A Hero's Journey

Wiping the sweat from my brow I called a halt to the crew. Phil and I dumped our packs and found a comfy boulder to rest on. I looked back to where the last guys were coming from back down the trail. They had stopped talking a while back and marched slowly along the dirt trail. Phil produced an energy-bar he’d saved from breakfast and began to munch on it as I drained another water bottle. After the refreshing drink I laid back against the rock and stared up at the pine trees. But a moment later, hearing grumble about sore legs, I sat up, grinning, “By the map we only have another couple hours.”

What images come to mind as you reflect on your childhood? Playgrounds, blackboards, and soccer balls may be among the warmest of memories. Yet for many mermaids swim their thoughts, princesses get swept of their feet, and lions roar to their loyal place in the animal kingdom. There is no doubt that today’s entertainment has most of its touch using classical influences. Walt Disney has produced animated films that have captured the heart and imagination of audiences of all ages around the world through the magic of storytelling and imagery. Many of us appreciate the imagination and magic that Disney puts into its animations with out knowing they are based off of classical and traditional storylines

“Yeah, I’m here. But do I really have to stay on this team? I’m the only boy!” Caleb whined.

My father starts to pack our outmoded clothing, and vacant dog cage. I had a flashback to when I was five, and vibrant yellow and orange leaves were gracefully falling to the cold hard ground. While my rangy dog ,spots, had lumbered through the pile of leaves that my father had racked into a pile, meanwhile my mother was writing one of her oh so interesting

"We came up the mountains for a hike but our tour guide was attacked by a bear and we got lost trying to find our way back." Julian said to the Chief.

“I told you guys right was way to obvious.” Ray said with voice that makes you feel like you did something really bad.

Connor: Kayla did, and I don’t know why. By the way I have cross country practice here at 4:00 today. I also have a meet here tomorrow.

We drive up Twin Peaks. There are a few bold stragglers running toward the top. We drive up Twin Peaks and it is beautiful, you can't see an inch of the city, it is floating in fog. You can see the fog. Dad says we have to come back on a clear day. They built a look-out point up there, but they also stuck a post in the ground on a mound that offered topographical information. I run up the mound, then down, then read.

“ I knew they could catch up with me. I wasn’t worried so I continued up the path.” Tracy exclaimed. Minutes later, she was getting a call from an unknown number telling her that her kids were wondering where she was at the bottom of the mountain. Clearly embarrassed she regained her kids and started the hike. From high up above it looked like they were hardly moving. All of sudden they all turned

“ keep going, you can do this” my mom says as I take another step up the rigid cold mountain . I take step after step after step after step, until i get to dead inside from this boredom of climbing this stupid mountain.

It may have been a little windy, but that was expected considering it was the middle of October. There were leaves; so many leaves. All the different colors of the trees in the distance made the moment so much more entrancing, especially the view right ion front of her. Even the smell of the contrasting circus foods was tolerable when she explored his eyes. To her, they seemed like the only thing that mattered. She just wanted to get closer. She wanted to-

After swimming, we decided we wanted to go hiking. So next, we climbed up the rocks until we came across a cave, then continued to venture up and across the small mountain that supported the waterfall. Kiefer decided to head back down to set up his eno hammock, but the rest of us continued on. As we continued to hike, we came across even more beautiful views of the

Slipping and sliding, huffing and puffing, we pulled ourselves along with the marginal help of the surprisingly slippery cable as the loose equipment around our necks swung left and right, chafing us and feeling heavier by the minute. We fell down at the top, exhausted from the ordeal but victorious. We got there with everything we had started with and had avoided the longer, though easier, roundabout route. Success, of a sort; 'It's all downhill from here,' was a figure of speech. Actually, it was another thousand feet of elevation change in a little over half a mile on a trail that hardly deserved the

The path we took now was mostly goat trails and significantly more rugged. My parents, who were sufficiently into their middle years, compared starkly to Alina and Franchesco. The suburban living had taken a toll on their confidence in the considerably wilder environment and I noticed their feet stumble where our guides had perfect grace. My siblings and I however, still had a sense of nature and felt accustomed to our bodies in the outside world. I became determined then to continue exploring the nature around me and take every opportunity not to fall into the comforts of a stagnant

It almost took your mind off the hike, almost. This was Willie’s first time coming to the marble yard so he was extremely excited. He was Billy goatin’ up this mountain while the rest of us lagged behind as we had been here before. After a little while I knew we were getting close because the land had sloped dramatically from where we had started. Soon I could see the giant clearing in the trees and knew we were there. At this point Willie was basically running. Then we saw the giant pile of boulders that makes up the marble yard. We immediately began to climb the rocks in an attempt to make it to the top. There is one thing to know about the marble yard. It is not just one sloping hill of rocks, no it is made up of 3 waves and they call thus. We breached the first wave with little to no hassle I turned around and saw that we were even with the tree line. I also noticed that it was a pretty nice fall to where we had started. My fear of heights told me to turn around and I obliged but kept climbing. Once again Willie with all his excitement was almost at the top of the second wave and John wasn’t too far behind. I had to kick this thing into overdrive. After only a few minutes I realized my overdrive had broken years ago and decided to climb at the steady pace of a snail. Slow and steady would win the race