ten feet off the ground
Meadows Ground Lake, in Pennsylvania, is a really beautiful,
calm lake that divides two towns. Northhardings and Aronsburg.
Both are nice, quaint little towns that any family would love to
settle down with. They have flourishing sports teams, kind citizens,
and an overall great environment to live in. The catch? Both towns
are rivals in just about everything, from their pageant beauty queens
to their cheer squads. For years they have been competing about
everything and anything, with the pranks getting a little more out
of hand every year. The teens from the local high schools are the
most enthusiastic participants in this rivalry, they are the ones that
started the now traditional rivalry week. Exactly one week before
the homecoming game, they do anything from vandalizing school
property, messing with the football players’ cars, and even stealing
the other team’s equipment. The rivalry has been going on for so long,
it’s become a part of the daily life of the Northharding and Arounsburg
residents. No one questions it, they simply hate the other town with
passion.
It was a quiet, sunny day in Aronsburg, much like any other summer
day. People were out on the lake shores, or shopping, or visiting
neighbors. Nothing out of the ordinary. At exactly two o’clock, the floor
started shaking. First it was an almost imperceptible movement, making
the chandeliers and crystal bowls tremble. But after twenty minutes
the tremor escalated, making bookshelves smash to the floor, light poles
fall down in the middle of the street and people run outside in terror. By
the time the clock signaled three pm, the whole thing was over, leaving a
trail of destruction and panic wherever you looked. Almost all houses and
other constructions were destroyed, several people were trapped under
fallen walls, and several more were injured. The town was a mess, and for
two full days people wondered whatever would they do. Then, the mayor,
Albert Johnson, came to a sad but needed agreement with the Northharding
mayor, and it was decided that all the survivors would become a part of
the Northharding society. Many complained, others refused, and many
more protested, but as the mayor explained, there wasn’t much else to do.
Rebuilding everything would take years, and people needed roofs under their
heads, food, and jobs. And so, the Aronsburg residents moved across the
lake to the intact rival town, where they had soon settled down with houses,
jobs, and school.
Both sides of the lake were rather disgruntled with the whole deal, and
tensions soon arose between the old Northharding folks and the new
residents. Fights broke out, people were teased and bullied at the local
high school, and neighbors hardly spoke a word to one another. But the
biggest problem? Trying to merge two very similar societies of young people
into one. Both towns had a queen bee, a football captain, a beauty queen,
etc. How to decide who would have to step down, and who would keep their
title? All the people involved felt like they had every right to remain in the
previous position, the Aronsburg teens complained that they had lost
everything in the earthquake, and so deserved to keep at least one part
of their lives intact, whereas the Northhardings teens demanded things
to remain the same for them, since it wasn’t their fault the earthquake had
happened and thus didn’t have to pay for what had happened. The situation
is being discussed by parents and teachers alike, but in the meantime,
the school year has started and all the angry teens have to walk the halls
with the enemy, take class with the enemy, and eat lunch with the enemy.
Things are bound to go crazy eventually, it’s only a matter of time before
someone looses it and the conflict turns into a full-out war.
New year. New tensions. Strategies change, lines become blurry.
Welcome to Northharding, we hope you enjoy your stay!
welcome to northhardings, pennsylvania!
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