Pretend Game

You are a 16 year old British girl. Your twin sister and yourself were on a merchant ship that crashed onto the shore of America in 1613. You are scared, confused, and hungry. This new land is remote, not another human in sight except for your sister (everyone else was killed in the crash). You and your sister cling to each other, feeling utterly alone. But little do you know that lurking in the trees are seemingly savage people, the Native Americans. 

After dozing off while leaned against a mossy tree, you are awaken by the snap of twig. Scooting away slowly to not wake your sister, you stand up. Like a bolt of lightning, a young man covers you mouth and drags you away. 

You are surrounded by dark people wearing colorful buckskin tunics. They watch cautiously as you eat the rabbit they gave you. You recognize you captor; how could you not, his handsome eyes were staring at you with unmatched intensity. But wait, how could you even consider an attraction to this beast? He tied you to a tree in a foreign land and had left your sister alone in the forest. 

Days pass, and the feelings only grow. While you are consumed with worry for your sister, you can't help but fall in love with the boy. He brings you extra food and sneaks into your tent at night to tell you stories from his world. One night he rushes in to your tent with a machete in hand. "Oh no," you think, "they have decided to kill me." To your surprise, the boy cuts the ropes around your hands and feet then frantically informs you that your sister has been taken captive by an enemy tribe, and they intend to murder her at dawn.

You both set off towards the enemy tribe's camp to rescue your sister. There are guards surrounding her tent; you attempt to sneak in the back while the boy causes a distraction in the front. A commotion ensues as the three of you (sister safely in tow) sprint back home. Along the way, the boy begins to lose strength. To your horror, he has been struck by an arrow in the side. His breathing becomes shallow, it is apparent he won't last much longer. Your captor, your savior, and your first love had given his life for you and your sister. With one last kiss, you walk away. 

Weeks later a ship arrives to retrieve you and your sister. As you float away from land, you feel a gust of warmth in the chilly wind, and you know that he will always be with you.

Above is a synopsis of a pretend game Meredith, Mia, and I used to play. The setting was the Kessler's front yard; Meredith was the Native American boy, Mia was the twin sister, and I was the girl who fell in love with the boy. Because there were only three of us, whenever one of our characters wasn't in the scene we would play other minor characters. We could spend hours in our fantasy worlds, every time a little different than the last. This is just one of our pretend games; there were many others we cycled through. I remember when we got a little older and Meredith decided she didn't want to play pretend games anymore. That was a sad day; I still miss playing the lost British girl and letting my imagination have complete control.