Splatmandu Paintball Club | Three Rivers, MI

Tommy hunkered down within a thicket of bushes. He had picked out this spot to ambush his brother, Brier. He heard a rustling of leaves and twigs crackling as his quarry approached. He held his breath and brought his stick up to his shoulder aiming carefully down its length. He gently fingered the hollowed out knot of wood that protruded underneath. He had spent the better part of his morning whittling away at the knot until he had a nice trigger guard formed. “Not bad craftsmanship if I do say so myself,” Tommy thought. He was ready to pull the trigger at any given moment. “Soon…my target should be coming from that direction, over there.” A moment later, Brier entered the clearing clutching a stick tightly to his chest as he looked from side to side. Pointing his weapon swiftly, first at a bush, and then at a large tree as if daring an enemy to leap out at him. Brier snickered to himself, “Surely my brother is near, I know this is the direction I saw him heading.” Brier knew he was supposed to have been hiding his eyes and counting when his brother left, but he couldn’t help peeking a little. He giggled again at the prospect of catching Tommy off guard. Just then an abrupt noise sounded off to his left. He spun toward the sounds of his brother’s shouting, “BANG–BANG! I got you Brier! BANG–BANG!” Brier lurched to his right and did a barrel roll over a pile of sticks. He looked over to where Tommy lay nestled among the bushes and shouted. “Nu-uh, you missed! BANG–BANG! You’re hit Tommy, call out!” This proceeded to go on for a few more minutes before Tommy finally gave up. He knew that he would have had Brier dead to rights in the first place…there was just no way he could prove it. Tommy called out to his brother as he walked into the clearing, “I quit!” Brier stood up and ran over to his brother with a big grin on his face. As he reached his brother, he tossed his stick aside, deciding he would look for a new weapon later; he had spied a stick with a branch that would serve nicely as a fore grip. “So what you wanna’ do now Tommy? You wanna’ go see if Dad is back from the hunt?” Tommy thought about it for a moment, “Nah, they went to the Eastern Province…they prolly’ won’t be back ’till dark.” The boys’ father was one of the warriors in the village. The warriors traditionally went out on Sundays to hunt for the Teesa. The Teesa was a native bird to these lands and it was prized for its feathers. Should one find the Teesa, they may also be fortunate to find one of its golden eggs nearby. A golden egg was said to contain great power and those who possessed it were said to live long and prosperous lives. Tommy daydreamed of what it would be like to find a Teesa. He fantasized bringing a Teesa and its golden egg to the village. The people would cheer and hoist him up on their shoulders in praise of his deeds. “Well?” Brier interrupted the fantasy, bringing Tommy back to his mundane reality. Shrugging his shoulders he said, “We could go hunt too…” Brier was dumbfounded by this suggestion as he looked wide-eyed at his brother.” We can’t do that Tommy, Dad would kill us for sure. ’Sides…the Teesa is dangerous, we’d prolly’ get ripped to shreds ’fore we got two feet with one of them golden eggs.” Tommy had a rueful look on his face. He knew that getting the bird or the golden egg was not a possibility. Yet, there were other things they could find…regular Teesa eggs were plentiful in the forest, and there was little to no danger in collecting those. The Teesa birds did not guard those eggs like they did the golden ones. “We’ll go collect regular eggs Brier.” His brother looked thoughtful for a moment, scratching his head while considering this new proposition. “Well…I guess that would be OK…Race you to the ridge!” Without waiting for an answer, Brier took off at a dead run. Tommy sighed briefly and then took off after him.

Tommy carefully moved forward another pace. He strained to make no sound as his feet felt their way through the thick undergrowth of the forest; it was a painstaking process. “The woods sure are quiet today,” Brier whispered behind him. Tommy nodded in agreement as he listened to the hollow and empty sound of the forest. Normally the creatures of the forest would be a little more lively. A squirrel or bird chirping, leaves rustling with the breeze…anything besides the eerie silence that surrounded them. “Not today though,” thought Tommy. As if answering his thought, Brier remarked, “The forest is as still as death.” Just then, Tommy felt a needle prick on the back of his neck. His hand reflexively reached back and slapped the spot where he had felt the pain. He brought his hand back around and looked at the splotch of blood on his fingers and the mangled remains of a mosquito. “Well, I guess the entire forest isn’t dead…” Tommy grinned wickedly. “Or, at least it wasn’t till now.” Brier laughed at his brother’s humorous remark. Tommy flicked the dead insect off his hand and wiped the small blood stain off on the back of his pants. The two boys continued making their way forward to where a small clearing could be seen. The clearing spanned about 15 meters in diameter and the tall yellow-emerald shrubbery that covered the ground was aglow from the sun. The rays of light shown down vividly from high overhead through the patchy tree cover above. “A perfect spot for a Teesa to leave its eggs,” Tommy thought. As the boys reached the edge of the clearing, they peered in through the maze of greenery. Parting the tall weeds with their hands, they poked their heads in. Their faces showed with excitement as they saw a group of stark white Teesa eggs nestled on the ground. “Wow Tommy…three eggs…Wow!” “Not a bad find, eh Brier?” Granted they were not golden eggs, or even a live Teesa…even so, these white Teesa eggs would be a welcome prize to take back to the village. “OK,” Tommy bent down and carefully cupped one of the eggs and passed it gently into his brother’s hands. “Now be careful Brier, these break easy.” “Yeah, I know.” Tommy bent down and picked up another egg, cradling it in his hands. All of the sudden Tommy’s whole body shuddered as a loud boom sounded overhead. Looking up, the boys could not see the source of the noise through the sparse openings in the thick canopy of leaves. Yet, they did catch some glimpses of odd coloration filtering down. At any rate, they knew the sound of a storm when they heard one. “C’mon Brier, lets get back home.” With that, Tommy and Brier made their way back to village, cradling their two eggs. As the boys’ silhouettes disappeared among the trees, they were unable to see the razor thin flash of light split the air where they had been standing just moments before. The line of light widened into a door-size shimmering mirror. Almost immediately, strange men, clad in blue uniforms, stumbled forward through the mirror. Many of them collapsed and began shivering or shaking on the ground, showing obvious signs of sickness. Soon after, a stout man appeared, adorned in a blue uniform with a white crested letter ‘A’ and a golden star. Breathing heavily, the figure hunched over as he gained his composure with deep ragged breaths. While bent over, the man noticed a round white object on the ground. As his breathing slowed into a soft wheeze, he reached down and picked up the object with a stifled grunt. Standing erect, he breathed in several very deep breaths, letting the fresh air fill and expand his lungs with an exhilarating energy. The white object could be seen, reflected in the fiery eyes of the man as he held it before him. During his examination, a wicked smile spread across his face and with a triumphant tone in his voice he exclaimed, “A Teesa Egg I presume.”