text: [Themes: family friendly, family friendly]
  
  Mist rises over the battlefield. It is a Saturday morning: The traditional time to resolve such disputes. For three weeks now, Alexsis has been encroaching on the only good seat at the seventh grade lunch table; territory that is yours by birthright. Today, you reclaim what is rightfully yours, and defeat your nemesis in your ancestral form of combat: A game of capture the flag.
  
  "Seriously?" complains Katherine, shivering slightly. It's a colder morning than usual for this time of year. "Couldn't you two have worked this out with a game of rock paper scissors or something?"
  
  "He cheats at rock paper scissors," says Alexsis.
  
  "I do not!" you protest. "How would you cheat at rock paper scissors, anyways?"
  
  "Can we just get this over with?" asks Katherine. "This had better be finished by noon. I have a soccer game, and it's freezing out."
  
  "It'll warm up quickly," says Harriet, pointing at the sky. "The sun just needs to start cutting through the fog."
  
  "Who's picking first?" asks Corey from behind you, making you start in surprise.
  
  "You can pick first," smirks Alexsis, giving you a nudge. "You'll need it."
  
  Well, she's not going to goad you into giving up your first-pick slot that way. You scan the crowd of your friends, before your eyes settle on one. "Stacy." Stacy grins and jogs over to where you are, giving you a high-five. You're sure you've made the right choice; Stacy's one of the fastest kids you know.
  
  "Jonathan," points Alexsis.
  
  "Mike," you decide. Mike isn't particularly strong or fast, but he's got a sharp set of eyes and ears.
  
  "Finn," says Alexsis.
  
  You survey your options, and then sigh. "Katherine," you say. You aren't thrilled about putting up with her complaints all day, but she does play soccer after all. She's fast and strong.
  
  "Liam," says Alexsis.
  
  It's your pick again, and you have to say, you're not totally sure who to go with. The two remaining kids are Harriet and Corey, neither of whom you know particularly well. They both seem friendly, given your interactions with them so far, but you aren't certain what their skills would be in a game like this.
  
  > say "Corey"
  "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 "Offense"
  "That leaves the two of you for defense," you say. "Mike, do you think you can handle guarding the flag alone?"
  
  "Yeah," he nods. "Assuming there's not more than several at once."
  
  "We'll keep them busy on offense," grins Stacy.
  
  "Then Katherine, you're free to patrol the area," you say. "Or to hang out here if Mike needs help. Whatever works."
  
  "It's almost five minutes," says Katherine, checking her watch. "You should go to the border."
  
  The three of you head over the the brook running through Alexsis's back woods that divides your territory. As you approach, the sound of frogs chirping comes into range. A lot of frogs live in the swamp across the stream, and they can get pretty loud some days. Today, though, they're not that bad.
  
  You hang out by the stream for a minute or so before Stacy says "It's probably been five minutes," and you all jump the brook.
  
  It's slow going through the swamp, since none of you really feel like splashing through the mud. The three of you begin your search in a dryer area of the woods, and navigate the wet patches by hopping from tree root to tree root.
  
  Something catches your attention, and you stop as you land on a tree branch. "Wait," you whisper, and lean forwards, as Stacy and Corey's conversation dies out. Sure enough, drifting above the distant gurgle of the brook are approaching voices. And they're coming right towards you.
  
  You look around. There's really not much cover in this part of the woods, and you'd have a hard time sneaking away quickly without attracting attention. There is a decent cluster of bushes off to your left, however. Unfortunately, it's the wettest and muckiest part of the swamp yet. If someone did come up on you there, you'd have a really hard time running away, what with the muck and tree roots forcing you to slow down.
  
  Or you could try to sneak around the voices off on the right side. It'd be risky, but you'd have a much better chance of successfully escaping back to your territory if you were spotted.
  
  > hide in the bog
  It's too risky to try and move both quickly and quietly. "Everyone hide in the bog!" you whisper, jumping into the mud. Corey and Stacy follow your lead.
  
  There are some good bushes for cover, but they're spread out, so the three of you have to split up in order to hide. You crouch down behind a bush, grimacing as the mud begins to soak your shoes.
  
  You peer out. Jonathan and Finn are making their way past your hiding spot. In that case, hiding was probably a good idea. Jonathen is nearly as fast as Stacy, and might have beaten you to the brook if you tried to run. Finn... well, you don't know her as well as some of your other friends. You're not sure what she might have up her sleeve.
  
  They're having a conversation about their english class, and don't seem to notice you. You watch them until they round a set of trees, and you can't see them anymore.
  
  You give it a few seconds, and they don't return. They haven't been gone very long, but you don't see them, and you're eager to get out of this swamp.
  
  > come out now
  You duck out of hiding, and clamber over a set of tree roots to the place where you, Stacy, and Katherine were before you split up. You take another moment to scan the woods. Nobody is in sight, neither your teammates, nor the opposition.
  
  "Hi!" says Corey from behind you, making you jump. Again.
  
  "Could you stop doing that?" you ask.
  
  "Doing what?"
  
  You look around. "Where's Stacy?"
  
  "I saw her hiding over there," points Corey, indicating deeper in the swamp. You start to cautiously head in the direction he's pointing in. After a moment, you hear voices
  
  "I'm convinced that was cheating," Stacy says. Rats. She must have been captured. You and Alexsis usually play with the rules that someone who's tagged out has to go to jail. Someone who's in can tag someone who's out back into the game, but once you're tagged back in, you have to run back to your own territory before you can rejoin the game.
  
  "It was perfectly legal." Jonathan's voice. "Come on, let's go to jail. Finn, you head back to the flag and tell Liam what happened."
  
  "Roger," says Finn, and starts making her way through the woods off to the right. Jonathan and Stacy head off to the left.
  
  They're splitting up. That means you'll only have the opportunity to follow one of them. You'd hate to pass up on the chance to find out where they're keeping their flag, but you're not sure you'd be able to successfully take it without Stacy's help.
  
  > follow Finn to the flag
  "We're following Finn," you whisper to Corey. "We can get Stacy back in if we need her to get the flag, but at least we'll know where it is." Corey nods and the pair of you start following Finn.
  
  You're relieved to have Finn in your sights, because as she walks, you're impressed with how quickly and quietly she can move through the woods. You have to struggle to keep her in your field of vision. Corey, however, doesn't seem to have the same problem keeping up with her, and the few times she slips out of view, he's always able to find her again in a moment.
  
  To your relief, she seems to be leading you away from the swampiest parts of the woods. The morning is warming up quickly, and you can see some sunlight coming down through the breaks in the leaves. With a little luck, maybe your feet will actually dry.
  
  Finn stops suddenly, and you're so worried about stopping silently that you crash forwards into Corey, who, thankfully, seems to keep a low center of gravity. You steady yourself, ready to bolt at a moment's notice, but Finn doesn't seem to have heard you. Instead, she's picking her way carefully forwards through some bracken, and then ducks under a branch into a more open area. You follow as quickly as you can while still leaving a reasonable chance of remaining undetected. When you and Corey reach the edge of the clearing, you peer through the leaves. Finn is whispering with Liam.
  
  "This must be where the flag is," you breathe, and Corey nods shortly, already scanning the clearing ahead for any signs of the flag. After a moment, he taps your arm and points towards a flash of artificial green in one of the more accessible bushes. You squint. You wouldn't be completely sure this is the flag under normal circumstances, but given Liam's presence here, it's almost sure to be it.
  
  "One of us will be the distraction," you whisper. "The other will go for the flag."
  
  You pause to think. Who should be the distraction? You're certain you could do a good job at either role, the question is how to play to Corey's strengths.
  
  > have Corey be the distraction
  "You creep around to the other side," you say. "Once you're in position, come out of hiding and draw their attention. Then, I'll sneak up on the flag from behind." Corey nods, and starts moving towards around the clearing. He's moving pretty quickly, too. I'd better hurry if I want to be ready when he comes out, you think. You start moving through the bracken towards the bush, a little more quickly than you'd like.
  
  "...do you hear that?" cuts off Liam, looking up in your direction. You scowl. The jig is up. You need to come out now, or you'll be of no use to anyone. Hopefully Corey can improvise.
  
  You charge out of the bush, catching both Liam and Finn off guard, dashing past Liam and leaping for the bush. You've just grasped the flag, when you feel Liam tap you on the shoulder. "You're out!" he says, sounding surprised. You sigh. Well, at least Corey isn't out—
  
  "You're out," you hear Finn say, and turn around to see her tagging Corey. Oh well.
  
  Finn winds up leading you and Corey to their team's jail. As you walk, the ground gets swampier and swampier. By the time you start to hear the sounds of Jonathan and Stacy talking, you're clinging to tree roots to avoid stepping in six-inch puddles.
  
  Jail is boring, but at least there's other people here. You, Stacy, Corey, and Jonathan are in the middle of a very animated conversation about whether or not the last star wars movie was totally irredeemable, when you start to hear cheers of victory coming from the brook. Unfortunately, they're Alexsis's cheers, not your teammate's.
  
  Jonathan stands up. "Good game." The four of you start to head back to the brook. Maybe I can persuade Alexsis to do a best out of three, you think.