We were walking out of the forest and onto the road.  Birds were singing and a warm summer breeze was blowing.  It blew the smell of flowers and hay.  I thought to myself what if we didn’t put out the fire? I ended up asking this thought as a question, to my friends.  Elias, without saying anything, went about ten yards and peered back to our small fire we had lit.  It is at this point where Elias went from calm, to terror-stricken.  He hollered, “Holy derp, it’s on fire!”

            Elise, Micah, and I dashed back down the forest.  The sharp sticks and tall grass cutting us on the way down.  My heart was pounding out of my chest.  We got to the fire, and it had enlarged into a circle with a 15-foot diameter.  As we went through our options, the fire continued to engulf everything in its way.  A pond located just about ten feet away, was our only option.  My quick thinking as an 11-year-old, told me to leap into the pond.  Elise followed me in, and we started splashing water onto the fire closest to the pond.  Micah, took a bucket we had with us, and emptied it.  He then filled this with water, to get the fire that was spreading out of our grasp.  This was the beginning of war.

            Elias and I got the fire, nearest to the water, under control.  Micah, on the other hand, could not contain the rest.  As he ran back and forth from water to fire, it only kept growing.  The ingenuity in us thought we could use the wet, dead grass, in the pond to smother the rest out.  This idea was not our finest.  When we ripped the grass out of the water it downed on us, the only way to use our weapons was to get burned.  This was a small price we were willing to pay. So, with weapons in hand, into the fire we went.  The heat was ferocious, and I almost backed downed, but I stood my ground.  I dived in, put the wet grass on the fire, and bolted back to get more.  The flames now licking the forest we had just come out of.  Time was running out, but through actual blood, sweat, and tears we had to win.  Failing was not an option, even though we were exhausted.  But our teamwork payed off, as there was only smoke left on a charred battlefield. We were so petrified of it starting again.  We stayed for another 30 minutes to make sure there was no fire left to fight.   

Our journey now came to an end.  We marched through the forest to the sounds of birds singing and a calm summer breeze.  The scent of smoke was in the air now.  Our beaten bodies needed rest, for the ring of fire had been defeated.  The battleground would soon become green and beautiful as time passed.  On that day my friendship changed.  We were no longer just buddies, we became family.