games, human friendly while challenging for the wolves. And there was a grand prizewinner, as well. I would say more, but the winner may have her own story to tell some day, and so I will leave the details to her.
"All right," Michaela said. "We're playing a new form of freeze tag. This is team freeze tag. Nick and Michele, are you playing?"
"Sure," they both said.
"All right," Michaela said. "Each human is a team captain, and she is the team's freezer. We will pick a home base for each, forming a triangle. Anyone tagged by the freezer sits down, but you may be unfrozen if you are picked up by at least two members of your team and carried back to your base. You are also frozen if you are tagged by any freezer who is sitting down and has been sitting for at least thirty seconds, but you may move out of range of any other opponents before sitting down." She paused. "However, I'm pretty sure we're all capable of avoiding the humans, so I'm not sure how to make it just a little easier for them."
"Nerf sticks!" Angel called out. "Give them each a couple of Nerf sticks. And limit the playing area so it's a little crowded."
"And no intentional contact with another wolf," Serena suggested.
"So a team could corral members of the other team," Lara said. "That might skew it too much, but we can try it."
"If you do that," Angel said, "Make it a bigger area so there's probably a path to escape, but still not too big."
"Or," I said, "you have to touch each of the other team's bases periodically, but taggers shouldn't intentionally guard."
"Let's try Angel's initial suggestion and see how it goes for a few minutes," Michaela said. "Angel and Scarlett, please go collect six Nerf sticks."
They took off at a run. I stared after them. "So fast."
Portia chuckled.
"If this seems to be going on too long, we'll adjust," Michaela said. "If it's going too quickly, we'll take a Nerf stick away or something. I am intentionally splitting up couples. Portia, you are on Michele's team; Donald you're with Nick; Tara, you're with Zoe."
Portia kissed me then moved to stand with Michele. A moment later, Tara was standing next to me. "All right. Nick, pick."
"Lara."
"I'm with Zoe. Michele?"
"Elisabeth."
It took a few minutes to make teams. Angel and Scarlett returned carrying not only the Nerf sticks, but a bunch of other things as well. They began marking a large playing field, then some of the kids ran over to help them.
"How's this, Alpha?"
"Everyone into the field," she said. "We'll see."
We all moved onto the field. Michaela called for it to be a little larger, assigned our home bases, and then said, "Ready?"
"Ready!" everyone called out.
"Go!"
It was complete and utter chaos, but it only took twenty seconds before I was laughing as I swung my Nerf sticks around while trying to remember who was on my team.
I whacked Scarlett a couple of times, and she said, "Hey! I'm on your team."
The wolves were hard to catch, but then Michele and I found ourselves side by side and we began chasing after Nick's team members. We got about half of them before she and Nick turned on me and began chasing my members.
Everyone was laughing.
"If you do my whole team, then you'll never beat each other!" I called out.
And then I spun around and caught Lara as she tried to free one of her teammates, although others from her team would free her a few minutes later.
Michaela danced over to me. "I never said you couldn't help free people," she said. "Come on."
We freed Scarlett and Iris before Nick and Michele noticed what we were doing. And then I interfered, waving my Nerf sticks and whacking Nick and Michele while my teammates worked on freeing the rest of the team.
"That's cheating!" Michele said before whacking me across the ass.
Everyone laughed.
Eventually Michaela called a halt. "Everyone freeze. What do we do so this doesn't go on all night?"
Michele whacked me again. "Tell Zoe to stop hitting me."
We went after each other, both of us
"All right," Michaela said. "We're playing a new form of freeze tag. This is team freeze tag. Nick and Michele, are you playing?"
"Sure," they both said.
"All right," Michaela said. "Each human is a team captain, and she is the team's freezer. We will pick a home base for each, forming a triangle. Anyone tagged by the freezer sits down, but you may be unfrozen if you are picked up by at least two members of your team and carried back to your base. You are also frozen if you are tagged by any freezer who is sitting down and has been sitting for at least thirty seconds, but you may move out of range of any other opponents before sitting down." She paused. "However, I'm pretty sure we're all capable of avoiding the humans, so I'm not sure how to make it just a little easier for them."
"Nerf sticks!" Angel called out. "Give them each a couple of Nerf sticks. And limit the playing area so it's a little crowded."
"And no intentional contact with another wolf," Serena suggested.
"So a team could corral members of the other team," Lara said. "That might skew it too much, but we can try it."
"If you do that," Angel said, "Make it a bigger area so there's probably a path to escape, but still not too big."
"Or," I said, "you have to touch each of the other team's bases periodically, but taggers shouldn't intentionally guard."
"Let's try Angel's initial suggestion and see how it goes for a few minutes," Michaela said. "Angel and Scarlett, please go collect six Nerf sticks."
They took off at a run. I stared after them. "So fast."
Portia chuckled.
"If this seems to be going on too long, we'll adjust," Michaela said. "If it's going too quickly, we'll take a Nerf stick away or something. I am intentionally splitting up couples. Portia, you are on Michele's team; Donald you're with Nick; Tara, you're with Zoe."
Portia kissed me then moved to stand with Michele. A moment later, Tara was standing next to me. "All right. Nick, pick."
"Lara."
"I'm with Zoe. Michele?"
"Elisabeth."
It took a few minutes to make teams. Angel and Scarlett returned carrying not only the Nerf sticks, but a bunch of other things as well. They began marking a large playing field, then some of the kids ran over to help them.
"How's this, Alpha?"
"Everyone into the field," she said. "We'll see."
We all moved onto the field. Michaela called for it to be a little larger, assigned our home bases, and then said, "Ready?"
"Ready!" everyone called out.
"Go!"
It was complete and utter chaos, but it only took twenty seconds before I was laughing as I swung my Nerf sticks around while trying to remember who was on my team.
I whacked Scarlett a couple of times, and she said, "Hey! I'm on your team."
The wolves were hard to catch, but then Michele and I found ourselves side by side and we began chasing after Nick's team members. We got about half of them before she and Nick turned on me and began chasing my members.
Everyone was laughing.
"If you do my whole team, then you'll never beat each other!" I called out.
And then I spun around and caught Lara as she tried to free one of her teammates, although others from her team would free her a few minutes later.
Michaela danced over to me. "I never said you couldn't help free people," she said. "Come on."
We freed Scarlett and Iris before Nick and Michele noticed what we were doing. And then I interfered, waving my Nerf sticks and whacking Nick and Michele while my teammates worked on freeing the rest of the team.
"That's cheating!" Michele said before whacking me across the ass.
Everyone laughed.
Eventually Michaela called a halt. "Everyone freeze. What do we do so this doesn't go on all night?"
Michele whacked me again. "Tell Zoe to stop hitting me."
We went after each other, both of us
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