling sick.  After a few days, you go to the doctor and it’s pneumonia.  You have to miss so much school for the rest of the year, you’re held back and have to repeat the fourth grade again.

THE END – try again.