AUSTRALIA, 1614

I kicked the grass ball hard and it flew into the trees. Laughing, the other boys of our tribes told me to go retrieve it. Grinning sheepishly, I sprinted into the refreshing cool of the forest. My brown skin immediately blended into the bark of the trees. I searched for the green ball woven out of grass among the undergrowth. As I passed a bright orange snake lounging lazily on a branch, I heard strange voices coming from through the trees. Creeping silently over the leaves I peered through the branches. My heart stopped. It was Englishmen. I had heard stories about them. About how their skin is white because they bath in milk. About how they always carry around magic thunder sticks that boomed and killed my people. And also about how they wear weirdly colored plants that cover their bodies. And here they were, standing right past the forest with their white skin and odd colored leaves around their selves. They were talking loudly to each other in a language I didn't understand. An idea came to me. I snuck back to the orange snake and carefully picked it up. Then, climbing a tree near the men, I threw the nonpoisonous reptile onto them. They screamed and pulled out some short sticks from their pockets. Then, BOOM! I almost fell out of my perch as a stick roared. BANG! Another one. They weren’t aiming at me though; they were trying to kill the snake. Even so, I cringed every time one went off. After the snake had slithered back into the safety of the forest, the men put away their sticks and went back to talking among each other. One of them was gesturing toward the forest and I understood. They were going to barge into the forest and destroy the village. I wished that they had never come from across the vast water. They had come in groups many dying in the harsh heat of the deserts. They had interrupted our simple way of life. Our routine of fishing, hunting, playing ball and telling dreamtime stories. I raced ahead of them, familiar with every inch of the forest. I had a mission. My mission was to make it as hard as I could for those Englishmen to find the village. I will not let them take and kill the people of my tribe, I thought as I secured a tripwire. I will not.