Three Yards and Two Trees

Apr 15, 2008

The sun was trying hard to make a last burst of pastel orange, slight pinks and yellows as it dropped slowly behind the neighborhood. As the sun went to sleep for the night a slight piece of the moon could be seen peeking out from the lower sky. There would not be very much of natures light tonight as the game was being played. This always made it a better game since seeing the players would be much harder and charging the can to release all prisoners would be much easier. There was a soft summer breeze blowing through the neighborhood giving the indication of a possible rain the next day. The Knights would be short one of the regulars tonight because Rodger was still grounded. Brad, Carl, Terry, his brother Jeff, Jimmy, Gary and his little brother Davey along with Billy were all hanging around the swing area at the school waiting on the Dragons to show up. The play area was made up of the swing with four swings, it was made of the heavy piping that was used on the better swings around the schools. There was also a nice monkey bar to climb on along with a tetter totter which very seldom saw much use. A pretty cool area to hang out and it had a huge oak tree not far from it which shared plenty of shade during the day and was a tad bit spooky at night. We used it for one of our home made games called treeball. A fairly dangerous game involving a football and the act of staying in the tree without being hit by the ball. Many a time has someone fell from one limb only to catch another and once in a while an unfortunate slip would cast the player to the ground. Great game. The Knights were talking in groups mostly about tactics and how the guys were going to work in groups during the game. As usual Terry and Brad were talking about anything but the game beacause they were the two best can players in the world so everyone would tell you. They made it look easy with their speed and uncanny way they could sneak around unseen during the game.
With a lot of noise and commotion the Dragons had arrived at the school yard. The Dragons were as good a bunch of kids as the Knights in almost every way except they did not have anyone as physical and sporting as Brad and Terry. They had their tough guys but when it came to running, playing any sport and just sheer unfearing acts of courage they had none. Guess they were a little smarter as a whole than the Knights but that did not win a lot of games. There was not much chess being played by these two rivals. The best game they had was probably baseball and the games played at the school yard were always close and wins were pretty much split evenly. If one of
the best Knights would happen to miss a game the win usually went to the Dragons. Tonight they were in full force and seemed to be happy to have a chance to play what most guys thought was one of the best games around. All that was required was a can and a dark night. This night had both and looked to be one to remember. The Dragons numbered ten that night which meant everyone was out for this one. As always the leader and guy out front was Phil with Randy close by his side. They were the Dragons top dogs and made sure it was never forgotten wherever they went. Right behind them as always you had Gary B., Steveie, Pete, Greg, Mike and his younger brother Jimmy, Rick and believe it or not Faith. Yes they had a girl in the club. She could out run, out play and was about as fearless as most of the guys that would be there this night. Along with that she was pretty cute and had the prettiest eyes you would ever see.
After a few comments between the leaders of each club and some small time heckling it was time to set the can down on the old cement slab that sat about 50 feet from the back of the school and get down to playing the game. The cool breeze and extra dark night had everyone excited. This was going to be a night to remember!