ANDY AND EMILY KLEMNT SHORT STORY
FIRST PLACE
The Survival Challenge Mattison Townsend
“I think you’re ready Kate.” Said Kate’s dad. “ You are 19 and I think you are ready to live off grid on your own.” “You do want to live off grid like your mom and I right?”asked Kate’s dad.” Yes I always have, I want to live in the Grey Forest.”said Kate pointing out the window. “Ok then, that’s where the challenge will take place”said Kate’s dad. “What challenge?”asked Kate, confused. “That’s what the challenge is, I need to see if you can survive out there before you go off on your own.” exclaimed Kate’s dad. “Ok sure! , I know I can survive on my own for a few days with everything you’ve taught me over the years.” “That’s my girl.” Said Kate’s dad. “ I’ll make sure I have everything in my backpack before I go.” “Knife for cutting wood, rifle for hunting , and a water purifier.”Said Kate,checking everything off.” Don’t forget the map!”Yelled dad,as he handed it to her.”Be careful out there honey.” Kate’s mom reminded her. “I will.” “ Bye!” Shouted Kate as she bursted out the door. After 15 minutes of walking, Kate finally got to the Grey forest. “Well, I think I found my campsite!”Said Kate, looking at a huge flat space, with little to no rocks which was next to a river. “It’s perfect!” Kate was getting hungry though so she pulled her rifle out and went looking. Before long, she found a female deer and pointed the gun at it. Kate got spooked when a flash of brown dashed next to the deer. It was a baby! Kate felt bad.”I can’t kill a mother deer, I just can’t. She put the gun down and walked back to her camp. “I’m still hungry, but I guess I’ll just eat some berries off of that Bowzer berry bush, I know those are safe to eat. Even after eating the berries, Kate was still starving but they were enough to hold her over until the next day. Daylight was quickly running out, so she built a quick fire to keep warm and for light. She used her water purifier to make a quick glass before she went to sleep.The next day,Kate was starving,she didn’t see any other animals around to hunt or eat.She was determined to finish the challenge though.She used the rest of her energy to build a little shack to relax in the shade for the rest of the day. When the two days were officially over, she walked back to her house. “How’d it go?” said her dad as she walked into the door. “ It didn’t go great at all,” said Kate with a disappointed look on her face. “What? You finished the challenge.” exclaimed Kate’s dad, confused. “I was starving the whole time because I couldn’t kill a mother deer with her baby,” Kate said while making herself a sandwich. “ How pathetic is that?” said Kate, sitting back down on the couch. “Just because you didn’t kill a deer for food, doesn’t mean there’s not another way.” Said Kate’s dad, sitting down beside her. “What other way? I didn’t have the heart to kill the animals I needed for food, and the only thing I ate was berries,which wasn’t enough.” Said Kate.” Hold on let me show you” , said Kate’s dad as he led her out the backdoor to the garden. “ Wow, that’s a lot of potatoes.” Kate said as she stared at the potato section of the garden. “ Yes, this garden had held us over for up to 3 months in the winter when we couldn’t find any deer,” said Kate’s dad pointing to all of the produce in a basket, which needed to be washed. “ Yeah, I remember that, but where did we get the protein from?”, asked Kate. “The rivers.” replied Kate’s dad almost immediately. “ The fish! Right, catching fish was so fun as a kid” Kate said, excitement in her eyes. “ Yes, but since then they’ve made fishing nets where the fish just get 3 The April Perennial
