Photo byKeren FedidaonUnsplash

Once upon a time in the jolly old state of Illinois, land of Lincoln and the world's finest deep-dish pizza, a plucky group of kids had a thrilling adventure on the wild waters of Lake Michigan. They were not your ordinary Illinoisans, oh no! They were the Windy City Windsurfers, and they had an enchanted sail named Wally the Wave-Wrangler. Wally was a jester of the sea, always telling tall tales about the days when he was just a wee handkerchief, fluttering in the prairie breeze. His favourite jokes were so corny, they'd make even the cornfields of Illinois blush! But when it came to windsurfing, Wally was as serious as a deep-dish pizza without cheese. The windsurfers were a motley crew of adventure-seekers, from Chicago to Champaign, and every small town in between. There was Fearless Frankie, who could ride the biggest waves without blinking an eye. Little Lisa, so small that she could fit into a corn husk, but with a heart as mighty as the Mississippi. And don't forget Billy the Bookworm, who could decipher Wally's wind directions faster than you could say, "Chicago-style hot dog". Every weekend, the Windy City Windsurfers and Wally would meet at the lake's edge, ready to ride the waves and wrestle the wind. With their windsurf boards beneath their feet and Wally's jester's cap billowing above, they would laugh in the face of the fiercest gales, riding the winds with all the gusto of a Chicago bull charging down the court. And though they were all different, these windsurfing kids had one thing in common- they knew there was no adventure too big for a kid from Illinois with a sail, a board, and a whole lot of courage. And maybe a slice or two of that world-famous deep-dish pizza.