spud-n-bug

So it has been about 4 years since I last posted.
And two days ago we arrived on the Big Island.

On Friday, we flew from Mpls to Kona (via Denver). It was a lot different with an almost 11 and almost 13 year old. They self entertain, interact, and are also sometimes moody. They engage with each other differently too. Doing the same thing again helps us see how things change. That realization is a bit ironic. We settled into our rental and then had a lovely dinner at Rebel Kitchen followed by a freezing cold shop at the grocery store with our very tired children.

Our first day was chill: went to the Keahou farmer's market and hung out at the book store. Had a coconut and bought lilikoi butter at the farmer's market. Also had to go back to the airport to switch cars. Snorkeled to test gear and body remember what it feels like in the bay outside of the condo. Left the kids at home to veg and Ruskin and I had a lovely drive listening to music and talking. went to Teshima's japanese restaurant (been around for 88 years! owner was 106 and died in 2013). Watched the sunset from the scenic point on the way home. Perfect timing! Read the sign telling us about caves and lava tubes and how they were used by the Kanaka Maoli for shelter and protection. Finished reading Underground Railroad. Ruskin is reading Handmaids Tale.

On the second day we woke up early, ate breakfast and headed out. Stopped at the Kona Green Market. Couldnt find Pele's Fire but did manage to get lovely tshirts. An octopus one for father's day! Then headed to Two Step for an hour or so of snorkeling. Was lovely day and perfect timing. Much of the coral was bleached. But the fish were active and it was striking to think about the difference. One thing to know about global climate change, another to see it. Still appreciated the beauty and immense complexity of the world below. Always humbling and fascinating. Transformative. Felt good and cold to be in the water. K out of sorts after. Headed home. Everyone tired and hungry. Got home and kids watched jurassic park films while I did other stuff. Then cooked my malabar spinach. Simple meal for us chicken patties, spinach, and bread. For ro turkey mac. Ate most of the malabar spinach which as a slight slime to it. But it was delicious. Was a lovely to sit on the balcony and eat. Now chilling.

A long time ago, about 2000 years ago, in a mountain on the edge of Nightshade’s evil kingdom, there was a group of rebels preparing for battle. There was an underground river there for drinking water. The underground river was also a secret passage into Nightshade’s castle. Because the people called the Rebels were not able grow their own food, they made allies to trade with.

First of all, Nightshade took over the country by force. Second, he tortured people. Third, if the Rebels didn’t win, Nightshade would become King of the world. Nightshade hopes to rule the world and wants to become immortal. Nightshade had an object called the immortal stone, but he could not figure out how to use it. If he figures out that the immortal stone will turn him immortal, he will never die when he takes over the world.

The Evil King Nightshade was born evil. He had allies. Some of them were monsters and some were humans. He ruled forests, isolated villages, farms, and big towns.

He was preparing to destroy the Rebels. It would take at least three months of training for his army to become ready for battle. The Rebels were training for the counterattack.

The Rebels stashed many weapons made out of metal and other things that could be made into weapons. They had several sharp things including blockades, spikes, and other stuff. They also prepared for battle by training dragons to carry them into the battles. They hoped that the fire breathing dragons would roast and eat Nightshade’s Army.

Meanwhile, the Rebels also had several spies who were trained to listen in on Nightshade’s conversations and meetings. When they heard something interesting, they went back and told their high commander. The Rebels also changed the direction of the underground river by mining the ground and changing the path so that it flowed directly to the Rebel’s mountain and to Nightshade’s castle.

They also made a tunnel inside to the King’s castle so that they could get water because they could not grow their own food without water. After all they have allies elsewhere who they traded with for food, metal and also information.

On the battlefield, a group of three rebels were preparing for battling. They were just practicing. One of their swords broke. When they were fighting, it just cracked.

“Too bad, your nice sword broke.”

A very large noise interrupted their conversation. “I saw soldiers are attacking the archers. Get to your positions!”

Chapter 1

The soldiers are prepared. But the Rebels have made spikes and blockades.

A Minor Battle

“Soldiers approaching; soldiers approaching” There are at least a couple hundred. Get to your stations. We’re under attack!”

The Rebels have cannons. My colleagues and I got onto our dragons. With a mighty battle cry, we all charged at the soldiers. We shot at the first couple of rows of soldiers. They fell dead while some of the backup soldiers took their place. Meanwhile, the ground shook while cannons took out rebels by the tens. Me and my colleagues rode our dragons and toasted many soldiers as they retreated.

We rode our Dragon. This was a BIG mistake. We charged at the retreating soldiers. They fired their cannons at us. Our dragons were forced to shoot upwards. We flew back to the base. The soldiers were retreating faster and were out of range. Soon they would be out of sight...Victory!

Fifty or so Rebel soldiers entered the small underground walkway. Each soldier brought a dragon with him or her. Thirty of our rebel men became guards and a door was closed behind the group. They waited for their orders to stand and guard or to fire on the enemy.

Now there are only 20 of us and we were about to enter the Kings greenhouse. Little did we know, things are about to go really bad.

As soon as we entered, there were 200 of the evil King’s soldiers waiting for us. They started firing arrows at us. We were heavily outnumbered. But the dragons roasted the soldiers and toasted the canons. The Rebels launched arrows and spears at newly arriving soldiers. Now sadly, only 17 of the Rebels were left alive.

A new battle is starting. As more reinforcements came, the rebel’s numbers started to drop. Even though we were some of the best fighters in the land, we just couldn’t hold off that many soldiers. We starting losing more people: 17, 16, 15, 14, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3. They just kept firing arrows so I got on a dragon and ordered the rest of the riderless dragons to charge. The 17 dragons charged and started eating and toasting and flattening soldiers.

The soldiers started setting up spikes but our dragons were able to fly over them. I picked up a random shield and blocked five arrows. I picked up a random sword and speared a soldier. I picked up three spears and chucked them randomly at canon operators. I ducked behind a wall and many spears hit the wall. The guards now charged the remaining 3 soldiers. They started firing at us. We were outnumbered by the King’s 2000 soldiers.

We retreated. But there were more soldiers around the corner.

“How many of them are there?” asked my colleague.

“I’m not sure- just that there are more of them than us.”

We ran down a hall back into the greenhouse. We went down a passage, all the time shooting arrows at the oncoming soldiers.

“We’re dead!” said my colleague.

A Rebel soldier grabbed a lit torch and tossed it into the crowd of King’s soldiers. Instantly, flames began erupting and the soldiers were on fire and were dying. Eventually the flames went out and the King’s soldiers, that were still alive, were madder than ever.

We saw the door we had previously sealed. I noticed a little clayzone by the door. I shot several arrows at it and it broke. I ran towards it and the door was bust open by the charging rebels. I grabbed the alarm and yanked. Alarms went off and the rebels grabbed their weapons. Spikes appeared out of the ground. I grabbed a dragon and flew over the spikes. I started firing arrows at the rapidly approaching King’s soldiers. I turned around and saw a couple of thousand of my rebel soldiers. Thank goodness they heard the alarm and came to fight.

The Final Battle

Our arrows hit the shields of the King’s soldiers, but they fired back and knocked out a couple more hundred rebels. Luckily we were ready. We hid behind some houses that were circled around the castle. It wasn’t long before the houses were overrun by the soldiers.

The next time we looked, we saw the evil King Nightshade riding his pitch black horse who had golden armor and weapons hanging off the saddle.

My colleagues fired arrows to damage Nightshade’s armor, but he chopped the arrows out of the air. Nightshade threw three black sharp knives at me and I dodged them just in time. I bumped into a lever on a nearby wall and it released boulders. We didn’t know it would cause so much death, but Nightshade and his evil army was crushed flat into pancakes.

THE END

We survived!