Beware of Flicka!!

Today I want to start off by talking about kids. A lot of the upcoming posts are going to feature my thoughts about children and their behaviors, mainly because kids are affecting my life the most right now. I am currently working as a counselor at a children's summer camp, taking care of eight wonderful but rambunctious 5-year olds. It's a lot of fun and a lot of work, but what really strikes me is the way the 5-year old mind works. It's been a long time since I was 5 and god knows how i thought back then, so I see it as a case study into the young boy's psyche.

My kids are incredibly curious. And every day is like opposite day taking care of them, especially with things that can hurt them. For some reason, when kids are told that something is dangerous, they are instantly attracted to that thing and must touch it BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY!! For example, we have geese that patrol the grounds, picking up scraps the lunch hour has left behind. These geese are homicidal, and I have heard a story of an agitated goose taking a chunk out of a counselor's leg. No joke. So it's obvious that we tell the kids to stay away from the geese, as well as the miniature pony the kids get to ride, spiders, mosquitoes, and various other outdoor pests. And yet, the kids have to, nay, MUST approach said creatures and poke and/or scream at them. Mmmmm, what a delicious recipe for disaster.

When I was a kid, I loved animals. But I was scared to death of certain animals, and ironically they were the ones that I shouldn't have been afraid of. Like dogs. Sure, I grew up hearing stories of dalmatians and rottweilers tearing their owners apart, and that played a huge part of it. But it wasn't until I was a little older and saw Kujo on TV that the fear was imprinted for a long time. Mind you, I've had a dog now for almost 9 years and I love pets completely. But Stephen King's story about a rabies-crazed St. Bernard, the patron dog saint of rescues and little barrels of liquor, that goes apeshit on a family trapped in their car just freaked. me. out.

Which brings me to the Idea of the Day! Remember the miniature pony that lives at our camp? Let's make a Kujo movie about this pony that just goes Bloodsport all over this town. That's right, I'm expanding the location. If zombies can ravage a village, a tiny horse that loves the taste of human flesh can too, dammit. And the horse will be so cute, no one will expect that Black Beauty over here is capable of being an extra in a George A. Romero flick. No one that is, except the unusually handsome lead male who leads a group of frat guys and cheerleaders and ONE nerd with a heart of gold (guess who survives? Go on, guess.) into the center of town to derail the ponyzombie express.

Why make this movie, you may ask? Because I want to scare my campers into behaving around horses. Simple as that. I mean, seriously. If the horse guy says, don't run up to the horse, he could trample you, do you run up to the horse? I don't think so. And I don't blame the ignorance on their age. There is a cutoff point for getting away with not listening, and it is way before the age of 5. In conclusion, if Kujo can cause me to be wary around big, unleashed dogs for years, I'm pretty sure Flicka the Demon Horse (working title) can do the same for these kids. And that is the Idea of the Day.

P.S.: Challenge time for my readers! Help come up with a name for the greatest zombie pony movie of all time. That's the one mentioned above, if you skipped to the P.S. so you could feel special. Flicka the Demon Horse is nice, but it doesn't have the right ring to it. I pass the gauntlet onto you!