When I am gone you will find me in

When he fell to the ground, it almost seemed as if a switch in peoples

mind went off. They surrounded me, lifted my angry self in the air and
cheered Go Drake, go Drake, go Drake, yeeeeaaaaaaaaah. And yet, while
all this was going on I thought to myself. What about her?
Oh, Im sorry. I had forgotten that if you want to tell a story to humans
you must start from the beginning and tell them the whole story about what
happened, where it happened, when, how, why, blah blah blah. Speaking of
humans, I was once one. Yes its hard to believe that me, a gloesh, formally
known as Drake, would once be a human. Really, its hard to believe myself
considering it was some 300 years ago, but it is all very true and to this day,
my story goes on to tell many generations of any kind, and now it has
reached your planet, my homeland. Where I grew up, it was every bodys
dream to serve this one man, whom nobody but a very few chosen people
could speak the language of. I wanted to be one of them, yet it was
seemingly impossible. He was what your planet would call a king. This kings
name was Kuesh, King Kuesh. I couldnt learn the language either, because
the few people who knew it would not teach it to anyone by force of some
pledge they had to take when they first enrolled with the king himself. So it
was basically impossible for a person like me to be able to do something like
that. Or was it?
Years and Years ago...oh and far far away. I lived as any normal human
would. I was 21...I think. I was a fairly average man with dark brown hair and
blue eyes. I was a little chunky, but I had some muscles to show, but not to
show off. I had a job at a local office with average pay. Id say I had a pretty
average lifestyle. I was single, but I was looking around for a mate of my
own...actually I think you humans call them wives but more to the point I
had been looking mostly on wave...wait no thats not it...give me a second I
had a book of terms here somewhere just give me a moment or twenty...ah
here it is! Now what is it called again...oh right the internet! Okay, so I was
searching on the internet for a future wife for some time with no luck. It was
May 22nd and I had an idea. What if I had or did something that nobody else
had or had done? That would definitely make me more attractive. So first I
made the decision of taking the subway instead of walking, even though
thats what I did everyday. I walked onto the subway and saw my usual seat,
and my usual seatmate. Samuel Cradky.
Hey man hows it goin, I havent seen you since like, yesterday. Hows
life treatin ya these days, good? Gooood. Samuel was what your kind would
call a friend or a best friend, or a best mate. But the best way to describe

him is with two words...if I can find them...yes here they are, Jamacian...and
Gangster. He had a leather jacket on with a red, green and yellow beanie on
top. He loved that beanie, I never knew why, but he never took it off, he said
he has a hair problem or something. The hair that I could see looked like big
thick strings of hair and he only had a few, I knew it really was just a bunch
of hair woven in such a way that made it look like one giant hair. I didnt
know what he did for a living, then again I never saw him outside of the
subway, except the time at my cousin fredleys wedding. He wanted to come
for the food.
Hey Samuel, Im doing fine, you? I asked like usual, things were
pretty normal for the day so far.
Im doin absolutely fanicalistic. Exclaimed Samuel. That was what
Samuel spoke when he became excited. I never understood what fanicalistic
meant.
Samuel, what the heck does that even mean? To which he replied
Yo mon I dont know! I just didnt want to say fantastic again so I just
mixed together a bunch of words and thats what came out! You like?" I did
like it, and so did Christi. Whos Christ you ask? Well youre in luck because
at that time she had just walked on the subway.
Hey guys, how are you two? She asked in her womanly ways. Christi
Stidamen was a very fine woman of my standards, the only problem was she
was 34. Then again she acted like she was twenty one so maybe?...nah.
Other than that she had beautiful blond hair down to her shoulders. She was
a very slim figure. Today she had on her usual work clothes, gray suit, light
gray cackys, slip-on shoes, and a pink headband across her head. One thing
that I personally found weird about both of them is that they both had a
birthmark on the back of one of there hands in the shape of a G, they both
said it was crazy how they both had it and laugh every time I ask.
Pshh, Fine. I said. As you could tell I had what you would call an
attitude. Hehe, yes back then I wasnt exactly...oh whats the word...kind.
Absolutely fanicalistic Cristi. Said Samuel
So I heard that King Kuesh is going to have the 25th annuel banquet
tomorrow. Said Cristi.

Thats right I said. But hes only inviting like, 50 guests out of the
entire country. Fat chance if I get picked right?
Wow man, its like hes inviting now lets see ummm take away
two carry the four one person from each city. Said Samuel, I replied
I know, and theyre all picked at random. That way it could either be
the richest man in theIm sorry the second richest man in the country, or
just some hobo off the street. I inquired.
Hey man you never told me the answer to that question I asked ya.
Said Samuel
Whadya mean? I asked confused
Ya know what I mean, you never told me where ya headed.
Exclaimed Samuel. I did not remember him saying that at all, actually Im
pretty sure he never said it. But I went along anyway.
Oh that, yeah ummmm I was planning to do something but I think Id
better just go to work instead, you know the boss has gotten pretty mad ever
since I held that surprise birthday party that gave him a heart attack. I said
with a smirk
Yeah man, I heard that he was out like a light. Said Samuel.
He was, and ever since then hes been mad at me for it, ME. Yeah, tell
that to the guy who brought his shotgun and said that it would make it more
of a surprise if we scare him out of his wits. ...I never understood that man.
I said.
Yeah I never did either. Said Cristi.
About ten minutes later we heard a screech and the subway doors
opened.
Well, Ill see you guys around five oclock. See you later. I said
Lets go. Said Cristi, did I mention she works with me?
See ya man. Same spot, same time? Asked Samuel
Yep. And with that I stepped off the train, and headed off to work with
Cristi. Although it was not the first time I walked to work, it was certainly
going to be my last.

That day at work seemed the longest one yet, the clock was as slow as
what your kind would call a slug, my computer crashed, the boss yelled at
me twice, and I got nothing done, life was good. That is until I heard an
announcement, not just any announcement, the announcement. Josh
Grinder, please come to the front office. Theres someone here that needs to
talk to you. If this was my first-grade class, all my classmates would look at
me and say oooooooooo, someones gonna get in trouble, oooooooooo. But
this was no little first-grade class, this was life, and when someone wants to
talk to you, its either youre in luck, or your out of luck. So I did what anyone
else would do, walk casually and ignore all the faces looking at me. I got to
the office and who better to greet me than the secretary, Miss Neila. I dont
know what makes me scared about her, whether its that shes bossy, has a
mole on her left cheek, or worst of all, her name spelled backwards is A-L-I-EN! ALIEN!
Hey Miss Neila, someone wants to talk to me I heard? I said roling my
eyes
Yes, but I wouldnt mind talking to him. He looks like some medieval
messenger from the king kind of guy." she said doing air quotes Anyway,
hes in room two waiting. Said Miss Neila.
u-huh. I turned and headed for room two, my back to Miss Niela.
Oh, and Josh. Good luck. I turned back around confused and found that she
had disappeared. Miss Niela, get out from under the desk. Her head
popped up. She nodded, I nodded, and I headed for room two.
When I opened the door to room two I saw who I was looking for.
Greetings young one, I am Sir Gaddlerocks, one of the gl-
wait wait wait wait wait...your name is Gaddlerocks? What kind of
name is Gaddlerocks? I exclaimed in exasperation in return of this name I
had not heard before and, quite frankly, was stupid.
Sir Gaddlerocks. He said with a hint of frustration.
Right, right, so like...were your parents drinking or something when
you were named? Anyway I was told that you have something to tell me. I
said.
Yes, indeed I do." He cleared his throat as he stood, which wasnt that
impressive because the man was quite short. He took out a parchment that

was hidden in his brown cloak, it was in the form of a scroll. He unrolled it,
but he did in such a way that I could clearly see his hand...and the marking
on the back of it. Josh Grinder, on behalf-"
"Wait, dude, what's wrong with your hand? Is that a birthmark or
somthing? That's weird it looks just like-"
"Yes quite anyway He said quickly as if to hide something. He cleared
his throat again. Josh Grinder! On behalf of the king! You (surprisingly) have
been selected out of the many few of the country, to attend the 25th
banquet of the royal King Kuesh. This is a grand opportunity you dont want
to miss. The banquet starts at two o clock P.M. Sunday May 23. At first I
was confused like this was a joke, but when I saw the expression on his face,
I didnt get excited but only more confused.
Wait, your saying that the King picked me and forty-nine other people
in which he did at complete rando- I caught my mistake, the king did pick at
random. This means that I was one of the lucky ones. I guess I was in luck.
Congradulations John, good luck at the competion. He said shaking
my hand.
Dude, my name is- But he left before I could finish ...jerk
What happened next was nothing but auha blur yes thats it a blur,
nothing but a blur. All I remember is that I got up, ran out screaming, got in
my car, drove off, and called Samuel and Cristi, I told them to meet me at my
house right now. Surprisingly, when I got to my house they were already
there. I got out and told them the great news.
That, my friend, is absolutely positively
supercalifragilisticexpealidociosly fanacalistic. Said Samuel.
Oh my gosh thats so exciting Josh! said Cristi.
Samuel asked Hey yo dude isnt that thing tomorrow?
...yes... I said realizing we had very little time.
Come on! We have to get ready. We all immediately ran inside and
started packing. Cristi took care of the food because she said I dont want to
touch any of Joshs underwear so dont expect me to. And Samuel didnt
want to because he said oh wait...he did help me pack. Anyway about
an hour later we were done and headed for the palace. It would take us

about 8 hours to get there so if it was four o clock and we would need eight
hours of sleep at least. So if we slept at twelve o clock because of the drive
and woke up at eight o clock, and eat supper and breakfast, and stopped
for restroom breaks we would get there at twelve o clock. Perfect.
That night, we stayed at a hotel that Cristi recommended Its got
breakfast, beds, unlimited coffee 24/7, a pool, and free internet!
All I needed to hear was breakfast and bed and Im good. I replied.
We checked in, went to our room, and started fading into sleep. As I was
dosing off though something occurred to me. Samuel and Cristi are coming
with me, now I know youre thinking, well duh theyve been sitting right
beside you this whole trip. But thats just it, Im going to go to the banquet
and I dont think they got invited. So why are they coming with me and what
are they going to do when Im at the banquet? The question pondered me
into the next morning, so I asked them.
Oh, Josh I forgot to tell you, we were so busy packing it must have
slipped my mind. Said Cristi.
Tell me what? I asked.
Samuel chimed in. Yeah man, I also forgot to tell him.
Tell me what? I asked again annoyed.
I cant believe we never told him, and we were in the car with him the
whole time. Said Cristi.
That is not fanicalistic. Said Samuel. Now I was even more annoyed.
Guys, tell me what?! I exclaimed
Oh, sorry Josh I got a little carried away. I forgot to tell you that were
going with you! Cristi said with excitment
Yeah I know, your right here next to me. I said rolling my eyes
Thats not what I meant. It just happened a few days ago that I was at
work and an announcement went off on the loud speaker that said someone
was here to speak with me." Now that she mentions it I do remember an
announcement the other day saying that. When I got to the office I saw who
I was supposedly looking for. He said his name was Sir Cragglerock." I
couldnt believe it, was this guy Kueshs only messenger? He told me I was

getting to coordinate the event because of my great office work! So thats

what Ive been working on ever since. Then he said that I should tell no one
what I was going to hear next. The event is a raoh wait Im sorry, I cant
tell you that. Anyway Im coordinating te event.
So why is Samuel coming? Its not like he has any valueable skills, no
offence
Samuel looked a little mad Wow dude...just wow.
What?! Its true! I said
Hey, guys. Cristi said a little annoyed herself. Shut it, okay Josh?
Chill. Look Samuel is coming because the executive coordinator of the
banquets event gets to bring a friend, since thats me I chose samuel
because he is a good friend of mine! Also, unbeknowst to you he is actually
very helpful when it comes to organizing and planning. So dont just go
around asumming what other people are like!
Okay okay, gosh sorry I was just messing around! I said
Well dude, it wasnt funny. Said Samuel
Alright alright look. I said feeling guilty Im sorry, okay? Can we
please just forget about this and move on? Cristi looked at me, then she
realized that we needed to leave soon.
She nodded Yes, we need to go. Come on you two lets go.
Samuel came up to me before we got in the car, he still looked serious,
what more does this guy want? He looked me straight in my eyes and said I
dont like it when people underestimate my abilities. Especially if its because
the only time they see me is when Im on the subway. He paused, then gave
out a small laugh Then again, I never did tell you what I do for a living.
Haha! Oh my I cant believe it dude! I never told you!
This was a shock to me, then again I had always wondered what he did
for a living, so I laughed with him. We laughed pretty hard for a little bit until
*HOOOOOOOONNNNNNNK* Come on you guys quit messing around
lets go! Said cristi getting impatient
Alright Cristi alright were comin! Said samuel with another chuckle

We arrived at the banquet at 1:00. A little late, but we still had an hour
before it started. Cristi ran to where she was supposed to be and Samuel
went with her. I went into the...castle? No, the mansion? No, the really really
big house that looked like the white house only more kingly? Yeah, thats it.
It was a three story building with windows on each floor, except for the very
center windows which extended to all three stories indicating that behind it
was the ballroom. The building itself was made from a pale white color stone
of sorts. At the corners of the building were spires that were wide and tall,
but connected almost seamlessly into the building. At the top were flags with
the Kuesh symbol, which was a black and white flag with the letter K and a
circle made with stars surronding it. In the front was a ten foot high door
made of a dark brown wood with round golden rings as doorknobs...excet
they werent knobs they were rings so...dooring? In front of the door was two
supposed guards, they looked more like butlers.
Sir. Said the first one with a sigh of boredom. We are honored to
have you at this banquet. We hope you enjoy your stay here at the wonderful
Kuesh house.
Wait, why would you say that like you said it? Arent there forty-nine
more people in there? I asked. He looked at me with an annoyed looked.
Havent I said this forty-nine times before you came? He asked. I got
the point. Well, walking through the door was like being a kid in a candy
storeexcept youre not a kidand theres no candy. Anyway, the inside of
the building looked bigger than the outside, which seemed impossible
because...well because it is impossible! The floor itself was tiled with silver
which was so clean a could see my reflection. The what walls were covered in
paintings, mostly of Kuesh himself. The walls also had multiple columns that
looked like those white roman-like ones for about ten feet, then it turned into
solid gold columns that were round and quite surprisingly shiny. The ceiling
was decorated with a pattern saeling the fact that this was a home of a king.
With such an elegance of curves and straights in the pattern, and all plated
with more gold. In the middle of the ceiling, and almost the whole room
actually, was a chandlier about the size of half a bowling ball...for a giant. At
the back you could see three door that led to other rooms and well above
that was a balcony with a similar style as the room. The room was set up
with enough tables and chairs to sit fifty people. By the time Ive taken it all
in Ive already headed to the back of the room. I entered the farthest door on
the right and I came into this HUGE library! It was so big I bet I could fit a
small house in there! Bookcase after bookcase, each twenty feet tall. But to

me at the time, my reaction to this was Oh, books. Im not much of a reader.
This place is big, but its big with books. Then I walked out, to check out the
other rooms. After an hour of looking around it was time to have the
banquet. So I sat down and food was served to us.
As I was eating I decided to make some friends, I looked at the guy
across from me and asked for his name. Through a mouthful he said his
name was Eric Mosley. He had short, blond hair, he was slim, I asked him
what he did for a living to which he replied heh, what do you care. He took
another mouthful I will do what I want to do so dont go around screwing me
up! yeesh, all I wanted was what he does for a living! I decided to talk to the
next guy on my right.
He said his name was Simon Shmirt, where have I heard that name
before...He noticed my curiousness If you must know I am the creator and
cofounder of the leading clothing wear called the shmirt." he said as if hes
already had to say it a million times over, which he probably has. But thats
right! The shmirt! In case you didnt know, a shmirt was one of the greatest
invention the clothing industry has ever seen! It was what would normally be
conceived as a pair of shorts, but you could also wear it as a t-shirt! It saves
the customers so much money and ironically gets the clothing industry more
money because of its popularity!He had sleek black hair and was wearing a
black and whate, very expensive, tuxedo. His mustache was straight and
looked sharp enough at the ends to draw blood. He was also wearing some
black pants
Finally there was a guy to my left who said he was a priest, you know,
white robe with golden fleece on it, but whenever he took a swig from his
drink I could always see a tattoo on his right arm from his big sleeve falling
down, and it wasnt anything holy from what I could see. His name was Judas
Christian.
Oh, before I go on I should tell you about the food. Oh, the food was
absolutely delicious, no thats not the word umbeautiful, no noaha! The
food was fanicalistic. At least, thats what Samuel would call it. There was
Beef Bourguignon mmmmmmm and Veal Roulade with Crabmeat ohhhhh,
sooooo good. Also there was steak, not bad (all of these I wrote down, none
can I pronounce correctly.)
As we were eating we heard a loud trumpet melody, the kind you hear
when the bride is comingI mean the king, when the king is coming. So
everybody looked up at the balcony where we knew he would be. What we

saw though to everybodys disappointment, was not the king, but one of his
royal servants, Sir Cragglerock. People from hither and thither. I understand
that you are disappointed. He had said this in a very booming-like voice as if
he was announcer. But. There is a reason for the kings doings. You see, only
one of you. He motions as to address us, the crowd. I repeat. Only one of
you. Will get to not only see the king, but have an hour of private
conversation with him. And the other 49 of you will head home. How will you
talk to the king? He has created a potion. He held up a flask of a very
colorful liquid. This potion has the power to make you know the language of
the king for an hour, and only an hour. How will we determine which one of
you gets this potion? Well, we shall determine that by a race. A race that
shall test your wits, your strength, and your speed. To win this race you must
do a task. Collect 13 flags in which has your name on it, and bring them back
here. There will be clues for each flag that will lead you to the next one. And
before I go on I would like to announce the clever mind that wrote these
clues. Miss Cristi Alexandria. I was shocked. Not only had she had an
important part about this event that I completely knew about but well
actually I was shocked on being shocked, but then again I didnt know
exactly what she did. Sir Cragglerock continued The doors to the house will
be opened at precisely three o clock, in which we will begin. The first and
foremost clue is under your plate. Good luck.
What was the first thing I did afterwards you ask? Was it to look at the
clue? No. Was it to check the time to see how much time we had left? No.
Was it to go to the bathroom? No!The first thing that I did afterwards was
finish eating! One cant simply start a long jouney on a semi-full stomach!
Anyway after I finished my plate I checked the underside to see if the clue
was there...it was taped on. I took it off and read it to myself...
Although its name is to put together, in actuality it separates the good
from the bad. Your flag along with your next clue is with the person who
owns this object. He will give you a task that you must complete in order to
have your first flag.
That was what the clue said. Sir Cragglerock continued. You must
understand that everybodys clues are different. So that you cant and must
not team up or look at another persons clues, they will lead you in the wrong
direction. This includes one minor exception, although each clue is different
this does not mean each location is different, so sometimes you might also
meet up with one or two people. If you steal another persons flag you will be
disqualified. It was exactly two thirty, which meant I had thirty minutes to

figure out what this clue meant. I decided to check the library first. Yes, the
king has a library. No, Im not going to look for a book about something that
separates the good from the bad, Im looking for a dictionary which is
already taken up by twenty other people. Oh well, guess Ill have to use my
head. I read over the clue again, a name that means to put together, but it
actually separates. I started thinking of words that meant to put together.
Unite, join, conjoin, combine, come together wait a second. What about
combine, to combine something is to put together. But a combine is
something thatwaitseparatewhat does it separatewell, what does a
combine doit cuts plants such as corn, wheat, and alfalfa. But separate? I
suppose it separates the plants from the ground. I didnt know. But I knew
what to look for. So I headed for the computers. I was about five feet away
when I heard a nasaly laugh. Where was that coming from and frankly, why
did I care? "Josh!!" said the nasaly boy. "I haven't seen you since high school.
How are you?" How did he know my name? And why does his voice sound so
familiar? "You remember me right? I'm Quinton Rodregez, we used to be
buddies in high school remember?" "Honestly...no." "What?! How could you
forget me? I was starting to think that myself. Ah well, so what's your clue
about? Oh right, *snort*you can't tell me. Well good luck to you." Okay...that
was weird. But I shake it off and finally head to the computers. I sat down
and turned it on. I was surprised that nobody else was using these. I quickly
found out why, there was a login and I had no idea what it was! I knew that I
had three tries to do it so I typed in something random into the username
and password and hit enter...nothing. What a surprise.Next I tried something
more logical.
Username: KKuesh

Password:HailtheKuesh

That didnt work either. So I started to look around to find if there was a
peice of paper with the information on it. I looked everywhere; behind the
computer, under the computer, on the computer. I gave up after that. I
thought to myself Well its on a peice of paper right? So where would a peice
of paper-..." I looked at what I was holding in my hands...the clue...I flipped it
over...the username and password...great. I typed it in and it worked, good.
So I looked up some farmers to check out. One of them had this symbol
printed on the front page of there Website.
This was the king symbol.

Meaning that he had something to do with the king. He

was the one. Just then I heard the clock tower, bong,
bong, bong, then the sound of two heavy doors being
opened, and finally, the sound of forty-nine pairs of
feet running towards the doors. Then everything was
still, absolutely still. The last thing that you could hear
if you were there would be the last two feet running
through the hall and out the door. Half hoping to
accomplish their task, half wondering what they had
gotten into, those two feetwere mine.
Okay, Ill admit. Seeing a guy with duct tape over his mouth, tied to a
chair and with a black eye doesnt really surprise anyone who lives in the
city. But this wasnt the city, this was the country and in the country
nobody-...oh, sorry. I got ahead of myselfagain. Let me start over from the
beginning. Ahemoh, you would like me to start where I left offI guess I
could do that. Alright so once I left the palace I looked out and saw no cars to
drive in. Great, now Im going to have to ride in a taxi. When I finally got a
taxi I told him the address and he drive to the houseno he drived to the
houseno what is itdrivendrievendrovenah ha, he drove to the
house. While he was driving to the house I thought some more about
combines and how they separate things. I almost got obsessive with
combines (although I hardly knew anything about them) by the time we got
there. I got out and saw who I was looking for. Farmer blue, no not his cousin
Farmer brown, Farmer blue. I held out my hand Josh, Josh Grinder. The
farmer was anything youd expect from one. From the blue overalls to the big
belly to the overall accent, it would take a lot of country to top him. But he
had one thing wrong about the picturehe had a black eye for some reason.
He shook my hand in return. Nice to meet ya Josh Im-Farmer blue, I saw
your website. Yes, and did you know I also own my very own company. Its
called Farmer Blue Inc., F.B.I. for short. Do you get a lot of business? Nah.
Title just freaks em out. I can see why *ahem*. So I heard youve got a flag
for me. Yep I sure do. Well can I have it? Sure *chuckle* if you can find
it. Its in the field. The task I assigned to you is to find your flag by only using
a combine. But before I give you the keys. You must tell me how a combine
works, you may use any tools to figure it out. Get to work.
Thirty minutes agoHurry up driver, I got to get there ASAP, or (more
preferably) NOW, step on it. Although it was thirty miles away it only took
him ten minutes. Do the math. Now you might be wondering wait, why is he
in a taxi? or what happened to his car? or even who the heck is talking?'

Well the answer is quite simple. While Josh was in the library, the other fortynine people were still eating, including Eric Mosley. While eating, Sir
Cragglerock came back I forgot to mention something, you will not be able
to use your cars during this event, we have hid them, now you may try to
look for them but you will lose time trying to do what the clue says. Then
when the clock struck three, he was the first one out. Outside there was five
taxis waiting to be used, you could imagine what he did to get the first one.
Eric read his clue, although it was not the same clue as Josh it led him in the
same wayto the farm. Well, it took ya long enough. He said when he got
there. What is this placeit smells like diesel and dirt. He then saw
someone with a straw hat and overalls Are you the guy Im looking for?
said Eric. Why yes I am and let me tell you who I am. My name is- Yeah,
yeah, cut to the chase grandpa. Im here for a flag, now give me a flag. Oh,
I dont have the flag. The flag is in that field right over there, and youre
going to have to find it. But the only way how is by using a combine to go
through the field and cutting it up, then finding it in the grain. But before I let
you have the keys. First you have to-. Five seconds later, Eric Mosley had
the keys by something he calls fist+face. But theres still one problem. I
dont even know how to work a combine. Oh, well. Ill just guess. When he
got in the combine he sat down, found the keyhole and turned it on. (Now
before I go on I must tell you that not even I know how Eric found out how to
work it, all I know is of what the farmer told meand surveying the damage
of nearly flattened buildings .) After he finally got out there he started cutting
the wheat. And he just kept on cuttingand cuttingand cuttinguntil
finally his tank was full, so he emptied it out on a truck. No, not a truck
meant to hold wheat but a pickup, a small pickup. Anyway, he kept doing this
until he someone else pull up, talk to the farmer who now had a black eye,
go to yet another combine and he looked at it for about a half-hour then
talked to the farmer again. The farmer reached into his pocket and then
looked like he looked confused. The farmer turned towards Eric, and shook
his head. Eric laughed, for he knew why the farmer was upset. For Eric
-has the keys to all the combines. Farmer Blue said. And the only
way to get them back is to go up to him and convince him to give you the
keys. I looked back at Eric in the combine, he was probably laughing his
head off by now. Even though I didnt know the guy very well, I knew that
this was going to be a hard task regardless of who was in the combine. But
when I looked at the farmer with a tear running down his black eye (either he
was a little too emotional or his black eye still hurt) I knew what had to be
done. Ill do it. I said, and I started for the combine. About five minutes

later I was running at approximately four miles per hour (now if youre a
person thats lived in the city youll know what I mean when I say) which was
really fast along the combine. I saw the ladder to the cockpitdrivers seat
whatever and I jumped for it and hung on for dear life as I climbed up and
knocked on the door (which by the way was almost completely glass.) Now
this whole time, Eric watched as I ran along, climbed up and knocked on the
door. So it was really no surprise to me when he shook his head. Then after
about five minutes of pleading outside the door, he finally stopped the
combine, came out with the keys in his hands and said Look, Im not gonna
give you these keys. Youre just gonna have to find them. And with that he
threw the keys into the back where all of the grain was stored until he
dumped it onto the truck (which by now was completely covered in grain so
that you couldnt see it.) So now I had to wait until he dumped the grain
before I could look for it.
You know, sometimes people are nice and help you, and that gives you
hope. Other times they just take that hope, throw it somewhere you cant
reach filled with grain, and then dump it so they hope you cant reach it. That
was somewhat the case of what was going on. Oh, Im sorry, thats exactly
what the case was, and trust me, you have no idea what its like to have to
go through a seven foot tall pile of grain to find a few keys.
One hour later

two
hours later

.three hours later

..Okay, so we know where this is

going. It was eight o clock when I finally gave up and headed for the farm.
Disappointed, frustrated, and swearing vengeance to get back at Eric. I went
to the barn to ask the farmer if he could at least tell me where the flag was.
But when I opened the door, I saw the last thing that I could think happened.
Two hours ago. Eric was still in the combine when he noticed
something. He had already cut all the wheat, and no flag! Frustrated, he
went to see what this whole thing was about. Mumbling to himself, he
stormed off to the barn, slammed the door open, and only to find the farmer
polishing off the two flags that were supposedly in the field. The farmer,

being startled by the sudden noise, looked at Eric as he slowly walked to him.
The look in his eyes would make anybody, and I mean anybody, scared half
to death. The next moment, at least how the farmer recalled, was all a blur.
When I looked at him I thought one thing and one thing only. Eric. He
must have done this, having the farmer just sitting there with duct tape
everywhere and a newly made black eye (yes, Eric had decided to give him
another black eye.) He just looked sad, at least after I woke him up and
ripped the duct tape off his mouth (oh, and did I mention he had a
moustacheno? well he at least he did have one.) Oooooowwwww. That
really hurt. Farmer blue said. Sorry, I had to. HAD TO PUNCH ME IN THE
FACE AGAINOh, its you. Yeah, its me. He must have knocked you out
with that black eye of yours. What happened? After he told me what had
happened I asked. Wait, you were keeping the flags in here the whole
time?! Ah, please dont hurt me, wrap me up in duct tape, punch me in the
face and have someone else rip off my moustachethat already happened
once! Its alright Im not going to hurt you, just tell me where the flag is
and Ill give you money to go to the hospital. Really, youd do that Sure.
Thanks partner I really appreciate all youve done. But I dont have the
flagreally, I dont even know where they are. Well thats
satisfying. But I do have the next clue. Youll just have to find that flag
later. Here you go. He handed me some wheat kernels and another peice of
paper. It read...
Happiness can come in many shapes and forms. Your next clue is
located at the final step in which these kernels end up. Creating happiness
along the way.
At first I didnt get it. But after a while I understood. It was time to go.
After I handed the farmer his money I started to head out the door when
Farmer Blue called me. Oh, and Josh, did you figure out how a combine
separates the good from the bad? Yes. I replied. The Combine strips the
wheat kernels of the stalk after which get put into the bin until its put
somewhere else while the stalks get spat out of the back side. Very good.
You know, people are like wheat. When they start out theyre just little
sprouts, then when they get older theyre ready to grow up, but there might
be other, harmful stalks that bring them down, but when its time to be cut,
all the bad gets spat out the back while the good gets striped of them and
gets stored into a bin until needed, then they get shipped off to other places
to do what they were meant to do. Josh. Dont be a bad weed trying to pull
the good down. Or a person who lets other people do what they want so you

push them up, only to be spat out with the rest not getting your full
potential. Help others up, but be with them on the way. In other wordsget
cut, stored, and shipped off to unleash your full potential. Good luck. With
that I was off.
Wheat kernels? I had no idea what to do. I couldnt think, mainly
because it was about ten o clock when I found a hotel. I would look it up in
the morning. But for now, yaaaawwwwn, I needed a rest.
A good nights sleep laterYaaaawwwwn, Monday already? Oh, wait
yeah. Thats rightwell better get lookin. Luckily the hotel had free internet
and put a computer in each room. Okay lets see herego to Googlefinal
stagekernelshappinessokayaha! Thats it! A bakery is perfect,
now if only I could see where this bakery was I would be on my way. 15
minutes later. There we go, The Golden Caf. Thats my next destination.
Taxi!......Oh, yeahthis isnt a movie(sigh). So I went down to the lobby ,
went outside, and then called a taxi. Golden Cafe please. And I was off.
On the way to the cafe I pondered something. "I wonder if i will meet
anyone this time. I mean, it's not like-" (screeeeeeech) " Were here, and you
owe me $7.95."
Wow, that was a hard stop. I almost got whiplash. Well, he was right,
I'm here. The Golden Cafe, home of the French bread...wait, the home of the
French bread...I thought that the French breads home was in...well...france!
Someone greeted me at the the door. Good evening Josh. Remember me
and my heavenly appearance? It was Judas.
"Ha ha, very funny." I halfway mumbled. "Look I've already had a bad
experiance so don't make this any worse than it is. Okay?" "If you insist." he
replied. "So what happened?" "Oh, I had to find a flag in some feild but this
guy named Eric took both so at least he's disqualified. But until I find that
flag i have no chance of winning." "Ah, so I see. Well good luck to you." "Yeah
you too."
The room, or should I say resturaunt, was just your standard cafe. The
place had a general warm feeling to it. Lightish brown tiling on the walls,
smooth tiling on the floor. In front of me there was a bar that displayed all of
the items for sale, including bread, pastries, and cookies. All of which I
wanted to try.
Then, some guy wearing a chefs hat walked out. "Ah, bonjour, bonjour
mone me. jou must be my challengers. Come zis way, come zis way. It is so

nize to have jou here. Now i understand jou want zees flags no? Well I tell jou
what, all jou need to do ees-a make me a loaf of bread. Zat is all, no more,
no less. "Okay, what's the catch?" I say, in reaction to my previous
experience. "ees no catch. Jou make me loaf of bread, I give jou flag. Zat is
it." "...Really." "jes." But there had to be a catch, there wasn't just a "no
catch" thing going around. I look around the kitchen, it was pretty standard.
You had you tables, your ovens and your cabinets and fridges. Nothing out of
the ordinary...except that everything was made of CHROME!!...oh wait it's
always like that. I start to get out the ingredients when I realize something.
Judas points this out for me. "Ummmm, Josh. Do you know how to make
bread?" I didn't, and I'm pretty sure Mr. Frenchy wasn't going to tell us either.
"Oh great" I said "neither of us know how to make bread! Here let me get out
my phone, I should be able to...oh great." "What?" "I'm not...I can't...uuuuugh
this place is like the black hole of reception! I'm getting NOTHING!!" "Oh, well
that's not good." "No, really." "...Yes, really." "No, I was...never mind." I
walked around the room for a minute. what can i do, I don't know how to
make bread! Judas spoke up, "Well, I might not know how to make bread.
But I know how to break it. Haha." "Ya, very funny. Seriously though, what are
we supposed to do?" "We could ask for help. NO! I am not going to give up
this easily! Lets just...guess. Come on, whats wrong with that? Well...okay.
But if we fail, we- Ya ya I know. Ok, now whats in bread. I thought to
myself for a while on what is in bread? I remembered something about there
being flour. Yes yes there was flour! I told Judas to get the flour, he
responded with What does flour look like, I told you Ive never baked
before. Dangit, I didnt know what it looked like either. Well um...Now I
have no idea what to do. Any ideas? Not one. Well thats just great,
neither of us not only didnt know how to make bread, but we couldnt even
guess. What were we going to do!
Judas spoke up after an hour of meandering around. Josh were
wasting our time, lets just go ask him. He might be right, I looked the
situation over. Either I try to guess by throwing in just a bunch of random
things and hoping I get it right. Or I ask how and hope he doesnt try to
disqualify me. Its a choice that I must make...or is it? I had an idea. Hey
Judas, why dont you...go ask him. Ill stay here and try to figure it out
myself. I saw Judas think it over, for a few seconds. Ok, yes I think that
would be necesary. Ok Ill do it. I saw him walk out of the kitchen door. I put
my ear up against it to try to hear what was going on. I hear frenchy talking
Yes yes, jou wish for my help no? Yes, if it is at all possible. He sounded
really nervous. Frenchy laughed heartely. Hahaha, help jou? Of course! I

vwould be glad to help jou! What?! I thought for sure he would be

disqualified! I rush out there in a fray. Wait wait! *huff huff* I want some
help too. Hahaha, I thought you might follow him out. Jes jes I can help jou
both. Now follow me.
The next few minutes were very...informational. To make a long story
short, Frenchy taught us how to make bread by showing us every single step.
Ha asked questiones to see if we were paying attention. I felt like I was in
school again, mainly because my eyes were getting a little droopy. But finally
he finished with putting the bread in the oven. Now, vuonce jou put zee
bread in zee oven. Toin it to four-hundred and fifty degrees. Wait for twenty
minutes, take it out with your baking gloves and let it cool for a few more
minutes. Zen it shall be magnifico! Got it? Any questions? I spoke up. Yes
ummmm whats flour?...Haha Im just kidding! I got it, so what do we do
next? Frenchy glared at me for a moment...well, I wouldnt say it was a
glare. It was more of a smirk with a frown and squinted eyes. Jes...very
funny. *ahem* Anyway, what jou are to do next is to make it yourself! Good
luck!
Do you ever get that feeling of deja vu? I was feeling that very strongly
in the kitchen. Luckily it was only because I had been there before.
Eventually I did get the bread made and into the oven and back out (that
was a problem I had my first attempt) and onto a tray. I was actually proud of
myself for once, and by the look on his face Id say judas was too. We took
our bread to Frenchy (whos name I later learned to be Mr. Vito) who seemed
impressed thank goodness! Jou did very well. Congradulations! Here is jour
flags, and jour clues. Judas jou are free to go. But Josh, Id like to have a word
with jou. He took me back into the kitchen. I overheard jou talking in the
kitchen and I couldnt help but laugh. Haha! Josh, there is zomething jou
must know. Eet ees okay to ask for help. Eet ees okay to admit jour mistakes.
There ees always some way that zomeone else can help jou. Do jou
understand? I think so. Very good! Okay here ees jour flag, and jour next
clue. I looked at the clue, it read...
Is an abused child worth helping? In this next challenge youll find out.
When a child is hurt, he can also have a broken spirit. A verse from a
religious book, specifically Luke 22:19, and a certain item at the bakery will
lead you to your next challenge.
By zee way josh, I shall make zees clue a little easier. Zee certain item
ees on sale right now. Oh and good luck Josh! Thanks Vito, for everything!

Tis my pleasure! And with that I left the kitchen to continue to the next
destination, and get a small snack before I leave. I was starving!
And what will you be having toay? said the cashier behind the
counter. Do you have anything on sale today? I asked. Yes our classic
baked bread is on sale at the moment. Would that be all today? she replied.
Ummmmm and a water. I havent had a drink in a while! Okay that will be
$35.67 Thirty-five dollars!? Thats a lot for some bread!! I was
flabbergasted! I had no idea bread cost that much! Then to my horror and
relief, which is a very weird feeling, Vito came back out. He went to the
cashier and whispered something in her ear. she turned to me and said Oh
right, my mistake! Today is special! Today is...what was it called again?...Ah yes
today is the Josh-gets-everything-free day. And since youre Josh...I guess Ill
get that bread for you now! Wait...did Vito just buy that for me? But hes
running this business! Wouldnt that make it go out of business or
something?! Well okay maybe Im exagerating a tad but still! Vito mustve
seen the look on my face. Because he came over to me next and said with
very reassuring eyes Josh, a good deed is never wasted. No matter how
small. Right then the cashier brought out the bread I had wanted, and the
water I needed. I turned to Vito and smiled, he was a good man.
Baked bread...what could it mean...well what was the other thing? A
verse from some religious book? Maybe...oh what was that thing I keep
hearing about...Oh right! I remember! Its a Bible! Thats what I need to
find.
Turns out that a bible is hard to find, or at least for free. So since I dint
want to buy one I went to a local church.