The Scary Camping Trip

Although the ride to Timber National Forest only amounted to a ten minute drive, once the Green gang hit the path in the midst of the forest it seemed like they were riding to infinity. Kenny, the father and leader of the pack, began to have second thoughts about choosing to set up camp tonight. Initially his decision to come out was because he thought the night sky was well lit by a full moon. This had been a long, anticipated trip. Kenny was finally able to take time off simultaneously with the boys’ school break so it was actually going to happen.

Down the path, the tall lanky trees surrounded them like bars of a jail cell. Kenny imagined them coming alive and lunging at the SUV to swallow it up. The path grew more windy and bleak with every foot traveled deeper into the forest. Kenny was in search of the perfect spot to set up camp, so he kept driving deeper into the woods.

Kenny had sensed that the boys had not expected this scenery as their excited banter and singing grew into silent stares out the window with every mile they rode further down the forest path. Mission accomplished! Kenny’s perfect spot surfaced. The boys became at ease again. The Green gang’s excitement re-emerged as they were ready to set up camp.

“Okay, boys, I called your mother to let her know that we have arrived. You think this is a good spot?”

“Yeah!” They exclaimed in unison.

“Okay then let’s unload the truck,” Kenny responded.

For this to be a new experience for them they set up in no time.

“Dad can we go look for more wood to start the fire?” Damon asked.

“Why? It’s not cold," Kenny responded.

“No, I’m hungry. I’m ready to roast marshmallows and hot dogs for a late night snack,” said Damon.

“Yeah, me too. Can we go find the lake, Dad?” Asked Brandon.

“It’s too dark to fish," Kenny said.

“I know but at least we will know where the lake is in the morning so we can get up to go fishing without disturbing your sleep, Dad,” Brandon said.

“I don’t know about you boys going off by yourselves. Even though we are not too far from home we still don’t know this forest well enough. It’s bigger than you think. You could get lost and end up two or three towns over upon exiting,” Kenny responded skeptically.

“Oh come on, Dad, I’m fourteen now. Remember I used to camp out here for Boy Scouts three times a year?” Damon pleaded.

“Okay, I’ll tell you what. Tonight I’ll go with you all to gather wood in order to get a feel for this place and determine if you all can handle being out there by yourselves. If I find that it is okay, then Damon, you are in charge. If I am not up by 8:30 in the morning, then you may take your brothers fishing,” Kenny resolved. “Kennison, Brandon, you will stay with and listen to your brother. He’s the oldest, therefore in charge,” Kenny pointed and spoke adamantly.

Not long after the Green gang left to collect wood for the campfire, Kenny did not realize how eerie it felt being in the dark night air with his closest shelter or sense of security being a tent. The air was warm. The sky was pitch black. The thin crescent moon did no justice to lighting up the night’s sky. Plus, there were few stars scattered in the sky.

“So much for that full moon,” Kenny said sarcastically to himself as he glanced up at the sky.

The ground was soft and mushy. Kenny could not help but to think that at any minute now the gang was going to fall into a pit trap. It was like being in one of those cheesy, scary movies in which a group of teenagers get chased in the woods by some deranged killer. Except this time it did not feel so cheesy to Kenny because it was real-life. He felt the way the actors felt – like something or somebody would jump out and grab the gang at any minute.

But Kenny had to keep it together; he was the man of the house. This was his opportunity to show the boys how to be men. He stayed strong for his sons who showed their fear openly by walking closely on his heels.

Just as the mood began to lighten up, the gang heard a strange sound. This was not the sound of a small animal rustling in the woods. It was more of a murmur that was not consistent with the ordinary sounds of the forest.Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. Kennison, the middle son, jumped back behind Kenny. “Daddy, what was that?”Kennison asked in a terrifying hysterical whisper.

“Aah, Kennison, don’t be scared. It was just a little animal running through the brush. Right, Dad?” Damon, the oldest son, said in more of an attempt to assure himself.

“Yeah,” Kenny answered hesitantly as he heard the noise faintly again. “We are not going too far from the campsite. Everybody is going to gather ten more twigs and then head back to the campsite.”

The boys began to work diligently and quietly gathering twigs. Kenny noticed as they worked a flashing light was ahead of them. He decided to keep quiet not to cause a stir resulting in anymore anxiety amongst them. However he could not help but notice that with every step they took, the flashing light came closer to view. To make matters worse, every once and a while he could hear the murmur in that same direction.

“Daddy, what’s that light flashing?” Brandon, the youngest son, asked.

“Shoot!” Kenny thought. “They noticed.”

“It’s nothing to worry about, probably just another campsite.”

“Uh…Dad,” Kennison said slowly moving back behind Kenny. “Since when do campsites make that much light?”

“Oh, you guys are such brainiacs!” Kenny joked in effort to ease their worrisome minds.

“Well you and mom raised us right.” Damon retorted appearing less bothered and more oblivious to his spooky surroundings than anyone else.

The gang was able to relax until they realized that they had come up to the light. What's more, right before their eyes they saw an extremely dark blob extracting light.

“Let’s get out of here!” Kennison yelled with a stark exit along with the rest of the gang right on his heels.

To Kenny’s surprise they arrived back to their campsite without a doubt of which way to go. Out of breath and panting the boys collapsed to the ground.

“Shoo, that was close! Dad, are we going to leave now?” Damon asked.

“I don’t know. Do you guys think we should go home?” Kenny asked.

“Yes!” Kennison, the scaredy-cat of the bunch, responded right away.

“That was weird! What was that?” Brandon asked.

“Duh, Brandon, don’t you think if we knew then Dad wouldn’t be asking if we should go home?” Damon said sardonically.

“Come on, Dad, I’ll help start packing the car,” said Kennison.

It was like watching Speedy Gonzalez race around the campsite. Kenny did not think he had ever seen Kennison move so fast in all of his twelve years of life. Kenny took a mental note that next time he needed Kennison to do something quick, fast, and in a hurry that he would have to scare the bejesus out of him first!

“Now wait a minute, Kennison, I think we can make it through the night. See look,” Kenny pointed. “Nothing has come after us.”

At that point in time all Kenny could do was playback the discussion that he and his wife, Karenna, had about bringing the boys out tonight.

         Karenna: Honey, can’t you wait until morning to leave? We already live at the edge of Timber National Forest. If you leave first thing in the morning you will be there in ten minutes.

         Kenny: No, Karenna, the boys are looking forward to spending the night in the woods as I promised before I left on my work trip.

         Karenna: I know, Kenny, but you have the entire week, plenty of nights. Aren’t you tired? You’re just getting back from work!

         Kenny: I am fine, Karenna.

         Kenny: Boys! Damon, Kennison, Brandon, get your stuff together! We’re going camping.

         At that moment, a thunder cloud of boys came running in the room with exclamations of affection for seeing their returning father. And of course, they asked if they could go camping right then and there.

         Damon: Dad!

         Kennison: Daddy!

         Brandon: Daddy!

         Damon: Daddy! You’re back! Can we go camping now?

         Karenna: Boys, you’re father should get some rest before you all leave.

         Kenny: No, Boys, we are going now.

         Karenna: Okay. Please be careful. Take plenty of flashlights and batteries. Call me as soon as you get there so I know that you have service…One more thing, please bring my boys back in one piece.

There was no way he would be proven wrong. After some heavy convincing to Kennison, the gang had a unanimous vote to stay through the night. Kennison wanted to sleep in the truck with windows rolled up and doors locked. Damon was somehow able to talk him out of it and tease him about being scared at the same time. Brandon did not care either way. He was just happy that this time he was not the brunt of the two older brothers’ teasing.

Day break hit. Although Kenny was sure that he did not have to make mention of it, he changed his mind about the boys going off by themselves. Given how frightened the boys were last night they probably won’t move from that spot. However, Kenny knew that Damon gets a little rambunctious at times, so just in case, Kenny had to beat the 8:30 am deadline in waking up. He could just picture it right now, Damon manipulating and coercing his brothers into going off with him. As a result, Kenny popped up unexpectedly early and full of energy. He was relieved that they were all still alive and accounted for. Kenny would not be able to ever hear the end of it if Karenna knew the fiasco that their boys went through last night or even worse that they were gobbled up by some huge black blob.

However, curiosity got the best of Kenny. He had to see what that blob was. He had come to terms and reasoned with himself that it had to be harmless. Nothing has come after them thus far. Plus, whatever it was it appeared to be relatively stationary. He told the boys they were going fishing not to arouse any fear in them, especially Kennison.
The gang headed down the path toward the dark blob. At first, the boys were at ease and eager to go catch some fish. Then Damon caught on, “Dad, aren’t we going away from the lake?”

“We are going to go fishing. I just want to see something,” Kenny replied nonchalantly.
The boys carried on with their laughing and joking. Until Brandon made a grave discovery, “Daddy, are we going to see the blob again?”

“No way!” Kennison answered immediately.

“I have a feeling that wasn’t just a blob. It was just too dark to see what it was,” said Kenny.

“Maybe it was a spaceship with space aliens aboard!” Exclaimed Damon.

“Cool it, Damon!” Demanded Kenny.

As their controversial conversation preoccupied them as they walked down the path, suddenly a huge black building appeared before their eyes. The building was such a strange geometrical shape that it could not be pinpointed to one particular shape.

“What kind of shape is that, Dad?!” Kennison exclaimed halfway excited and halfway startled. “How big is this building!?!”

“Who would paint a building so black!?!” Damon exclaimed.

“I don’t know!” Kenny responded with a sense of relief.

“Oh, Kennison, it is shaped like an octagon on this side!” Exclaimed Brandon.

“Kennison, I see a pentagon on this side!” Yelled Damon.

“Brandon, look there is a square! Damon, I see a triangle on this side!”

The boys were now so intrigued by this strange shaped building that they were scattered all around it. The building appeared to have an abundant number of sides.

“Y’all come back over here.” Kenny yelled with apprehension as he was still not quite sure what this bizarre building was.

“Look, Dad, there’s that flashing light!” Exclaimed Kennison.

Kenny was able to conclude that this building was the root of the blob and flashing light. He started to walk around the building and the boys followed. After perusing the building for a good twenty minutes the gang found the front entrance to the building. They revealed a sign that said “Timber Bait Shop and Camping Supplies”.

The boys, still amazed by the architectural structure, walked into the shop in silence as Kenny got acquainted with the owner, a nice old man whom had been running this shop for several years. Kenny soon learned that the flashing light was extracting from an old antique television that the owner kept going all day long because of the missing knobs and no way to turn it off. He also found out that the building is actually the color, mid-night blue, because Fred and his wife, Grace, the owners love to sit at the top of the building and stare at the night sky. Fred had no explanation as to why the building was shaped as it was except that it was in no doubt sturdy.

A sincere relief fell over the gang and they had a blast for the rest of the camping trip!