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Chapter 4: CHOMP! It was Sam’s turn now to get into the canoe. I was now only steps away from the river of DOOM! It felt as if the world was moving in slow motion, as I watched my friend get sucked into the river's current. The fog faded further away and the full view of the river became visible. If you thought a mega hippo was scary, the end of the river had a creature WAY worse. At the end of this lovely river of death, was the grand prize of this wonderful journey -- a mammoth crocodile with its mouth wide open. It was just waiting for lunch to be delivered – and we were UberEats bringing fresh meat right to its doorstep. This monster was the size of a school bus, as its body reached from one side of the river to the other. There was nowhere to go in the canoe but straight into its sharp fangs and giant mouth. Smoke came out of its nose, as its eyes focused on its yummy feast. Its tail whipped through the water like a dog excited for a treat (poor Sam). With his canoe having no way around it; all that was left was Tick, Tick, Tick – CHOMP! “Wow! I can’t believe that just happened to Sam,” Billy laughed. The crocodile had snapped its mouth closed and poor Sam was eaten whole – as if he was a piece of popcorn. The monster seemed to grow with each meal it ate. My legs froze up. I did not want to be eaten by a crocodile; I was ONLY seven years old. Apparently, John and Billy did not mind going into the mouth of this beast. Without thinking, John went first, and his canoe raced down the river fast. Oh was that crocodile drooling. Tick, Tick, Tick – CHOMP! Another perfect meal for the mega crocodile. I swear I think it was smiling after each meal – it was laughing at us. “Billy, don’t do it! Please don’t do it!” I begged one last time. “See you on the other side, buddy!” Billy yelled out. He did not wait another second. I now had a front row seat to the end of my friend. In my head I already saw his tombstone – “Here lies poor Billy, taken away from us way too young.” Billy pushed off the shore and went down the river, speeding toward his certain doom. His speed was impressive if it was not for the fact that a water monster was at the end of this trip. Tick, Tick, Tick – CHOMP! I fell to the floor. I was now next in line and there was nowhere to go. “Come on, it's your turn. We all want to go!” the kids behind me yelled. “Why did they want to get eaten?” I thought to myself. I could not move. I could not stand. I could not feel anything. That is when it first happened. Chapter 5: A Superhero It started with the sound of a horn, blasting through the air, coming from the forest behind us. The noise seemed to be sending a sign that something was on the way. The horn blew again; the ground shook. A glow of light burst out from the forest. I turned to look and saw a beautiful crystal light moving its way from the forest toward the river. The light was truly amazing. The ground shook once more, as the light crept forward. At that moment, I noticed someone was running toward us. As the mystery person moved, the light around his or her body pushed through the forest, its touch making the gloomy trees and thorn bushes disappear. With each dash of light bouncing off this figure the darkness of the forest went away. POOF! The creepy trees were gone. POOF! The scary sounds from the forest vanished! The lights touch brought things back to the way they were, as the backyard of Billy’s house came back into view. Who was this person with such power that could control this incredible light? As the figure got closer, the light, which had cleared the forest and brought back the party, slowly went into his or her body. That is when I first saw HER – my SUPERHERO! She looked like an angel with beautiful brown hair and golden letters “MA” on her navy-blue headband. She had a blue mask covering her eyes and a navy-blue superhero suit with no sleeves. A gold padding covered half her arms with her fingers sticking out of it. “Charlie, are you okay? What seems to be the problem?” she asked as she leaned in close to me. I wondered how she knew my name, but a sense of calm came over me as I stared into her brown eyes. “I am nervous,” I whispered. “Why are you nervous, Charlie?” she asked with a soft look in her eyes. “I have never done anything like this before. All I see is a river of fear just waiting to eat me; especially that giant crocodile waiting to chomp me into little pieces of me. Everyone else seems to be doing fine with it, but I am not – I feel so embarrassed,” I replied. Rubbing my hair, she smiled, “Charlie there is nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s your first time trying a new adventure and that first leap of faith can be scary. I am sure many of the other boys and girls here felt the same way you do. Because everyone gets a little scared and nervous when they try something new and that is okay. But it’s important not to let that fear take control of you and stop you from enjoying the fun times.” I looked toward the river and back at her. “Have you seen what is out there? That does not look like it’s safe for a seven year old!” “Charlie, do you want me to clear the path for you? Let me show just how much fun this can be,” she said standing upright. “No, something bad will happen to you if you go out there. You will be just another meal for the crocodile,” I pleaded with her. As the words came out of my mouth, she took several steps back, looked me in the eyes and said, “Leap of faith, Charlie.” With that, she pushed off the ground with her feet – the ground trembled from her power. Sprinting toward the river, the wind blew with such force in all directions as she passed me. She was faster than anything or anyone I had ever seen. As she got in the canoe, her cape with the letters MA on it flapped in the air. She went straight into the deadly river with no fear. I, on the other hand, knew what waited for her and could hardly watch. As she quickly moved to the middle of the river, the water around her began to rise. OH NO! I had already seen this movie before and knew what was coming. “Watch out! There is a giant hippo in the water,” I yelled. The mega hippo flung out from under the water. The next thing that happened was just – let’s say AWESOME. I would have jumped off the canoe and swam for my life at the sight of that hippo but not this superhero. She stood up in the canoe and her body began to take in the light all around her -- a bright glow took over the canoe. She raised her arms toward the hungry hippo and made a fist with both hands. Then, with the sound of a cannon, crystal light blasted from her hands. In an instant, the light smashed through the giant water monster and turned it into a blob of water that fell softly into the river. At that moment, actual hope started to break through my fear. Could this superhero really beat this deadly river? Chapter 6: The Battle for the River That hope did not last very long, as I thought about what awaited my new hero. How would she be able to stop the child-eating monster? How would she avoid becoming another fast food meal? My stomach was turning inside – I started to feel sick – thinking of what would happen. She was not afraid by the sight of the monstrous eating machine at the end of the river. Seeing the canoe heading in its direction, the mega crocodile opened its mouth as wide as possible – saliva dripping from tooth to tooth. I could have sworn that monster was laughing at her, thinking, “Wow today feels like a Thanksgiving feast.” You would have thought she should have slowed down at this sight, but there was no fear in this superhero. I felt helpless watching her head straight toward the mouth of the beast. I kept waiting for her to use her superpowers and blast the crocodile into a million pieces. She finally stood up as she neared the tip of the crocodile’s mouth. I knew it; she was going to take the monster down – she was just waiting for the right moment. However, something strange happened -- she just stood there in the canoe and did nothing as she went straight into its mouth. OH BOY! Here it comes -- Tick, Tick, Tick – CHOMP! I shut my eyes. Our superhero, our only hope of defeating the monster in the river was gone. I could not understand why she did not do anything to save herself and stop it from taking any more poor souls. Feeling as lost and scared as ever, I heard the kids behind me shouting, “Okay she is done. Let’s go! It’s your turn now.” “What was wrong with these kids?” I thought. I moved closer to the water. I walked as slow as possible hoping some type of miracle would get me out of this horrible situation. As I reached for my canoe, all I kept thinking was, “I am not meant to be a crocodile snack! It’s not even going to like eating me -- I am so little.” Then something amazing happened. A bright light appeared at the end of the river. I stared out and noticed that it was coming from inside the body of the crocodile. Light continued to pour out through all sides of the water monster. The entire river lit up with an amazing crystal glow. Brighter and brighter, until – BOOM – an explosion rocked the entire river. A blinding light made me turn away, but when the light started to fade, I looked back toward the river. I could not believe it! The monstrous crocodile was GONE! It vanished. Even crazier was that the river no longer seemed so scary. It was actually, now a clear blue body of water surrounded by beautiful greenery – the gloomy mangroves were gone. As I stared ahead at the beautiful clear water, I saw someone walking toward me and wouldn’t you know it -- it was her! It was my superhero – and she was not alone. She was giving high fives to John, Sam and Billy. She had saved the day!