Archiv für die Kategorie „Careless Corrigan“

CARELESS AND THE ROCKSLIDE

Careless climbed slowly into his jeep. It had been a long day exploring Cold Turkey Mountain, and he was tired. He was looking forward to getting back to his cabin and enjoying a shower and a good meal. But first he had to travel the 20 miles along the narrow, winding mountain road. It was a dangerous road, with a steep bank on one side and the mountain on the other. Knowing that the greatest danger was rockslide, he kept an eye on the mountain, watching for any unusual movement. He knew that it would just take one large rock to flatten his jeep and him with it. But there had been no rain in the past several days to loosen the rocks, so he was feeling quite safe. He had just opened the window to get some fresh air when a hornet flew in and landed on his arm. That’s when it happened. Distracted by the hornet, he took his eye off the mountain for just a moment. So he didn’t see the huge rock rolling down the mountainside towards him.

In pairs or small groups, think of ways to rescue Careless from this very dangerous situation.
Write down the best idea.

CARELESS AND THE DIAMONDBACK RATTLER

The beginning of his first canyoneering expedition was an awesome experience, even for a veteran adventurer like Careless. The moment he and Lily Swayne, the famous Texas canyoneer, first reached Wildwater Canyon, Careless was thrilled by the spectacular sights. On the other side of the canyon was a breath-taking waterfall, below a crystal clear stream. They had spent the first two days exploring the canyon and Lily complimented Careless for being such a good climber. Things didn’t go so well on the third day. Careless was hurrying to keep up with Lily when his climbing axe broke and he fell. He was lucky that a large bush cushioned his fall. His bad luck was that his leg got stuck in a hole and he couldn’t get it out. Fortunately, Lily saw what had happened and immediately started climbing down towards where he lay. She was still at least 50 feet above him when he heard an angry rattling sound. He turned and found himself looking into the cold eyes of an arm-thick Diamondback Rattler!

In pairs or small groups, discuss ways to rescue Careless from this difficult situation.

Write down the best idea and/or make a comic strip of this scene.

CARELESS AND THE WALL OF WATER

Careless was on the Zamboogie River, deep in the forests of Guatemala. It had been a very successful expedition. He had not only got some great film sequences of nearly extinct animals, he had also collected a number of rare plants and flowers. The weather had been hot and humid, typical of the region, but had suddenly changed. For the past two days there had been a steady rain. Careless decided to break off his expedition and return home the next day. He camped on the side of a hill that night, high above the river, which was rising by the hour. That night it rained harder than ever. When Careless woke the next morning he was startled to see that the river had risen to within a few feet of his camp. In another hour the camp would probably be under water, Careless realized. But by then he would be miles away, on his way back home. He was busy packing and didn’t really notice the sound at first. When he did, he thought it was the rumbling of a distant thunderstorm. Moments later, birds began to cry noisily. Suddenly, all kinds of animals came crashing through the bush running for the hills. Careless knew what was coming before he looked down the river, but what he saw was worse than he had imagined. A solid brown wall of water was rushing down the river, a flash flood! Within seconds it would reach our hero.

CARELESS AND THE WOLVERINE

Somewhere in the snow-filled hills of northern Alaska, Careless was hurrying to find a good place to camp before dark. ‘Mush!’ he cried. But it was no use. His dogs were dead tired. They had been pulling against a strong north wind for days. ‘It’s no use,’ Careless said to himself. ‘My dogs need a rest. I do, too. I’ve got to make camp now!’ Careless put up his tent. After feeding the dogs, he had something to eat himself and hung up the rest of the meat outside the camp. Then he crawled into his sleeping bag. He fell asleep immediately but was soon awakened by the loud barking of his dogs. Careless sat up and unzipped the flap of his tent. What he saw took his breath away. A huge wolverine was nearing the camp. It had smelled the meat and was coming after it! Crazy with excitement, the dogs were barking their heads off, trying to keep the wolverine away, but the wolverine had seen the meat now and headed straight for it. Careless was facing a no-win situation. If he let the wolverine take the meat, his dogs would have nothing to eat and would last only a few more days at best. If he tried to stop the wolverine from taking the meat, it would fight for it and wound or kill some of the dogs. Then Careless would have to give up his dog sled and go on by foot. Without food, he wouldn’t have a chance of getting back to base. It was still too far away. What could he do?

CARELESS AND THE POWER SAW GANG

‘BANG!’ Somewhere nearby a gun went off. Careless looked around and saw a group of men coming towards him. All of them were carrying power saws except for the big man at the front. He was carrying a gun. ‘Hey you! You with the camera!’ the big man shouted. ‘We don’t want people taking pictures around here. We’ve got work to do!’ Careless took a deep breath and waited until they came closer. Then, looking the big man in the eye, he said, ‘You’re not allowed to cut here, you know. These trees are protected by law. They’re giant redwoods!’ The big man let out a loud laugh. ‘We’ve got special permission, haven’t we, boys?’ He looked around at the others. They began to laugh, too. ‘Special permission? Show me your papers!’ Careless said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. The big man stepped up closer to him. ‘Here it is – our special permission,’ he said, pushing the gun into our hero’s face. ‘You can’t do this. I – ‘ Careless began to say. ‘Shut your mouth!’ The big man turned to his men with a crazy smile on his face. ‘Our friend here loves trees. Okay, so let’s tie him to a tree. He’ll like that!’ He and the others watched as two of the men dragged Careless to the nearest tree and tied him to it. Then the big man took one of the power saws and went around to the other side of the tree. Careless tried to turn but he couldn’t move. ‘This won’t take long, my friend,’ he heard the big man say just before he started up the power saw.

CARELESS AND THE WATERFALL

It was the final day of Careless’s expedition along the Appalachian Trail. His trusty horse, Laddy, was tired and moving slowly. That was okay with Careless, who was in no hurry. He was enjoying the view of the hills around him. Soon they came to a small river. Careless was sure that Laddy would be able to cross it easily. They had almost reached the middle of the river when it happened. Laddy stepped into deep water and horse and rider suddenly found themselves drifting downstream. Careless wasn’t worried at first. He and Laddy would get wet, which would be refreshing on such a warm day. They would just swim to the other side. No big deal. But almost at once they had come into fast water and like a giant hand it pushed the two of them along. As they neared a bend, Careless could hear a low, powerful noise. He recognized it immediately: it was the sound of a waterfall. Alarmed, Careless redoubled his efforts to reach shore, but the current still held him back. Laddy was stronger. He reached the riverbank and turned, looking at Careless sadly. The sound of the waterfall had grown into an angry roar, hissing like a hungry monster, waiting to snap up its next meal.

CARELESS AND THE RATTLESNAKE

Careless had enjoyed a wonderful day in one of his favorite places, the Soskogee Swamp. His head was full of the amazing sights and sounds he had experienced. It was time to make a campfire for the night. It would have to be a big one to keep away the swarms of mosquitoes and black flies through the night. He left the campsite and went off into the swamp looking for firewood. When he had gathering an armful of wood, he headed back to camp. On his way, he saw what looked like a perfect piece of firewood. As he was picking it up, it suddenly came alive! Careless had his hand on the biggest rattlesnake he had ever seen. Shocked, Careless made a bad mistake: instead of staying still, he tried to jump back. That was when the rattlesnake struck, sinking its teeth deep into our hero’s leg. He screamed out in pain and fell over backwards. When the first wave of shock was over, Careless did what he knew he had to do: he took out his knife and cut into the wound, making it bleed. Then he tied his bandana tightly around his leg just above the wound to stop the poison from getting to his heart. Finally, he got up, picked up his firewood, and started walking slowly towards camp. His main thought was to keep calm. He thought that if he was able to stay calm and keep moving, he had a good chance to get back to camp and take his snakebite syrup in time. The first few minutes he walked steadily, but then he began to feel strange, as if he had been drugged. He fought on but with every step his body grew heavier. He was within sight of his camp when he passed out and fell heavily to the ground.

CARELESS AND THE GRIZZLY BEAR

Careless and Linda were exploring the Powder River Valley. They had set up camp for the night. It was almost sunset, a perfect time to catch some fish for their evening meal. They went down to the river and began to fish, Linda in the fast water, Careless at the pool fifty yards further downstream. Suddenly, Linda hooked into a huge fish. It pulled so hard that she fell into the water. She tried to get to her feet but she didn’t have a chance in the strong current. It carried her down the river towards the pool below. That’s when Careless noticed her. He kicked off his boots and jumped into the water at once. A powerful swimmer, he reached her quickly. He came at her from behind and gently hooked his arms under hers. As he pulled her towards shore, he spoke to her softly. ‘You’re going to be okay,’ he said, again and again. And he believed what he was saying – until he turned his head to see how much further he had to go. What he saw took his breath away. It was a huge grizzly bear, fixing them with angry eyes.
Can you save Careless and Linda?

CARELESS AND THE NEW CHIEF

The Oswanees had captured Careless – again. Up to now, they had always let him go free after a few days. (The old chief had been keen on learning English for his export business – his wives (he had 33 of them) made bamboo hats – and he spent hours talking with Careless to improve his English. But the old chief had died and his eldest son had become the new chief. He was different from his father. He didn’t care
about selling hats or learning English, and had no interest in long conversations with Careless. He ruled his people with an iron hand. Careless had heard about him and knew that he should stay away from Oswanee
territory. The problem was, several species of rare animals could only be found there. Including the seldom-seen blue-and-white tiger. Careless had been following it for several days, getting nearer and nearer to it. In fact, he had only needed one more day to get close enough to take photos of it. He had just made camp for the night when a band of Oswanees discovered him and took him to their new chief. Careless smiled and started speaking English but the young chief simply shook his head and told him to shut up. Then he ordered his men to take Careless to a deep pit, a lion trap, and throw him in.
At the bottom of the deep, dark pit Careless felt helpless. Nevertheless, he managed to hang onto his hope that the chief would free him after a while. But as the days went by, he was beginning to lose that hope. Suddenly, he heard a loud noise above him. They had come to pull him out, after all. He smiled – for maybe a second. Then his smile froze as he watched a lion come flying through the air and land beside him!

CARELESS AND THE GOLDEN EAGLE

The moment Careless saw the Golden Eagle flying overhead, he jumped in his jeep and followed it. When it landed in a tree high up on a mountainside, he parked the jeep and continued on foot. The higher he climbed, the colder it became. Soon he was walking through snow. Without snowshoes, the going was tough and his feet grew wet and cold. Gritting his teeth, he went on, thinking it wasn’t much further. His
plan was to take some photos and hurry back down before the sun went down and it got really cold. He was so intent on sighting the eagle that he didn’t notice that it had started snowing. Before long, it was snowing heavily. When Careless finally got to where he had a good look at the eagle it was growing dark and his hands were so cold that he could hardly hold the camera steady. After taking several photos, he headed back down the mountain. He would have to hurry. He was shaking with cold and it was becoming more and more difficult to see in the growing darkness. For the next half hour he hurried through the snow, breathing heavily. Suddenly, he stopped.
His mouth fell open. In the snow in front of him he could see tracks! His own tracks! He had been walking in a circle!