GoT Poems and Stories

56. This is your first time camping...

The very first time I went camping in California, Jodi wanted to rough it to show everyone back home she can do it. I, on the other hand, was unsure about this decision, but always went along with whatever she decided, not wanting to look like a scared ninny. I look back at our experience, and think I should have put up more of a fuss.

What were we thinking! Both of us being young, inexperienced, but impeccably brave to go where no one else dared to trod. We thought we knew everything there was to know about surviving outdoors. I mean, I’ve read books, plus, Jodie went camping with her family. Boy, were we in for a surprise!

The first night, Jodi and I learned about flash-flooding the hard way. Our first mistake was setting up our tent in a low area that, in our minds, we thought it was perfect. What can I say, being a greenhorn when camping, you learned from your mistakes. Everything was going along smoothly as we cooked our hamburger over a campfire, and ate them with potato chips. Our stomachs satisfied, we crawled into our tent, and fell asleep without any problem.

The next morning, Jodi's screaming woke me up. Breathing hard, I asked. "What's wrong? Wait ... I hear water running, there's no creeks nearby."

Jodi was kneeling by the unzipped tent opening, her eyes wide. "There's about an inch and a half of water out there!"

"Hey, our supplies!" I scrambled to get dressed, and sloshed through the water on the hunt for our supplies. Toni stayed behind to take down the tent before it got any wetter, and wrapped it around the hood of the Jeep Cherokee to dry.

I found most of our supplies caught up on tree roots, and gathered them together. Needless to say, they were soaking wet, but I was happy that nothing was lost. After that we stored everything in the vehicle. I felt very lucky, knowing it could have been worse; so, after that little experience, we always checked the radio for flash-flood warnings.

Both Jodi and I loved ghost towns, so we decided to check out Bodi, California. “Jodi, shall we check out Bodi?" I quipped.

"Sure, but I've heard rumors about this ghost town, but don't believe them. I think it's their way of selling the intrigue of the place. ‘Just come and check us out’ kind of thing."

After we ate our breakfast of bacon and eggs, we cleaned up the campsite, and took off. The town of Bodie was around eighty-five miles away, and we wanted enough daylight to check it out.

We arrived at our destination around two o'clock, set up camp, and made something to eat. "Are you ready to set out and investigate our first ghost town site?" I looked over at Jodi who was reading the pamphlet on it.

"Hmm, they're saying here that people have been known to die here during the gold rush. That their ghost still walk these parts." Jodi looked up to see my expression. "I guess the ones who steal took the ones who came to seek their gold, and killed them. Yes, I can see gold doing that to a person."

"Yeah, well, I think it's all hype. Lets get going and check out our first mysterious ghost town."

Jodi and I walked carefully passed the saloon, the jail, the other shops that were lined up along the street. When nothing out of the ordinary popped up at us, we both breathed a huge sigh of relief. As we crossed the street to go down the other side, we heard a crash behind us. "It came from that old bar over there." Jodi pointed. "Want to find out what fell?"

"No! It could be a cranky ghost, and I do not care to check out the inside of any of these buildings." I kept walking towards to the bank, and was ready to peek inside, when Jodi screamed.

"What now?" I turned towards her.

"I saw a face of a woman staring at me. She's still there, see ... Look up at that second story building. That's where the noise came from, above the bar.

I looked up, and saw the woman before she disappeared in thin air. "Okay, all the hype is true. No more looking, and lets get back to our camp site. They say if you see one, you may see more."

"That mice, silly! But I agree, I've had enough!" Jodi said.

They both turned to walk back to their campsite when the door to the bar opened and closed. Shadows were appearing in the street, soon afterwards, all the doors to the other establishments were opening and closing on their own, and more shadows appeared.

"The spirits are angry about something." I whispered, picking up my pace. "Let's get out of here!" Feeling a sudden chill down her back, I picked up my jog into a full run back to the jeep.

Climbing behind the wheel, "I don't know about you, but I don't think that we should camp here for the night."

"We could sleep in the jeep, just don't put up the tent, then we can make a fast get-a-away if anything happens."

"That's true, we're out of town, they won't come out this far, whoever they are; anyway. ghost are known to stay where they died."

"Well then, we're safe, tomorrow is a brand-new day, and start early in the morning to our new destination." Jodi said, looking through the color for something quick to eat, and found some left-over ham sandwiches. "I wonder what happened in Calico, our next stop. I like to look through ghost towns and make up my own story. Bodi already their ghost story, and it's a doozy."

"I know, it was one of the gold towns that sprung up or expanded from the people looking for gold. I suppose a lot of murders happened."

They listened to the quiet night sound outside the vehicle, as they ate their sandwiches. Rolling up their windows, they crawled into the backseat to find their sleeping bags. I handed Jodi hers, and she flipped the seat back so it was flat. We both lay down to sleep, feeling more protected than we did the first night.

Around midnight, I woke up to someone holding me down, trying to suffocate me. I fought against the powerful hands, waking Jodi up. "What the ..."

The second night of camping, and I thought I was going to die. Just when I was ready to black out, whoever was holding me down let go. "Who in the hair-raising blazes was that?" I choked out.

"Phew! What is that smell? Do you smell it? It smells as if somebody died in here."

"Jodi, I almost died, and you're wondering about their smell!" I smelled it too, and put my hand over my nose. "Do ghost smell? Maybe they keep their death stink with them."

We looked out the window and spotted the shadow of something big lurking in the bushes. "What do you think that is now? I'm crawling behind the wheel and we're out of here. This place is too scary with all their weird happenings."

Jodi was spraying Febreze around, helping us stand the smell. "Yes, I agree, let's go. I don't want to be the next one to get choked."

I nodded, and turned forward, ready to start the car, when I heard some low rumblings that was circling the jeep, I wondered. “Jodi, we're not alone!”

"Huh?" Jodi turned towards me just when something jumped onto the hood of the vehicle. A mountain lion looked in at us. “This is the last straw! Throw your unfinished sandwich out the window, and let's hope he go for it.”

Jodi did what I asked her to. The mountain lion jumped down to get it, and I started the car, and took off at record speed.

“I don’t know about you, Jodi, but I’ve had enough thrills for the night. I’m driving to Las Vegas where there are city lights, and people. Real people that I can see coming, so I can ward them off.”

1371 Words