Defend Your Snow Fort Day- An Ollie Holiday
A snow fort is a serious undertaking
A snow fort is built for one primary reason: to defend against attack from your friends in their snow forts. They also serve as a cool (no pun intended) place to hang out in wintertime. The snow fort, like other winter activities is a very serious art in Moonwater Meadow.
A day of scientific discovery and merriment.
Defend Your Snow Fort Day celebrates the engineering achievement of creating the perfect, indestructible winter hideout. The Adventure Cadets drew up plans, took complicated measurements and worked confusing math to each build their own stronghold. Whichever snow fort is left standing after an afternoon of surprise attacks (carried out at noon), wins.
NOTE: “Confusing math” amounts to little more than button-mashing an old calculator like they do in the movies. Not that the Adventure Cadets use measurements anyway. Everything is mostly eyeballed.
A carnival of snow fort contraptions.
Each cadet from Artemouse down to little Limon (rhymes with Simon) staked a claim in the Meadow and built their fort. Some were shaped like igloos, which are easy to defend as long as you don’t need a bathroom break. Others were built like castles with ramparts and flowing flags which left little room for their occupants.
At the signal, the sky became a flowing tapestry of snowballs hurled from catapults and fired from sno-zooka (TM) cannons. In short order everyone’s fort was in powdery ruin except for one.
Ollie built a citadel with high walls and turrets spaced evenly apart. Each turret had well-crafted parapets with mini catapults at the ready. Ollie watched a lot of old Robin Hood movies so he knew how to make a strong castle.
However…
There were no snowballs lodged in the walls. In fact, there was no damage at all. Ollie peered over the walls to inspect his surroundings. He then saw an ominous dark shape loom over the horizon. His eyes widened as he realized all too late what it was. A rush of water burst from the shape, a giant water cannon on wheels.
Water hit the snow fort and filed the courtyard from where Ollie tried to escape. His friends knew the only way to beat Ollie’s castle was to freeze it solid with water and an Ice Accelerator (patent pending) that froze water solid on contact.
As Ollie, soaking wet, climbed to the top of the wall Gordon, the fire-sneezing dragon flew into sight. He released a giant Ice Accelerant snowball that covered everything including Ollie who promptly surrendered.
It took several hours to chisel Ollie from the solid block of ice that was once a proud castle. Over mugs of steamy hot chocolate and comfy blankies the Moonwater Adventure Cadets declared this year’s event a draw.
Meanwhile, Ollie secretly worked on and Anti Ice Accelerant device for next year…
Oliver Bug is an adventurer, detective, inventor and mischief-maker residing in Moonwater Meadow. He can often be found in his workshop putting out small unintentional fires.
Tom Serafini is Ollie’s official biographer and illustrator lives in Brooklyn, New York. He has an affinity for banana pudding and pizza with unconventional toppings.
His first illustrated picture book, Ollie Bug and the Icky Sticky Thing From Space, is going live on Kickstarter very soon. Click the link to sign up for more info.
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