I’ve waited eleven months up to this day,
when we left
for St. John 320 miles away.
Packing my
essentials the night before,
soon became
an annoying chore.
But then I
remembered a paper handed to me,
it made my
job easier to a certain degree.
Getting up
stuffing my bags in the van,
when
everyone gets there we should have a plan.
Everyone got
there packed the vehicles tight,
we received
our walkie talkies, I said alright!
Leaving the
parking lot, can’t wait to get there,
eating
Jody’s licorice, she decided to share.
In
Willmarth’s Rodeo is the place to be,
listening to
80’s music he downloaded for free.
On the way
there, many stops were made,
the
bathroom, food and gas; some delayed.
Around 3:30
is when we arrived,
to our disappointment
we were deprived.
The teacher
that owned the futon, packed up and moved,
the futon we
loved, it was removed.
We had to
share beds, so we improvised a bit,
it was a
little strange, we have to admit.
In Cheney,
our first game started at five,
after that
game we came out barely alive.
We ate at a
restaurant, went back to St. John,
into the
school, a war was going on.
Napavine and
Mossyrock disputed over rooms,
to our view
Mossy won, our team assumes.
The new
morning bright and early we rise,
we played
Winlock, “oh, what a surprise!”
That game
was interesting, some rules were broken,
that Winlock
coach was sure outspoken.
Determining
out placement for the game the next day,
we lost too
many games, we were gonna pay.
Getting up
early once again,
we were
surely tired, like we have been.
We played
one game, then went to the mall,
it’s the
cool hang out place after all.
We ate lunch
and went through the stores,
Amber isn’t
that sunglass case yours?
We went back
to Eastern and play our last game,
the one from
this morning, the results stand the same.
We needed
some snacks, stopped at Safeway,
Katie and
Liz saw the hair dye on display.
Willmarth
hands out the tickets, I scratch, oh shucks,
Jody
scratched hers and won fifty bucks.
On to St.
John’s, the caravan of girls,
Did we just
hit a patch of squirrels?
Going
through Pine City, we saw familiar faces,
sitting on
poles? Man, those are strange places.
Vanessa
having problems, got stuck on the pole,
getting down
on the ground, was her major goal.
Got to our room, laid down and rested,
does anyone
want to play Mafia? Barlow suggested.
So we played
Mafia, the game was intense,
until
someone caught Mafia, it grew in suspense.
Everyone
grew tired, needed something to do,
started
three point bump, the numbers grew.
Every night
past nine, we gathered to play,
the coaches
told us to go, we wanted to stay.
I stayed up
with my friends in the middle of the hall,
later on
that night, the group grew small.
We were
tired, goodnight we all said,
I went to my
room, Katie was in my bed.
I helped her
out, put her in her own,
I wonder why
she was in my bed, that fact unknown.
Being there
your first time you feel kind of scared,
not Kellie
Mastey, she was prepared.
Morning
came, the doughnuts were out,
I’m sure
Megan Sullivan couldn’t do without.
We all got
dressed, we all looked great,
“Hey, that
kangaroo stole my ball!” G’day mate.
Seeing
Alicia O’Toole in her Hawaiian shorts,
that makes
you wonder if she has them in all sorts.
Played our
first game, the score drew near,
they barely
squeaked by, emotions severe.
We stopped
at a house before our next game,
we took a
special picture, and put it in a frame.
Memories of
your past, you don’t let go,
we made
coach Hergert smile, we’re happy to know.
The rest of
the games, we were feared,
leaving them
behind, on the wall smeared.
We ate
dinner, visited the rest of the night,
hung out in
our room, everyone in sight.
There’s two
people missing, who could they be?
Meeghan
playing cards with cheatin’ Lindsay B.
We all went
to bed after watching TV,
I turned it
off and went to go pee.
I walked
out, went through the hall alone,
there was
Katie standing there yakin’ on the phone.
The next
morning we had an extra match,
the jv went
second, had a score to catch.
On our way
to Steptoe, our second game that day,
we kicked
Kettle Falls’ butts and sent them on their way.
Eating our
lunches on the playground in the sun,
playing on
the tire swing, that was really fun.
We finished
up at Steptoe, we didn’t do too well,
Jody rolled
her ankle, her foot began to swell.
We went back
to St. John, had a game to win,
we wiped
them off the map, dinner was surely in.
We scrambled
to the kitchen, got into the line,
I’ll tell
you one thing, the food was mighty fine.
We went back
to our room and checked our e-mail,
I checked
mine second, it was in detail.
Around
rolled 10 p.m. and we were getting tired,
some of us
still up, they were really wired.
The next
morning, we had an early game,
the high
school gym packed, a lot of people came.
That first
game of the day was an exciting one,
the first
half buzzer went off, the other team was done.
The rest of
the games that day we ran them off the court,
I pointed to
them and said, “go play another sport!”
We all got
cleaned up, found some dark clothes to wear,
some of them
forgot, they were unaware.
Our
traditional laser tag game, I couldn’t wait to go,
we soon got
to laser tag, we all put on a show.
Jezebel
almost got me, I avoided her gun,
after three
years of playing, I have finally won.
We went to
Dick’s restaurant , ate cheap food there,
a hundred
seagulls surrounding us, feeding, we did not dare.
We went back
to St. John, inside it was a zoo,
Ony was
playing treasure hunt, a basketball game going too.
Shane asked
me to play with them against St. John’s jv,
I went and
got my jersey and I did agree.
The game was
really different, playing on a mixed team,
there were
no rules or regulations, it didn’t really seem.
After the
game the annual talent show was prepared,
we finally
got Barlow to play the violin without being scared.
The talent
show was finished, to the room the girls went,
trying to
find Val, so they could torment.
The list
Rebecca made seemed to be funny and wise,
telling us
we didn’t need so much make-up for our eyes.
It wasn’t a
beauty pageant but despite this advice,
they played
“Moulin Rouge” instead of “Vanilla Ice”.
Everyone
heard about the Rainier girls make-up,
they peaked
around our door, hey what’s up.
From my
point of view, it seemed like a hundred,
how did they
all fit in there? I wondered.
They chased
me and Barlow around for a little while,
I guess they
gave up, it wasn’t worthwhile.
They cleaned
it all up and put stuff away,
I’m glad
they didn’t put make-up on me, or I’d look the same way.
That night I
stayed up with a bunch of people out in the hall,
remembering
the memories, I will never forget them all.
The next
morning, the seniors played their last outing,
I got ball,
I got ball, we were all shouting.
Like the
first day, the score within range,
it’s like we
played this exact game before, wow, that is so strange.
We cleaned
out of room, and finished out the day,
packed up
our stuff and we were on our way.
I had an
awesome week, the best I ever had,
next year I
don’t get to go, I know I’ll be sad.
Making it
back to Rainier, I missed my home and bed,
this season
I’m excited for, just lies ahead.
Being a
senior, this summer went so well,
to all my
younger teammates, I bid you farewell.
Written by
Val Larson
September
2001
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