"Come on guys, let's play peace!"

"How do we play peace?" my friends wondered.

"First we throw all our weapons on a big pile."

threw my branch on the ground. Jeroen followed with his plastic tube and darts. Joost had a water pistol. A new one, which he lay down very carefully. Armand had nothing, but managed to find a rock.

"There! It's peace."

"Now what?"

"Now we leave each other in peace. Everyone can do what he wants."

"Like what?"

"Whatever."

"But it was your turn to think of something! This is boring."

I saw my idea wasn't catching on. It needed a bigger gesture. Some more effect. A declaration? A march?

"Let's burn our weapons!"

That sparked some more enthusiasm (except with Joost, but he couldn't think of anything better.) For the rest of the afternoon, we played with fire. And by sunset, all of us smelled of smoke and were late for dinner. Except for Joost, who ran home crying with a smoldering water pistol in his arms. I hadn't played with him since.