By Zoe Mason
October 21, 2019
This all started on the dark windy night of Monday, October 14th. I go down to the main lobby to find scrambling and shrieking girls everywhere. Running around trying to get pink paint and glitter on their faces to hide who they are. They even start putting black and red to disorient themselves even more. They throw glitter on their hair and bodies to make their features disappear. Fellow fighters come to the lobby and we get our war faces on, all dressed in black and ready for battle. Everyone grabs what they can as we take our journey to the pit. Other villages start joining around the pit and everyone is on edge ready for the battles to begin.
As the fighters get ready we start to feel the nerves but quickly shrug them off as we are about to begin our first battle. We are called to the pit to face the first village. We get all lined up, hip-deep into the mushy brown gunk at the bottom of the pit. As the time for battle creeps upon us, we pull with all our might to keep the other village from breaking us down to their side. We dig our feet farther and farther into the gunky mush. Some of us even lose our fighter boots. After using all of our might, we finally bring the battle to an end, taking the other village down.
We come out of the pit drenched in soggy water and grimy mud. The fighters start to recover and bandage wounds as we prepare for the next battle. I have lost feeling in my hands, but I know I cannot back down now. The next battle goes by in a flash as we break the other village down so quickly they all fall to the bottom of the pit. As we get prepared for the third battle against our toughest opponent, we get new bandages and down gallons of water. We go down into the pit and get in our best positions to face the other village and guarantee top strength. After what feels like hours we end in a horrific tie as some of our fighters go down along with some of theirs. I nearly lost one of my most valuable battle shoes, but would not let it go and dug my arm in as deep as it could go to get the shoe back.
Recovery took a bit longer after that last battle against a tough opponent. I am switched out with fresh new fighters for our final battle to strengthen our odds for a win. I spend the entire time wailing our battle cry to keep the confidence of the fighters high and able to withstand the other village after three tough battles. We end our night of battles with a strong win as we put in our heads. With pounds of grimy mud piled on us, we go to the powerful springs down the road to get cleaned up. We walk back to the lobby with too many bruises to count, cuts across our hands, and torn off toenails. All worth it in the end as we huddle together and appreciate and encourage each other for the hard work we put in tonight during our battles.
The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Infuse Student Media or Southwest Baptist University.
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