The Marine Challenger

By Matt

One foggy August day my family eagerly decided to drive to Six Flags, Marine World in Valejo. When we arrived at the silent parking lot the weather was cloudy and foggy.

"Is the weather going to be like this all day?" my dad asked the driver of the tour bus on our way to the park.

"Not likely," he replied, "It will usually clear up by noon."

After we entered Six Flags and had gone on many rides I saw something wonderful.J It was a carnival game where you shoot at a small red target with a water cannon and make a bar rise to the top. It was beautiful. It had stuffed snakes all over it in colors of blue, red and yellow. It had poles going up and down in spirals. There were cheap bar stools at each of the water gun stations. I had to try it. My mom said I could play it, so she paid the man behind the counter.

I was having so much fun that I didn't notice who I was going up against. I looked over and he looked like a marine general. He was huge. He had tatoos all over his body and one of those cool little green hats with the gold stars on them. He had a green Marines jacket and looked like he could have played Godzilla in a movie. I imagined him with a big machine gun in his hands crawling through the mud. It was looking really bad for me.

All of a sudden it started. I pushed the trigger hard; the bar started rising. It rose and rose slowly, but surely. I looked over at my opponent, the Marine General. He was concentrating hard. I couldn't tell whose bar was rising faster. I was wondering if I would win. Could itš Then RIINNGG! The bell rang. I thought I was toast. The man behind the counter looked at me. I was desperately hoping. With a slight hiss in the background, over the loudspeaker came a voice, "Player 3 wins!"

I gazed hazely at the man behind the counter. I saw his name tag. It said, "Hello my name is Ed." Then I looked at my number. I am player three, I thought, as I jumped off the cheap bar stool. I saw my opponent slowly get up and walk away, dissapointed. I almost felt sorry for him. Well, almost.

"Wow!" my dad said as the man behind the counter handed me a huge stuffed snake with red and yellow stripes along its back.

"Thank you," I said happily.

"You did it!" my dad said with a laugh.

"I was supprised, too," I replied. From that day on I knew I would have faith in myself, no matter what kind of situation I was in.