"The Food Challenge" by: Porter S. Fairbourne

              
             The story that follows is grossly very true.

         
             It was just like any other afternoon until Adam and I brought up the cinnamon challenge! Of course Alta overheard me and Adam and she said, “I bet I could do the cinnamon challenge easy.” Adam smirked, “ok then let’s see you do it.” She then went to the kitchen and got a ladle full of the stuff. I knew she would spit it out. I took my phone out to take video to film her failing. She lifted the spoon to her mouth. Then she took one deep breath and tipped the cinnamon into her mouth. Just one second of it being in her mouth she immediately spit it out in a big ball of cinnamon smoke. Alta screamed running to the sink trying to get the dry burning sensation out of her mouth. After a few minutes of Alta panicking she calmed down. She though that she successfully completed the cinnamon challenge. She then felt brave and said, “I will eat anything you guys give me and I mean anything” That was a mistake she came to regret.

            Adam exclaimed, “We should have a competition, to see who can make Alta barf first.” So we all got a cup and put the grossest stuff in the fridge we could find.   After we were done, we all put down our cups on the table thinking surely this will make her puke. I insisted that she drinks mine first. Alta, who was blind folded, took one swig and she didn’t even spit it out! ……Mine failed. Then Everett’s mixture was up next. Alta took a sip and spit it out gagging, but no barf. Then Adam’s, hopefully this would do the trick Alta took a sip then she SCREAMED! “HOT! HOT! SPICY! SPICY! Give me milk! ”  I ran to the fridge and got her milk she started to chug it until she screamed even louder, “rotten!” (One of the joys of living in Kenya you get rotten milk every once in a while) .She then gave up on the milk idea and got her self some water, but still no barf.

        Lucky for us though, Alta said she would let us have another shot. This time we were sure to make her barf.I felt like I was making a potion as I mixed the raw egg with the spoiled mayonnaise. As I stirred fine assortment of spicy sauces in I caught a whiff of my drink, and I almost through up my whole dinner! Mine was first up for the tasting. This time around she started gagging on the verge of puking but still no barf. Next up was Adam’s excellent work. Alta took a taste and she gagged for a little bit but didn’t barf. All of that gagging almost made me blow chunks. Then I handed Everett’s cup of goo to Alta. She lifted the stringy bubbly drink to her mouth and she gagged and gagged. Seeing her take that horrendous drink to her lips just did it for me I rushed to the bathroom to blow chunks. Alta didn’t barf until she asked for water and Adam handed her the same disgusting drink .She took one big swallow and she upchucked her entire Sunday dinner. Everett saw Alta puke and grabbed a cereal bowl and ralfed. Adam’s weak gag reflex got to him. He ran to the nearest bathroom and hurled over the toilet. And after he was done he ran to my room to tell me what happened only to see me blowing chunks. His weak gag reflex kicked in again and he rushed to Alta’s bathroom and hurled for the second time.   There was vomit everywhere, you could say; it was an old fashioned barforama!

 I guess Everett’s mixture of a raw egg, mustard, chocolate syrup, expired yogurt, and hot sauce really did the trick for all of us. 

Pope Family Tradition

Alta, Christmas 2010

Every year before Christmas my family gets together in my grandpa’s big cabin on the 23^rd of December to celebrate Christmas. We play, laugh, smile and just have tons of fun spending our time with each other. I think everyone’s favorite part is when Santa comes and brings all of the kids presents.

We have a wonderful dinner that takes hours of effort from my mom to make every detail flawless. From the perfectly cooked prime rib roast to the golden brown mouthwatering rolls that come fresh out of the oven. The tables are decorated with red and green place mats and shimmering wine glasses with not even a fingerprint on them. I like sitting at the brown circular table in the corner with my favorite cousins, while we eat away and chat about our excitement for Christmas day. Our plates couldn’t be filled more, mountains of smashed potatoes, ruby red pomegranate seeds and delicious steamed French beans.

2014 Christmas 

There is always white snow on the mountains with dark green pine trees peppered across it. The special thing is one of those trees high on the mountain is covered in beautiful Christmas lights, wowing everybody who looks at it. Our log cabin is big and dark brown with a line of multicolored Christmas lights all across the roofs edge. In the backyard there’s small pond that glistens in the moonlight. In side is where all the fun is. There is always a big red fire in the fireplace and above hangs 21 festive stockings, one for each of the grandchildren. I especially love our Christmas tree with its assorted ornaments and its striking lights; it really sets the Christmas mood.

All of the kids always wait to hear grandpa’s voice saying, “ come downstairs Santa Claus is coming.” We quickly rush downstairs excitedly to sit on the big red couch and sing Christmas carols, because Santa Clause wont come unless he hears us sing. We sing all of our favorite carols like “Santa Clause Is Coming To Town”, and “Up On The Rooftop”. Everyone joins in enthusiastically even though some of us have horrible voices. When he finally hears us, he slowly comes in from the front door and all of the little kids scream and laugh. Then every kid gets to sit on Santa’s lap talk to him and get a present. You can just see the excitement in the kids as they sit on Santa’s lap. When it’s my turn to sit on his lap I can really see his big wide smile and his eyes always have a twinkle. He does actually have a real white beard, because one year my cousin Lilli pulled on it to see if it was real.

 I used to believe when I was young that he was the real Santa but know I know he’s just pretending. One time my cousin Hannah’s family’s presents were wrapped in toilet paper, that totally gave it away; that doesn’t seem like Santa but it sure does seem like my uncle Jeff.

When the afternoon starts to become late and the house is trashed with a mountain of dishes in the sink and wrapping paper everywhere possible. The parents say its time to go home and none of the kids want to leave but they know their going to fall asleep anyway. Every year I always look forward to sitting on Santa’s lap and spending time with my amazing family.

Getting "Lost" at the Airport by Adam Holmberg

AAAAAHHHHHHH” flight attendants screamed in fear of losing their jobs. A man in a suit and glasses walked up to me and the Fairbourne family and asked me, “Are you Adam Holmberg?”

It all started with me and my dad just sitting at the gate waiting to board the plane. “Adam Holmberg” they announced. I walked up to the flight attendants and said goodbye to my dad. I was super stoked to go to Africa with the Fairbournes.  The flight attendants escorted me onto the plane and sat me down. They walked back to the front to greet the other people boarding the plane.

My dad had told me that after I get off the plane that I need to find Jason. So that’s what I did. As I was walking off the plane the flight attendants said goodbye to me. Little did I know that the flight attendants were supposed to not only escort me on the plane, but also escort me off.

After I found Jason he asked me, “wasn't I supposed to sign something?”  I said “I don't know.” He was supposed to sign something. That something was the envelope that had my passport, my boarding pass, and other important stuff that the flight attendants had. He was supposed to sign it so “ they knew I wasn't leaving with some random dude. We grabbed a bite to eat and headed over to the gate to wait. We were just eating and chatting while we waited to board. Meanwhile, flight attendants were calling my name on the intercom and frantically searching for me.  Everett was the only one who had heard them calling my name but he hadn't said anything and we were too busy talking to hear it so none of us knew.

Natalie asked me if I had my passport in my backpack and I said did because I thought my dad had put it in there before I got on the plane. She told me to get it out. When I opened my backpack I realized it wasn’t there. I was freaking out inside. Jason took me up to the desk to ask them if they knew where my passport was. She asked me if I was Adam. I replied “yes.” She told us that there were flight attendants searching all over the building trying to find me. Luckily she had the envelope with my passport so she gave it to me. As we continued to wait, the man in a suit and glasses walked up to us. “Are you Adam Holmberg?” he asked. “yeah” I replied. He gave me a lecture but all I heard was, “And thats why.. blah blah blah.” 

After he was gone we all got on the plane and just forgot whatever the man had told us. After that we had all learned a very valuable lesson. DON'T TRUST DELTA WITH YOUR CHILDREN.