My name is Darren Weidenhammer. I am fourteen and I love paintball. I live outside of Reading, Pennsylvania in an area called Pine Hill. I recently started playing only this year. A police officer, whose son I play with, generously opened a 2-acre area, which we use as our main field. There is a winding dirt road about 20 feet wide with a creek on one side and thick woods on the other. I remember the first time I went there. I bought a Spider Sonix Kit for $211 from a local store a week before. I foolishly wore only one layer of clothing. A pair of tight jeans and a camouflage jacket, that's it. As an initiation, I was forced to stand 20 yards down the road and take one shot from one of my friends. I was shot in the hip, but the jeans helped soften the blow. NOT! I dropped like a stone from the severe shock of pain. When I stood up I noticed every one was gone. I was alone on the road out of 10 kids. I heard a loud rustle of branches as they came out of the woods behind me. Someone said to me,"It's time for a man hunt, start running!" With that, I took off. They gave me 20 seconds to hide in the forest. I was warned about this previously from my good friend. I was well aware of the rules. Once my time was up they had 5 minutes to find me and shoot me. If they succeeded, I would have to play a two-on-one game with the person who shot me and someone else. If I remained hidden and manage to not be shot I would get to play a three-on-one match with two teammates and a victim of my choice. Somehow, I managed to remain hidden under a fallen tree. I passed up the three-on-one game because we were running short on time. So instead, we played a five-on-five forest game. The teams were: Sam Goushe, an excellent marksmen and leader; Jared Fisher, a novice like myself; Josh Carolson, a quasi maniac but aggressive player; Eric Devine, an impatient but excellent hider; and myself. Versus: Kirk Devine, who likes to move around but some how manages to not get shot; Kyle McKecknie, sort of a jack of all trades when it comes to paintball; Chris Heckler, not too sure about him cause he never lasts too long; Little Steve, a great player with a short temper; and Ryan Haas, sort of a hide and stay hidden type of guy, but he comes through in the end most times. 
It was my first real game and I had no clue what to do. Josh and Eric went into the woods and up a bit so that we had some sort of an offense. Sam went across the creek and onto the hill as our look-out/sniper. Which left Jared and I to stay back a little to cover the team?s flank. I stayed about 5 feet into the woods behind some brush, and Jared took cover deeper in the woods behind a wide tree. It wasn't long at all that we heard the first shots of the game, I was so ready for my first encounter I was sweating. I looked up the hill to Sam. He used the silent hand code we developed and told me that two opponents were coming foolishly up the road. I relayed the message to Jared and moved closer to the road to see if I could get a good shot. Jared did likewise and moved behind a bush about 25 yards ahead of me. Chris and Kyle spotted Jared but not Sam and I. They opened up on him and not much later I heard shouts of pain. They shot him on the shoulder and in the forehead. His sacrifice was not a total lost cause, because it managed to give enough of a distraction to advance Sam up for a closer shot. I noticed that they were heading in to the woods so I had to stop them. I jumped out of hiding, ran across the road, and dove in to the bank of the creek. They saw me and did likewise to gain some cover. I then realized that I was pinned down, there was no bridge where I was and the only way to go was back across the road. Fortunately for me they were only 8 feet away from my eye-in-the-sky, Sam. He shot at least 30 rounds at them hitting them each six times in the back. I ran back to my original position. I was awaiting the sound of shooting from our offense, Josh and Eric. I didn't know it but they somehow managed to get through the opposing team and set up behind them. I heard movement in front of me, about 30 feet away. I foolishly peeked up totally exposing my position. They all saw me and I knew it. Steve was in front of me about 10 yards away, Ryan was 50 yards to my right, but Kirk was nowhere to be found. After 10 long minutes of a bombardment of fire I still had taken no shots so my hopper was totally full. I heard that awkward sound you hear when someone shoots but no paint comes out. It was Stevey, he ran out of paint! That wasn't the only good thing though, Ryan thought he would be sneaky and belly crawl behind some brush to get a better shot at me. But I could easily see him. I stood up and rapidly pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. I dropped down to inspect my gun. Oh Man! The safety was on! I wasted a perfect opportunity and I lost track of Ryan. I turned to run across the road but I plowed into what I thought was a tree. I was wrong; it was Kirk! I could see that he was surprised at my stupidity, but not for long. All I could see then was pink paint. He unloaded an unbelievable amount of paint balls at me. Sixty rounds is my estimate. He apparently wiped out our entire offense and shot Sam in the back. So we lost and we decided to call it a day. That night I looked at myself in the mirror, it looked like I had ringworm. 47 welts from one game; that has got to be some sort of record. I have learned a great deal from then on the art of paintball. I wear a lot more layers, I make sure my safety is off, and I wear a cup now. You can contact Darren at: Drizztdjw@aol.com
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