Of Leo And Zatopia
14:20Despite only in March, it was a pretty hot day.
I've sat around my share of campfires and benches telling stories- stories of disaster or averted disaster, episodes with difficult travel partners and frightful tales of risk and pain. I'm even guilty of trying to one-up stories of rigor, suffering experiences but I would never imagined that there will be a day that I will man up to be a make-shift under thirty-minutes lion mascot.
You read this right. I was a lion, at least for a better part of the hour.
To be honest, it was fun.
Sure, I was sweating like bullets under the brown, furry jacket with big overnight-makeshift lion mane on my head with little pointy lion ears but that was loads of fun.
The day was like any other day, except for the part we fought with other groups like a bunch of savages. There were provokes and mocking but our team marched on. Our group was small in number but doesn't mean we will stand in silence.
The contests were a blast. We drank that overly-sweet orange juice and sampled some of Asmaa's homemade ice cream. We took pictures, recorded everything that happened on that day. The day will never make an entry into the annals of great adventure. No part of the two-weeks competition will win a story-telling competition around a campfire. No one almost died (except for when Sara ran like a female Usain Bolt only to land on her face and stomach in hurdles). It was quite hot so we put on our game faces because the contests were not yet over. We laughed and ate food and drank some more.
We told stories to get to know each other better. There was no drama, narrative or otherwise.
And I'd wear that silly costume again if it meant that I get to repeat the day.
If harrowing experiences and soul-destroying sufferings are the rewards of adventure, then perhaps we're missing a point. If only the story worth telling descend into drama or rise to the bait of ego and glory, perhaps we're dodging the real question and the most important plot of the story after all.
A story without drama isn't a story without exciting experiences. You might think this piece as some boring,old story but I learnt a lot during that day. I learnt to embrace and forge new friendship. I learnt on how to be a small leader because there are some that need guidance (and asked me to fight if needed). I learnt on how to tolerate others when we were all hyped up in the games and no one were willing to back down.
These kind of stories are quieter, more friendly and frankly, they are more suited for the campfire.
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