The hat

Simple mechanics. Legends passed on from centuries ago are still told. The legend, the theory of flying machines. No, not an airplane, not a jetpack, but a hat. A simple hat.

The story began on a Tuesday morning. Wayne, a tall, buff man, woke up and started reading the newspaper, scanning the sheet for words such as “money” and “profit.” Instead, out of the corner of his eyes, the word “flying” appeared in front of his eyes. His eyes turning towards the title, he read, “Flying hat believed to exist in San Gil, Colombia.”

“San Gil?” Wayne mumbled to himself.

He recognized San Gil, a city with a population of around 43 thousand people. Wayne quickly snatched his phone out and called his short, skinny, and intelligent friend John.

“Hello?” John said.

“There’s a flying hat in a San Gil waterfall, Cascada de Juan Curi. Can you tell me how many miles it is from here, Bogota, to San Gil?” Wayne asked eagerly.

“Flying hat? In San Gil? I’ll tell you if you let me and Donnell go with you,” John negotiated.

Wayne thought about it for a second. “Donnell?” he thought to himself, remembering their old childhood friend. “Fine, of course. I think that’ll be really fun,” Wayne chuckled, while thinking about himself flying in the air.

After a couple of quick taps, John successfully found the number he was looking for on Google.

“192 miles.”

The next day began with Donnell, a tall and wimpy adult who had a positive attitude, Wayne, and John. After collecting a hodgepodge of different items, such as water, food, tents, a map, and other supplies, they were ready and excited for their journey to claim the flying hat in the San Gil waterfall.

An hour had passed but they had only traveled two and a half miles. With some quick calculations, John estimated that they had only travelled 180 of the entire voyage necessary from Bogota to San Gil. While all three of them were excited for the adventure, they slowly began bickering, worn out from walking.

After the third hour came to an end, Donnell and Wayne’s disagreements only intensified.

“I can’t wait to try on the hat!” Donnell exclaimed.

Wayne stared at Donnell for a split second. “Yeah, but I’m keeping it,” Wayne said casually.

Donnell stopped, narrowing his eyes at Wayne. “Hey! You said I could keep the hat!” Donnell said in an accusatory tone.

“Are you kidding me‽ I was the one who thought about this!” Wayne exploded, facing Donnell and glaring at him.

John watched helplessly as the two berated each other with a jumble of nasty words and names until Wayne suddenly grabbed John and Donnell by their shirts, ignoring the flash of fear in John’s eyes. As Donnell squirmed helplessly against Wayne’s grasp, Wayne bellowed, “THE NEXT PERSON WHO OPENS THEIR MOUTH WILL FACE AGONY: LOTS AND LOTS OF IT!”

“Calm down! Settling a dispute cannot be done this way!” Donnell insisted, wriggling against Wayne’s grasp.

“How ‘bout we rotate daily?” John proposed.

Wayne and Donnell hesitated before agreeing. Wayne let the two go as they continued their journey, happy to have settled the tension between the three of them

“Now let’s celebrate! Let’s eat the rice-cake we brought!”

The three friends feasted happily, enjoying their meal. After the big feast, the three slept in their tents, all snoring like pigs.

John was the first one to wake up the next day. He looked around, noticing his friends were still asleep. Clearing his eyes, a sign that read “San Gil” came to sight. John couldn’t help but to blurt “WAHOOOO,” startling Wayne and Donnell.

“What?” Wayne and Donnell asked in unison, equally grumpy.

“WE’RE HERE! We’re in San Gil!” John exclaimed.

It took Wayne and Donnell a second to comprehend what had happened before they celebrated.

They devoted a second to hugging each other before looking at the nearest map for Cascada de Juan Curi. Getting more and more excited, they found out that Cascada de Juan Curi was only an hour walk away. They begun their short walk, chatting about what they could do with an object that could make a human float and fly in the air. That hour of walking sped by, barely feeling like five minutes. Soon, the three were splashed by the waterfall above them as it made contact with the river below. The mist arising from the waterfall was incredibly satisfying, as the boiling sun was tickling their skin. It was their time. Their time to acquire the hat. Within a few second, they began climbing the stairs alongside the waterfall, eagerly searching the falling rapid for the hat.  In less than three minutes, Donnell hollered,“I FOUND IT, EUREKA!”, and John and Wayne rushed toward Donnell at an unbelievable speed. A feeling inside of them invigorated them, compelling them to run the fastest they ever had during their lives. Once they regrouped, they put on the hat one by one, all agreeing that Donnell should be the one to try it on first. The first thing Donnell saw before putting the hat on was the “on” button, lit up in a scarlet red color. After two fruitless hours, they came to conclude that the flying machine was nonsense. Sitting in shame and silence, a little voice inside the three told them, “Hey, it’s okay. Look at the friendship that has formed.”

This was for a creative writing story thingy for school.

I chose the names,

DONNELL=Larry Nance Jr.'s middle name

WAYNE=Kevin Durant's middle name

JOHN=A story written by Wilson is not a story if John is not included