Wanna-be Ninjas

One Saturday night Jon and I were in a particularly mischievous (and foolish) mood. We happened to have a pair of ninja uniforms. The hoods were two piece, with only 3 small holes for eyes and mouth. The outer shells were like a coat hood with a pointy back end. This shadowed an already black face, making the wearer look like a grim reaper. We left the hoods off until we were out of the dorm and in the woods. Just in case someone did see us, we didn’t want them to freak out before the proper time.

We trotted down the trail into the large wooded area owned by the school. As it turned out, they were having a social gathering out at the fire bowl that night. We started meeting students coming back toward campus. As the darkness closed in fully around us, it was easy to hear them coming, step off the trail a few feet, watch them go by, and then continue on our way. I could hear pieces of their conversations. Some of them were telling scary stories, trying to freak each other out. “We could help you out with that”, I thought. Another conversation involved a recent cougar sighting and how they should be careful. I contemplated attempting a big cat yowl, but kept silent.

After a few more repetitions of stepping off the trail into shadows and letting students pass, the excitement of being invisible started to wear off. I suggested to Jon that we simply run past the next group as fast as we could and see what reaction we got. Jon agreed. We were not disappointed. As the next group rounded the bend ahead, I smiled under my mask, seeing that they were all girls and none of them carried a flashlight. I made a “Go! Go!” hand motion, and Jon and I charged past on either side of them. It’s hard to describe the reaction. One girl must have seen our fast approaching shapes or heard our thumping feet over the giggling and talking of her group. I heard a surprised “Ah!” as I brushed passed the edge of the group at a dead run. Another girl became aware of our presence about half a second later and uttered a similar, breath-catching vocalization. We had already passed them when the whole group erupted in screams. Around the corner we stopped to listen and heard loud, excited chatter, and phrases like “What was that??? Who was that???” We gave each other a high five and continued down the path.

Finally we reached the clearing where the fire bowl was. The fire bowl was really just a fire built on open ground, with a circle of large logs lying around it for seating. There was a portable toilet at the edge of the clearing a few yards from the circle. We had brought firecrackers with the intention of surprising some poor soul trying to use it. We reasoned that dropping a couple down the vent pipe to explode under an unsuspecting backside would be great fun! But mother nature was not calling anybody into the porta-potty and more of the students were leaving.

Not wanting to hide and watch everybody leave one by one, we held a whisper conference in the trees off the trail, trying to decide what to do next. I got the crazy, pea-brain idea of running through the fire circle and dropping firecrackers into the fire. Jon agreed. Without hesitation I took off running into the clearing. As the firelight hit me, I ran past a couple, they just stared at me without saying a word. I reached the circle of logs and jumped over… almost. My toe caught the top of the huge log as I flew over. I knew it was face plant or tuck ‘n’ roll. I tucked so hard to avoid landing on my head, that I did a complete flip in mid air and landed on both feet inches from the fire! I hesitated for a split second, trying to grasp what just happened. Then I dropped my whole pack of firecrackers into the flames and bolted from the circle, leaping over the log on the other side. This whole time the only sound I heard was people sucking their breath in.

I found myself in tall grass littered with scattered firewood. The only way to exit quickly was to perform a series of ridiculous looking deer hops so I could see where the chunks of wood were and jump over them. Just as I reached the trail on the far side of the clearing and began trotting into the woods, approximately 40 firecrackers started exploding, sending flashes and a million sparks up into the night. It also seemed to shock everyone behind me out of their frozen daze. The pastor, who I had not seen yet, jumped up and yelled “Get him! GET HIM!!!” I was shocked at the vicious tone in his voice. Not what I was used to hearing from him. I glanced over my shoulder to see five guys, all larger than me, launch from their seats and charge after me. I also noticed that Jon had been wise enough not to follow me.

As I went from trotting to running, I heard pounding footsteps gaining on me. Another glance over my shoulder and I recognized the lead pursuer. He was tall, had longer legs, and I knew he ran every day. Uh oh! I thought. As he continued to gain on me, I put it into overdrive, running so fast my feet seemed to barely touch the ground. Small rises and dips in the ground made me feel on the edge of control. “He doesn’t know who I am! What will he do when he catches up to me?” I thought. “What will I do?” I heard someone yelling “Get him! Get him!” The guy behind me, gaining more slowly now, yelled back, “I’m trying! I’m trying!”

Then I reached a fork in the trail. The wide, straight trail continued to the right, while the narrow trail to the left wound tightly back and forth between large tree trunks. I knew this trail very well from my daylight exploring. I dashed left and began zig-zagging between the trunks. My pursuer’s thudding footsteps faded. He had to slow down to avoid running into the trees in the dark. When I couldn’t hear them anymore, I ran off the trail and threw myself down under a low-hanging branch which touched the ground. I just laid there for about 15 minutes, just catching my breath. Though I could hear shouts and talking, no one came close to my hiding place. I eventually pulled myself up and continued down the winding trail, back toward the campus. I kept wondering what had happened to Jon and where he had gone.

When I reached my dorm, I waited in the shadows, taking off my hood and looking to see if anyone was around. Seeing no one, I sprinted up the stairs to the second story balcony, avoiding the front lobby. As I reached the top, the guy who had almost caught me stepped onto the balcony directly in front of me. When he saw me, he stopped. I nodded at him and started to walk past. “That was you out there, wasn’t it?” I stopped and turned around. I could see he knew, so I just grinned. He raised an eyebrow. “You are pretty fast for a little guy!” He said. Not knowing what to say, I just kept grinning. Finally, I said “I guess it was kind of a stupid thing to do.” He chuckled, shaking his head. I went to take off my black outfit.

The next day, students in the cafeteria were talking about the person in black who came flying into the fire bowl and threw firecrackers in the fire. They were making all kinds of guesses about who it was. I joined in the guessing. Why not make some of my own suggestions to throw everyone off? That was half the fun. Besides, I was a little embarrassed after the fact and didn’t care to brag about it.