Day one: Dumping ducklings

"Get up!!"

The shrill call of Malissa woke me as I snuggled deeper into my raincoat. I was dimly aware of children pouring off the bus and Malissa sighing and going to talk to a girl with shortish brown hair - and then Vanessa was shaking me. "Ellen!" she said, "Getup! We are there!"

I yawned and sat up. My eyes felt swollen and I was still sleepy. Then, I was shook to my senses. We were going on the field-trip to Mt. Kakepuku! I smiled to myself, pulled on my back-pack and moved off the bus.

Mr Woody was smiling and laughing as we began our trudge on a dirt path through farms. Cows mooed and sheep's BAAAAHED at us as we skipped and mooched and ran.

Soon Mr Woody stopped at the base of the small mountain. We could all see beautiful native trees smothering the mountain side. "Looks like it's going to rain," Mr Woody said brightly as we all moaned, "Let's pull on our rain-coats and walk up our Mountain!" Everyone else pulled their raincoats out of their bags but I was already wearing mine. It was called a poncho, and was a make-shift rain-coat/sleeping bag. I loved it dearly, and it was in a stinging shade of magenta. I wriggled into it, and once everyone was softly warm and dry, we began our small climb up the mountain.

We walked...

And walked...

And walked...

and were soon near the top of the mountain. We were puffing a little, but laughing and smiling, marvelling at the beautiful view and looking disgusted at the bugs crawling across the forest floor. Mr Woody, who was smiling and laughing with us, was suddenly sullen and quiet. "What?" Jayden asked. He didn't say anything. He didn't point. He just fell to the floor. I looked around and screamed.

"A TWISTER!" Vanessa squealed. We ran as fast as we could down the mountain, four of us supporting the unconscious Mr Woody. The tornado was zooming towards the mountain, supporting litres of water. As it gushed over the tip of Mt Kakepuku, water sloshed from it. After a few seconds, where we all stood motionless, a mud slide crashed down the mountain. We all screamed and ran. We were at the steepest part of the path and were very scared. The mud careered into us, sending us flying, being dumped by the mud or just being face-planted. I was rolling around, under the mud, not breathing. Vanessa was next to me, rolling too, and we both gripped my bag as it fell from my back. We surfaced, gasped thankfully and were pulled under again. The mud hit a very thick tree and we were thrown forwards, up the mountain top. We crashed into a tree, and fell to the ground groaning. I moaned and fell asleep. When I woke it was just about sun-set. Vanessa was next to me, asleep still. I arranged a leaf pile for her and heaved her upon it. I wanted to start making one for me, but I was in so much pain. I had bruises everywhere and Vanessa was covered in mud, so it was impossible to see if her was hurt. I felt around, because it was rather dark. The sun had set and only a pink line was set on the horizon. I felt my bag, and closed my eyes. They were twitching with the pain I was enduring. I lay down, and snuggled under my poncho. Just as Vanessa groaned and sat up in her pile of leaves, I fell into a deep, pain-filled sleep.