Interlude- Brandon by Terry Schott

slower they would have collided. Easton was a fast climber but he knew he would need every second if he was going to make it to the top of the tree. There had been just one touch which meant he only had 15 seconds to do it.
    “Nine…” Kay called out. Easton was already on the third rung and smiling. This was going to be cake.
    “Twelve…” Kay called said as Easton climbed to the platform on the top of the tree. He grinned wearily as the others cheered loudly for his success.
    After a few moments Easton stood up to view the rest of the field. Somehow the fourth team had captured two trees. That left them tied once Brandon’s group captured their two trees. The kids from the other team had activated their tree and their minute on the ground had already expired. They walked off the field, looking curiously at Brandon, Kay, and Alan standing near the wall.  
    Brandon nodded to Kay and she jumped up to grab a rung. She swung from one to the next and the colours changed as she did so. A Red one became blue and then she grabbed a green and jumped back down to the ground. All the rungs changed colour like Easton said they would, the green one turned grey and the rung disappeared into the wall when Kay let go of it.
    “The walls and rungs aren’t slippery.” She reported to the others.
    “Good,” Alan said. He turned around and nodded to the two in the tree tops. Both Tony and Easton touched their wraps to the glowing orb and a chime sounded, announcing their trees were captured.
    Alan, Kay, and Brandon jumped up onto the rungs and began to climb.
    Kay pulled ahead of the boys, zipping along the rungs like a monkey as she headed away from them in the direction of the closest tree. It took her only a few moments until she was hanging as close as she could get to an unclaimed tree. She gauged the distance and started to swing back and forth. When her swinging feet almost touched the ceiling she let go and sailed outwards. It looked like she wouldn’t make the edge of the tree, but at the last moment she pumped her legs and arms and managed to somehow grab onto the lip of the platform. Everyone, including the other teams sitting in their tree tops, cheered as she stood up and waved with a grin on her face. Kay put both hands on the globe and the chime sounded again. They had three trees!
    Everyone now focused on Brandon and Alan. Alan was in the lead and climbing carefully; picking rungs that would not disappear when he touched them so that Brandon could follow him. They made their way slowly to another tree. Alan was too big to swing onto a tree like Kay; she had barely made it and she was the best acrobat on the team. Brandon was simply too short to get the needed distance.
    Alan got as close as he could to a tree and he called out to Brandon to hold on a second. Then he made certain his grip was as tight as it could be and he nodded to Brandon. “Okay, let’s do this,” he said.
    “All right,” Brandon said. He began to swing like Kay had done. When he was swinging as hard as he could he launched himself towards Alan. There was no way he could have made it to the tree, but he managed to make it to Alan and grab hold of his legs tightly. Alan grunted from the added weight but he managed to hold on to the rungs. “Damn, you’re heavier than you look,” he said to Brandon. “Don’t take too long for the next swing, or we’ll fall.”
    The boys were about fifteen feet in the air. The floors were padded, but they would most likely get hurt if they fell on top of each other.
    Brandon used the momentum from his jump to keep swinging. Alan helped by rocking his legs to match the motion. Three quick pumps and Brandon let go of Alan’s legs and sailed towards the closest tree. His speed was perfect.
    Brandon landed lightly in the centre of the platform, bending his legs slightly and touching one hand on the platform to stop himself from falling forward.
    The kids cheered as he stood up and looked around the