text: "And I get Harriet," concludes Alexsis. "You picked first, so I get to pick which side of the stream I have." You nod. It's a blow, but it was worth it to get Stacy on your team. "I'll take the swamp," says Alexsis.
  
  "Oh thank god." When Alexsis raises an eyebrow, you quickly add "I mean, oh no, I wanted the swamp." In truth, you're relieved. True, it's much harder for the offense to move through your territory when you're defending the swampy side of the river, but it's just as much harder for your DEFENSE to move through the area. You'd rather be quick in your own territory.
  
  "We'll start in five minutes," says Alexsis. You fish the flags out of your backpack and hand her the green one. "Ready..." you bend your knees, preparing to sprint into the woods. "Set... GO!"
  
  You and your team take off. You jump over the stream with a leap, thanking five or six different gods when you land safely on the other side. You check to make sure all your teammates are keeping pace with you before dashing deeper into the woods.
  
  You stop after running far enough away that you can no longer hear the brook, and turn around to let your teammates catch up. Everyone is here—Mike and Corey are both panting from the exertion, but both are looking at you attentively. "We've got about three or four minutes," you say. "Jail will be by the big oak. Any suggestions on where to hide the flag?" It has to be visible, so you can't bury it or anything.
  
  "We usually hide it in a bush somewhere," says Stacy.
  
  A bush is a good spot for it, because it's usually still in plain sight, but harder for the opposing team to get to. "Great, any ideas?"
  
  "Uh, that one?" Katherine points to a bush at random.
  
  "Perfect." You stuff the flag into the bush. You frown. Its red color is kind of visible through the green leaves. You suppose Alexsis has an advantage with her green flag. Oh well. That's the price you pay for getting the cool red flag.
  
  "For defense we'll need someone to keep pretty close to the flag," you say. "At least one person. Maybe two."
  
  "I'd like to be on defense," says Mike. "I can handle watching the flag."
  
  "Dibs on offense," says Stacy immediately.
  
  "I'd also like to be on offense," says Corey.
  
  Katherine shrugs. "I'm fine with defense."
  
  "We've got even numbers, then," says Stacy, and turns to you. "Which one do you want?"
  
  > say "Defense"
  "I'll help Mike guard the flag," you say. "Katherine, you can spread out through the area and look for people sneaking around."
  
  "It's almost five minutes." Katherine checks her watch, then looking up at Stacy and Corey. "You guys should go to the border."
  
  "Good luck." You wave, as Stacy and Corey head off, followed by Katherine leaving in a different direction. Now it's just you and Mike in the clearing.
  
  You watch the dew evaporating off a blade of grass.
  
  The sun starts to break out from the clouds.
  
  Mike points out to you a bird singing overhead.
  
  You hear shouts coming from far across the brook, but can't tell what they mean.
  
  You spot a ladybug clinging to a fallen twig. Mike says it's good luck.
  
  An acorn falls out of one of the nearby trees.
  
  Mike tenses suddenly. "Did you hear that?"
  
  "Hear what?" you ask. You listen, but the forest seems as quiet as ever.
  
  Mike jumps to his feet, and creeps around behind the bush with the flag, the stands there, motionless. You're just deciding that whatever he heard, it must be a false alarm, when Mike dashes into the foliage, and you hear a yelp that is definitely not Mike. After a moment, Mike comes out of the woods, accompanied by Harriet.
  
  "Huh," you say.
  
  "You're quick," Harriet is saying, seeming a little irritated. You suppose you would be too, if you were her. She did an excellent job sneaking up on you. Mike was just better.
  
  You and Alexsis usually play with the rules that when someone gets out, they go to jail. When you're in jail, you can be tagged back in by one of your teammates, but you need to run back to the border to tag in before you're allowed to start participating in the game again.
  
  Of course, this means you've got someone in jail you need to guard. It'd be much easier to guard the jail yourself than it would be to find Katherine, but you're a little hesitant about leaving Mike as the only person guarding the flag.
  
  > guard Harriet yourself
  "I'm going to go guard Harriet at jail," you say.
  
  "Good luck," nods Mike. You and Harriet head out of the clearing.
  
  Jail duty is pretty boring, but at least you're not the only one here. You and Harriet are talking about the weekend homework, when you head a noise in the bushes. You lunge into a bush on instinct, and feel your fingers brush somebody's shirt. Alexsis stumbles out of the bush. "Humph," she grunts, and then looks around at the jail. "Well, at least we're already here."
  
  You're about to say something gloating and smug, when you pause. Are those shouts coming from the flag?
  
  You take off into the woods, ducking under branches as you go. You run into the clearing just in time to see Jonathan disappearing into the woods. "He's got the flag!" yells Mike, already running after him.
  
  You dash after Jonathan, but you already know it's too late. You've never been able to beat him in foot race. You slow down to a halt as you see Jonathan leap over the brook, and wave the flag in the air. "GREEN TEAM WINS!"
  
  "WOOHOO!" yells Alexsis from somewhere in the woods.
  
  You sigh. Maybe I can get Alexsis to agree to a best out of three, you think.