-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
This mystery cache will help you explore your creative writing talent. The goal is for everyone to contribute to the story by writing several sentences. Please read the rules before you log your find. The cache is a cookie tin covered by camoflage duct tape.
Rules to claim the cache:
1. Read the story beforehand.
2. Take two words from the cache and use them to add to the story online. Please list the words you chose at the beginning of your log.
3. Claim the cache as a find on this website. If two or more people visit the cache on the same day, the order of authors is determined through who writes the first log. Your post functions as a “place holder” until the previous person adds to the story.
4. Once it is your turn, write a couple of sentences. You must post the sentences in the online cache log within two days or your ‘find’ will be deleted. You may re-submit the cache as a ‘find’ once you are ready to contribute to the story.
5. Your writing should follow the previous storyline.
6. No sentence should have a rating higher than PG-13.
7. Neither the cacher nor any companions can die.
8. Have fun!
***********************************************************
Thanks to traeumer for letting me use his idea. Please see his cache, GCMY41, Storyboard: Nebit the Gnome.
***********************************************************
The story as of May 15 (please check the logs for further updates before you add to it)
One day the intrepid cacher decided to tackle the hardest cache in the area, The Continuing Story. He loaded his pack with everything he thought might be needed to complete the arduous trek. He consulted his maps and GPS and set off in a westerly direction. The first thing he saw was......
a lot of dodder covering the ground when he got near the area. "Dodder" as you may know is tiny, leafy, vine type plants. Our heroic geocacher stumbled around a bit and got caught in this dodder on his way into the woods. Just as he pulled himself free of it, he heard accordian music in the distance. More specifically it was "Roll Out The Barrel" that was playing. He turned to decipher where this music was coming from, when suddenly he turned to find....
the Brat Guy travel bug jump out from the underbrush playing his accordian. The geocacher couldn't stand the sound of the music and was so annoyed with it. In fact, the cacher thought the music was so pathetic, that he.......
gave the Brat guy a lecture on the finer points of accordian playing. The brat guy said, "thanks, now I can earn a living playing accordian on the streets!", and he scampered off. The intrepid cacher continued on and came to a fork. On the left was a muddy path along a narrow ledge with snakes slithering and spiders crawling as well as much thunder and lightning. On the right, the path led to a paradise of rainbows, bunnies, chocolate bark, beautiful music and sunshine. This presented a dilemma - right or left? He knew which way he wanted to go, but was it too good to be true? He decided to consult the GPS and it told him to...
take the road with the spiders and all the other creepy things that just gave him a knot in his stomach. He gulped and sucked in his gut and ran through the hordes of creepy crawlers and could feel things as slimy as Jell-O rubbing up against his arms. He boldly made it through and wouldn't you know it joined with the other road..another junction to decide on. This time....
This time he would go left. Left? No, he wants to go right! Being confused, he decided to find a shelter and think about it overnight. The shelter was very tiny and looked like a hut. He walked around inside and found a Cache's To-Do calendar. The calendar was showing April 11th and the Continuing Story cache. He laid down and fell asleep right away and began to dream.
The intrepid cacher dreamed of being the first finder at the Continuing Story cache. He dreamed of how magnificent it would be to be able to do the legendary First Finder Dance and sing the First Finder Song. "He did the dance, he did the first finder dance. First finder dance, it was a caching smash..." He awoke suddenly, realizing at once which way to go at the junction. He left the hut and turned right. After walking a while he happened upon a hopscotch course. It had been years since he had played. So he reached for a nearby stone and...
he began playing hopscotch. What had started out as a quick game turned into a marathon session of hopscotch. He played so long that he developed a blister on his throwing hand. He decided to call it quits and get back to caching. He no longer heard music but noticed just ahead a peculiar looking flag. It was unlike any he had seen before...
...The flag was square and red and swayed back and forth in the brisk breeze. It was attached to a metal rod which was attached to a wooden plank by a spring. As he approached closer he noticed there was ice beneath his hiking boots. Closer yet he saw a spool attached to the plank which was spinning wildly. Fearing that all the yarn would be lost he grasped the device, jerked stoutly, and began to recover the yarn hand over hand. But something was tugging back and he pulled. Eventually he was able to pull a huge toothed fish through the hole in the ice. Shortly thereafter, while enjoying a large bowl of fish goulash, a monsterous scream rang out: "I'M GOING TO OBLITERATE".......
"YOUR GPS". He was traumitized. He could not live without it. He geocached night and day. "PLEASE SPARE ME MY GPS. IT IS MY LIFE", he exclaimed and threw the remaining goulash at the monster. The sticky smelly goulash on the monster broke the magical spell. The monster transformed back into a beautiful princess. "You saved me" praised the princess "As a reward I shall take you to the land of neverending unlimited cheeseburgers and chocolate shakes". He would never be hungry again. So they started down the trail to the land of neverending cheeseburgers and chocolate shakes, when they heard a low rumbling buzzing overhead. Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! 7 foot mosquitos. He knew better than to go near a cache by a swamp in the summertime.
As the 7 foot mosquitoes began to attack, the intrepid cacher's mind began to race. What could he possibly have to fend off the mosquitoes. He quickly started to dig through his caching bag, knowing he had some bug repellent. What is this? Diapers, wipes, and Cheerios!! The intrepid cacher, who normally caches with his 19 month old son, had grabbed the diaper bag instead of his caching bag. Click! He grabbed, the freshly laundered, baby blanket and shielded himself and the princess with it. The mosquitoes stopped attacking and flew away. As every cacher knows the scent from drier sheets clogs the mosquito's wings, thus rendering them unable to fly. Having just been washed and dried the blanket had a powerful Mountain spring scent. Just then the Prince appeared, knowing the mosquitoes taste for pure blood, he figured the Princess was near by. The intrepid cacher was presented with a compass that had been in the royal family for centuries. He gratefully accepted the gift and headed on his way. Pocketing the compass and preferring to use the technology of his Garmin GPS, he went back to the fork and started trekking to the right when…
he noticed that the trail was now bordering lowland swamp area containing many skunk cabbage. He felt lucky not to have to go bushwacking through that area. The trail led to a more hilly area, switched back and forth climbing gradually to an overlook at the top of a steep hill. After taking a break to enjoy the view, he continued on the trail which suddenly disappeared among loose rocks. One misstep and he suddenly found himself sliding/rolling downhill only to be stopped by a thick patch of thistle and prickly thorn bushs. Basically unharmed except for tears to his clothes and scratches and scrapes, he realized that he had dropped his GPSr during the fall and now must...
...How will I ever be able to deliver the message the Princess carries to it's intended recipient? I remember that I must get to some sort of grand party in a large southern city and find the local socialite who purports to be the reigning "Belle of the ball". Now, think, WHICH city?
Just then a sage appeared. She walked with grace and the intrepid cacher thought, "could this qualify as a sign?" The intrepid cacher knew from experience that cachers look for signs. Cachers know to convert a negative experience into a positive experience, positive energy must be expressed. The intrepid cacher knew that he could convert the recent negative experiences into a postiive experience by looking for the good in it. So...
The cacher pulled out the compass the Prince had gave him. He spun around to get his bearings and found a cartouche in a rock to the southwest. The rock bore the geocaching symbol. "Hmmm..." he thought to himself, "this is too easy." But he had to check it out. He proceeded posthaste to the rock and turned it over. There was nothing there accept...
...except a clump of magic mushrooms in the shape of an arrow pointing east. Off in that direction, far in the distance, he heard a strangely familiar tune. Before trekking east, the Cacher grabbed a handful of the Magic Mushrooms. He recalled how SEDATE they made him feel at the YONDER Mountain String Band concert he attended last fall. Off he went, following the arrow east...
...As he headed east for what seemed like hours, he noticed a slight path wandering up a hill to what looked like a cave. "I'm bushed," he thought to himself. "Maybe this might be a place for me to rest awhile." As he got closer to the cave entrance he noticed that it looked occupied. Indeed, at that instant, out shuffled a slightly-built old man, a monk if he was to guess, who smiling and bowing announced: "I have been expecting you! It is time for you to learn the secret, mystical ways of the GPS receiver...are you ready to be rescued from the ignorant old ways?" Nodding yes, the Intrepid one entered the cave....
... to find three other geocachers sitting around a fire. The keeper of the cave asked the intrepid cacher to join the others for a GPS education to remember. The keeper of the cave then explained that the location they seek is ...
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ba gur jrfg fvqr bs gur ovttrfg qbjarq gerr, arne gur gbc.
1. Lbh pna pbawhtngr gur ireof nal jnl lbh jnag.
2. Lbh pna hfr gur jbeqf nf qvssrerag cnegf bs fcrrpu, v.r., abhaf, ireof, nqwrpgvirf, rgp.
2. Vs lbh qba’g xabj jung n cnegvphyne jbeq zrnaf, ybbx vg hc.
3. Urer ner fbzr fhttrfgvbaf vs lbh qba’g xabj jung gb jevgr:
n. Gurl zrrg n arj sevraq.
o. Gurl tb gb na vaa gb ohl sbbq.
p. Gurl svaq fbzrguvat zntvpny.
q. Gurl qvfpbire n ybat ybfg sevraq.