Here's our opening "and then" story from the 2002 Ropes Retreat at Camp Lael:


Once upon a time,
there was a large, beautiful castle on the lake.  Prince Charming said to his princess perfect that he was producing ATP and ADP as they conversed, and also breaking down enzymes.  This threw the princess into a jealous rage.  She wanted to do all that fun stuff too!
And then,
the Dragon was revealed as Mr. Biggs, saying, "I would have gotten away with it, if it wasn't for you pesky kids and your dog, too!"
And then,
the raccoon ran rapidly through our radical home in the woods, while we chased it, banging pots and pans and singing and dancing to "Jesus was a cool dude."
And then,
a man came and said, "hello," but he was no friendly man. In fact, he was a mean and cruel man.  So God decided to strike him down.  Then God came down as a little cane toad and was squashed by a crazy mad man.
And then,
the banana pudding slowly stood up out of its bowl.  Quaking in abject terror, the entire box of vanilla wafers could do nothing but sit, waiting for the inevitable.
And then,
in these hard times he stood up and declared, "There's an old saying in Texas ... Tennessee too ... shame on ... shame on ... the point is, we won't get fooled again."  Just then, Jiminy Cricket busted through the door.
And then,
they cut down the old pine tree, and they hauled it away to the mill to make a casket of pine for that sweetheart of mine; oh, they cut down the old pine tree.
And then,
they went down by the bay, where the watermelons grow, back to their home they dare not go.  So today in band after Ross and his fellow choralers left, Mr. Sneezeland stood on his box and said, "Well that went fairly well, though I did mess up a few times."  In the silence that followed such a rambunctious comment by our shuper duper band teacher, Theresa goes, "Doooi!"  Whoa.  Who could've said such a thing? Silly Theresa!  So then we forgot to brush our teeth so we went outside and used sparkly breathsavers.  But when we woke in the morning, our breath was flavorful!  Go Home!
The End.
Last Update: 28 October 02