PICNIC AT HANGING
ROCK
........ It was close enough to Valentines
day, January 24th 2001. A group of Cub Scout Leaders - some who had
never met before - packed a picnic lunch and a birthday cake, and met at
Hanging Rock, Woodend, Victoria, Australia.
The weather was suffocatingly hot
and the children of the Cubbies took great delight in engaging water combat
with Super Soaker water guns and other liquid artillery
Food was consumed and a footy was kicked.
The overwhelming presence of The Rock called
to the Leaders and they found themselves drawn up the neatly cut paths
where others had gone before them into the chasms and depths of the granite
formations.
None of the Leaders can recall what happened
on the Rock - the heat was too consuming,
but, as they decended, they watched as the
black storm approached with unexpected force. Before they reached
the safety of the bottom huge droplettes of rain hammered down sizzling
on the red dirt under their feet and on the hot dusty bodies of the Leaders.
Everyone was able to quench thier thirst and cool down before heading back
to the picnic area.
An eerie replica of what they had just conquered
lay before them in the form of sponge cake, jelly and icing. The
heat had melted the jelly into the sponge making a sort of trifle.
It was consumed without a murmour by all present.
After everyone was accounted for making sure
that history wasnt going to repeat itself, we hugged each other and took
one last look at the omnious Rock. We climbed back into our vehicles
and headed in our different directions to our homes, where we promptly
logged on to our computers to talk to each other.
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