th115+Original+Story

The Camping Trip

Page sat at her desk waiting for the bell to ring so she could get home. It was the Friday before spring break and she was itching to get to her annual family camping trip with her dad and her two brothers, Nick and Mike. As you can see, Page's parents are really into names with only four letters. No more, no less. Their names are Lisa and Josh, so you can see where that comes from. Page's mom, however, didn't go on the camping trip. She claimed that she needed to stay home and tend to the dog, Bailey, but the rest of the family all knew the truth. "Well okay, class, don't forget to study for the quiz over winter break," Mr. Wilson‍‍ ‍said as the bell rang. Page rushed out of the class and to her locker as fast as she could. This was the one day of the year that she wasn't talking to her friends or texting someone on the bus ride home. She was up from her seat before the bus even came to a stop in front of her house.

As soon as she got in‍‍side, P‍‍age threw her backpack on the table and rushed up to her room to get her things for the trip. "‍‍Hey Page, wait‍‍," Nick said, "Mom already packed your stuff and Mike is out there helping Dad pack the car right now."

"Oh," Page said. She was so eager to get inside that she had run right past them. She headed back toward the door."Anything I can do to help?" Page offered when she got outside.

"Nope, we're just about done and we'll be leaving in about two minutes," her dad replied. Page couldn't wait.

"Is Mike driving?" Page asked hopefully, sharing a look with Mike and her dad. They all knew that driving with Nick and not getting a police ticket was rare.

"Nope," her dad smiled, "I promised Nick he could drive this one." Page and Mike both groaned and got in the car.

The ride was an hour long and Page's anticipation got the better of her causing her to ask questions‍‍ like, ‍‍"are we there yet?"

After about the millionth time of her asking, her dad finally groaned and said, "Yes, Page we're here." He tossed the keys in the trunk and started to unload the car.

The hike up to the site felt like an eternity. Page didn't fully understand why her dad had reserved a spot so far from the parking lot, but she knew it was something about getting away from the high tech world and into nature. Her dad was like that sometimes. Page was assigned to carrying the sleeping bags; since she had two older twin brothers, it figures. The straps cut into her shoulders, and she couldn't have been more happy when her dad announced, "We're here!" As Nick and Mike started to set up the site, Page did her normal walk around the lake to reserve their favorite fishing spot before some else did. Every year her dad handed her a pocket knife and every year he said the same six words, "This is only for emergencies, Page."

Page had never needed to use it, but it was a nice thing to have around if she ever did.

"Thanks, Dad" she'd say as she headed for the lake.

Walking around the lake seemed to calm Page. It was the first time in a year she hadn't been in the middle of some activity living in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City. She felt the sand between her toes and she finally felt free.

It was about dusk when she'd finished marking the site and was starting to head back to‍‍ th‍‍e camp site. About half way th‍‍ere, ‍‍bear tracks appeared. They looked really cool and Page wished she'd brought a camera. She suddenly remembered that she'd forgotten to take her iphone out of her pocket before leaving. She reached for it before realizing that her phone had been out of batteries for the past three days and the only reason she carried it around was in hope of finding a charger. So, she followed the bear tracks back to her camp. As she neared the camp, she was. certain the bear tracks would turn or something. She thought it was just a coincidence that they stayed on the same path until she heard a low roar coming from the site. She ducked behind some bushes and listened.

Through the leaves she saw the glint of a fire until something big and furry stepped in front of it, blocking her view.

She heard Mike stutter, "W-W-Where's Page?"

"I don't know, but we're never gonna find her if we don't get rid of this bear first," Nick said matter of factly.

"Mike, where did you put the pocket knives?" Dad said cautiously. Page could tell without even looking that he was trying to move unnoticed.

"Um, Dad, they're ‍on the other side of the bear," Mike said slowly.

"O‍‍h,"‍‍ Dad said. This time he sounded both scared and stumped on what to do next.

Suddenly Page got so mad that she couldn't see another second of that bear. Her dad never got scared about anything! She abruptly ran at the bear screaming. The bear saw her coming but he was too late to move. The bear was so scared that it ran off into <range type="comment" id="369962772_9">‍‍the woods, flailing its arms.</range id="369962772_9">‍‍

"Whoa, Page," Nick said, "Where'd you get the courage to do that?"

"Yeah," Mike said, "That was awesome."

"I better go report this!" her dad said as he ran down the path toward the main building. "Boys, fix any damage," he called over his shoulder. The boys got to work on fixing the tent in places where the bear had scratched it. Page helped by tending to the fire to give them some light. Her dad came back around eleven with some guys holding flashlights. As Page got a closer look at them, she saw that they were wearing park ranger vests. They starting asking questions about the bear and finally said they'd have it taken care of by morning. As they dissapeared into the forest, Page was happy to see them go. As she crawled into the tent, she took one last look at where the bear had run off. Then she fell asleep. Now she could have the normal camping trip with her family she always looked forward to each year, but they did have a great story to tell her mom when they got back home!