Paddle to the Sea
I was launched in the Sandhill River on a cool spring day.
I wafted through the river smoothly like a bird flying through the air.
I could no longer see the place where I was launched.
I could see birds and squirrels through the budding tree leaves.
I was going through the muddy shallow spring water,
so shallow that I got stuck in the mud!
I could see frogs crawling out of their muddy dens among the horse tails.
I could smell the fresh spring air.
FLASH! After three days passed, there was a storm.
The rain was pelting down.
The animals all left and the beautiful monarch butterflies hid under the sticky milkweed leaves.
The rain flooded the rivers,
rapids and waves picked me up aggressively
and flipped me over and over again.
The storm had passed and everything was calm.
I had made it to Beltrami.
I could smell the crisp fall air.
In the distance I could see the deer eating corn.
The moon was out,
I could hear the wolves howling like the wind on a dark stormy night.
I had traveled far,
I was in the Red River!
I had made it to the peaceful Lake Winnipeg.
It had taken me 6 years, but I had completed my journey to the sea.
I see dolphins gliding smoothly past me, and polar bears on islands!
I had reached my goal!
I am paddle to the sea.