“Come on, Hanna! What’s the matter now? Go around the concrete mixer to the right and I’ll let you know when you can climb over!” Patrick hissed angrily at Hanna while trying to attach the water gun to his back, the strap on which had just broken. They were hiding behind a bare brick wall, among building rubble, with an abandoned concrete mixer blocking their path to the right. From a little further off, there was an excited murmur: Team Green were already preparing for the decisive battle at the other end of the construction site.
“But Patrick, if I go from the right, I won’t fit through the window! And then I’ll have to leave the water bombs behind.”
“So, leave them and run when I tell you! You are terribly slow; you’re messing everything up! We will lose again if you carry on like this!”
Hanna was almost in tears, but waited for the instruction in silence. In the army, you need to take this sort of thing like a trooper.
“And remember that rookie privates don’t answer back to commanders!” Patrick said, as he finally fixed the strap of his water gun. Ready to attack, they were waiting for the rest of Team Red, who had gone to fetch water for their weapons.” “The long-abandoned construction site was surrounded by a dilapidated fence at 58 Flower Street. A huge ‘Private property!’ sign on the almost ruined gate, did not really bother the kids from the street: led by Patrick, they took over the building at the beginning of the summer and had been playing there every day since. Of course, the game was always Patrick’s favourite: Capture-the-Flag.
“We’ll get everyone a water gun and make water bombs. You can be Team Green, with Benny in command,”” Patrick was pointing at a small group of children on the last day of school when he had the idea for a game that would last all summer long.
“Noel and Kari and I will be Team Red, and I’ll be the team captain,” he continued, “whoever gets their shirt completely soaked, is out! The team that has more people standing at the end of the day wins!”
“So, which team shall I be on?” Hanna asked timidly, shifting from foot to foot. Benny, captain of Team Green, burst out loud:
“No way you’re coming along! Nobody with glasses is allowed! Besides, there are too many of us already!”” “Hanna was on the verge of crying.
“All right, knock it off! You can join us in Team Red, maybe we’ll find some use for you” Patrick said graciously on the last day of school. Although Hanna had been trying to please him for weeks, she was too clumsy for the game, never running fast enough and always missing the target with her water gun. So, she kept herself busy filling balloons with water to make water bombs, while the others engaged in increasingly exciting battles on the abandoned construction site.
“Today’s battle is a crucial one,” Patrick told her one morning in July, “we will launch an ambush from upstairs. Since you are the smallest among us, and only you will be able to get in through the little attic window you can come with us this time. But if you mess up this mission for me, I’ll kick you off the team!”
Which was how Hanna ended up next to Patrick during that day’s battle, but the concrete mixer that stood in their way meant she couldn’t get through the attic window unless she left the water balloons behind. But an order is an order, so she squeezed through the attic window and stealthily made her way towards the Green base.” “She had almost reached the Green headquarters in the cellar under the back terrace of the building and from above she could see some heads moving excitedly and hear Benny’s voice as he explained the strategy to the others.
“That’s it!” Hanna thought, “I’ll spy on them, go back, and tell Patrick what they’re planning.”
She was very happy to be useful at last. She pulled herself forward on the attic beams to get closer and hear better. She clung to a protruding beam and tried to stretch her neck as best she could through the crack in the window.
“Oh no! Watch out!” A desperate cry came from below. A roof tile that dropped down narrowly missed Benny. The captain of Reds looked up and immediately spotted a startled Hanna in the attic window.
“Spy! Spy! Come on! Forward!” Benny shouted, and Hanna was caught in crossfire, or rather cross water from below. The Greens charged towards the Reds’ hideout: Hanna had no chance of stopping them, and her clothes were soaked too. She was out.” “The Reds suffered a humiliating defeat: even Patrick got soaked, despite being a great leader.
“Never come here again! You ruined the whole mission! You are excluded from the team!” Patrick shouted at Hanna during the Greens’ celebration.
Hanna was crying as she walked towards the gate, but suddenly forgot the reason for her sadness: the sign on the gate had disappeared. It was definitely there in the morning. Someone must have taken it while they were playing in the building.
“Patrick! Benny! Look!” shouted Hanna after recovering from the shock. “Someone has taken the sign down!”
The rest of the team scrambled to the gate, and suddenly Patrick didn’t care about the lost battle.
“What the hell?” he said in disbelief. “See that car over there? I’ve never seen it around here before. There’s a raven sitting on top of it,” Patrick said, pointing out a big black car parked on the street.
“Wow! Look at the dashboard! A real bird’s skull! And the black cat on the shelf at the back! Is it still alive?” Benny replied, as he ran to the car.
“Oh my God! It is alive! Let’s get out of here!” He screamed, as the cat stretched its limbs and stared straight into his eyes.