By Bobby Hartt
Art By Merrill Rainey

“Pen in Hand” author Bobby Hartt is 12 years old and lives in Connecticut. He’s a First Class Boy Scout and plays guitar. Bobby enjoys playing XBox, camping, and riding bikes with his friends. He has a twin sister named Masie, a dog, and two cats.

Round 1. The Battle Begins

Boom! Boom! Boom! Snowballs make impact with the frigid, snowy ground. I evade them by ducking behind the cold ice barrier.

At first there were Tom, Dick, and Nick. Tom got pelted in the face by billions of snowballs. Dick somehow did not get hit, but then the commander called in jets. They snowed him first, then dropped a snow splasher on him. Well, Nick was just too sad.

Round 2. The Battle Continues

As you can see, I am the only one left. I decide to stand up and peg one of my friends. As soon as I stand up—ka-pow!—a snowball explodes in my face. I plummet to the ocean of angel-soft powder. My competitive buds defend our HQ while I go around back and try to ambush the opponents. The plan seems to be working when one of the enemy scouts spots me. Quickly I dive into a pile of snow. The snow is so deep that I sink two feet below the surface and wait for the scout to pass. Then I stealthily pick up a chunk of snow and boom!—captain’s out. I get all of the others out in one swift move.

Round 3. Hot Chocolate

After the hot chocolate, we go outside for more outdoor fun. This time Nick is on the other team. So I yell, “Artillery!” Then Nick screams and runs because he knows that the snow will rise five feet. He’s only 4’10” so he will be covered in snow. It will not be fun. He will be so mad, everyone will have to run 20 miles away from him. The war machine, Nick, will pelt everybody once we get out from hiding.

Round 4. Runaway

Nick is still after us. We have been looking for something that will get us across the snow fast! We come across a shed. It looks like it was just abandoned yesterday. We go inside to take a look. Snowmobiles! We leave one alone so Nick will have something; otherwise it would be unfair. We bolt from the scene as fast as we can. Nick is nowhere in sight for miles.

Round 5. Found

Nick finds us and decides to bring a trailer so we can come back with the snowmobiles. He decides that we have been gone for three weeks and are starving and probably freezing, too. So he comes prepared; the Boy Scout is as noble as can be.