Adventure kids: Camping Adventures

Camping adventures can be a fun trip for many. Camping trips are very refreshing if you love outdoors, and one of the best way to get away from your daily routine life at home or work.

Bus trip

“Wake up we are here!”, Sarah shouted in my ears as I rubbed my eyes and looked around. My dizzy body insisted on staying asleep as everyone in the bus excitedly rushed out. “Hey, if you don’t want to get off; at least let me pass”, Sarah shouted again while trying to squeeze through between my knees and the seat ahead. I turned my legs so she could pass and mustered the energy to get up. Sarah rushed out of the bus whilst I followed her still half asleep.

Campground

As I stepped outside, my eyes stood wide open. I looked at the horizon that was the

subject of intense photography by almost everyone. The bright sun was covered with dense and thick clouds. The partial snow above the lush mountains was not only crystal white but also reflected the sunlight all around itself to illuminate the valley.

“Padambala is one of the most beautiful valleys in the country and the weather is pretty chilled. So I hope all of you have brought some warm clothes with you as instructed before”, Miss Petria announced. I could now feel the cold breeze slide against my skin and for a second it felt really nice.

Suddenly, I felt a cold surge flow through my body as I realized I was only in my t-shirt. I rushed back in the bus to grab my jacket with my drowsiness entirely gone. “We are finally here!”, I thought to myself.

As I put on my jacket, I noticed Alex and the rest of my friends at the end of the bus whispering about something. “Guys this place is amazing, what are you people doing in here?” I questioned. “Just working on a little plan”, Alex responded in a wicked tone and turned his phone screen towards me. “Scary right?” He asked as I observed the expensive yet terrifying costume and mask of a character from an old horror film. “It’s in my bag and I’ll tell you the rest of the plan later”, Alex explained and took me outside.

He was one of my closest friends and loved to create wicked plans. And there was nothing to explain either since I knew he was planning to scare someone as soon as he got the chance.
We stepped outside the bus and joined the crowd where Miss Petria was explaining the tour plan. “In a few minutes we would begin hiking and I want all of you to stick together as a group. As soon as we reach the camping point, I want you guys to regroup once so I can take a headcount.” Miss Petria squeaked.

Hiking

Every year the senior-most batch went on an amazing trip as part of the tradition. My eyes also lit up as I saw my batch mates so happy. I was mesmerized by the view and the mountains that looked down at the village and river below it. The water gushed so fast that we could hear the constant stream of water rushing against the rocks and everything that stood in its way. “It’s even prettier once we get up there”, Sarah exclaimed as she held my hand and dragged me towards the hiking trail.

For about an hour we kept hiking as Miss Petria kept on telling us about the history of the place that almost no one was interested in. However, the hiking was a good exercise to warm up our bodies against the weather which kept getting cooler as we hiked upslope. “Ugh! I am already tired”, Sarah complained as she dropped her bag on the ground. “It’s okay, I can carry it for you”, I said as I picked up her bag which was clearly heavier than my own. “Is that your entire wardrobe in this?” I mocked her whilst she laughed.

She had a cute smile and that is probably why most of the guys in the batch had a crush on Sarah. But for me, Sarah was just a good friend.

Eventually, we reached the end of the trail and everyone cheered as if they had conquered the world. Miss Petria began instructing everyone, on how to set up their camps. While she was busy explaining, most people sneaked out of the crowd. “She is going to put all of us to sleep”, Alex whispered and asked me to follow him. We sneaked out along with a few others.

Alex’s wicked plans

A few minutes from the camp, there stood this huge rock behind which most of the

teenagers took out their stash and started smoking weed. I climbed up the rock with Alex to be mesmerized by the orange horizon that covered the sky.

It was sunset and I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life. I couldn’t hear the gushing of the river far down below but I could see it flowing in its curvy path disappearing into the valley and the mountains that surrounded it. I zipped up my jacket as the winds started to pick up speed and howled through the valley.

“So what’s the plan?” I stared at Alex. “At exactly midnight when most of us would be sleeping, I will put on my costume and I will sneak into the ‘nerdy women’s’ camp”, He responded. “What if they scream and wake up Miss Petria?” I asked. “You’re right, I guess we have to lure them out so that they are a little away from Miss Petria’s camp; so that we can make a run for our own camp”, he explained.

At that moment, I realized that he was already considering me to be a part of his plan. It was obviously an immature plan for people of our age but Alex was one of my childhood friends and I could not refuse him. “Alright then!” I shouted and high-fived Alex.

It was almost eleven and everyone was dancing around the bonfire whilst I was still chewing on the tasty barbequed chicken. “Alright people, wind up! If I see anyone outside their camp after ten minutes; I will write down your name and make sure you get a warning letter.” Miss Petria shouted.

I finished up my chicken and looked around the valley. In the darkness that surrounded it, I could see the bright stars gazing down back at me with their light as bright and as clear as the mountains could witness. It was the first I saw the sky so clear and the stars so bright. I wanted to keep looking at them but I didn’t want to get in trouble. Also, I knew we were going to come out at midnight to execute Alex’s wicked plan.

Sleeping time

For approximately half an hour Alex and I waited for everyone to sleep. Alex then opened up his bag and started to put on his costume. It seemed pretty quiet outside, but I could hear a fainted howling. For our own safety, I grabbed Mike’s baseball bat. “He really thought we would get a chance to play baseball during the trip?” I whispered to Alex. “Come on, I’m ready”, Alex whispered and I followed him outside of the camp.

The costume looked so original and scary that for a second it was kind of difficult to look at Alex. “Cool Right?” Alex whispered in excitement. “So how do we plan to lure the girls outside?” I asked Alex as he took off his face mask and gave me his wicked smile.

He explained to me the plan and as dreadful as it sounded, I had to agree since I had already said yes.
I hid behind the rock and Alex hid behind the bushes nearby the girl’s camps. I turned my phone to full volume and loaded the cat sound effect from the online library. As stupid as the plan sounded, it was worth trying. Alex believed that these girls loved cats and a few “Meows” would do the magic. For around two minutes the recording kept playing but no one came out.

The prank has gone wrong.

I kept peeking from behind the rock as Alex peeked from behind the bushes. Suddenly, we sensed movement and Alex took his position. One girl came out of the tent and looked around. She then walked towards the rock slowly and I turned off the volume as soon as she was a few feet away from the rock. My job was done! I peeked towards the bushes where Alex silently followed her.

I started to record the entire scene. As I looked into the screen I realized the girl looked familiar. “Its Sarah”, I realized and thought to myself. “Booo”, Alex exclaimed as he raised his arms and sluggishly stomped towards Sarah. Sarah turned pale blue as her jaws dropped wide open but no sound came out. In extreme horror, she dropped on the ground and crawled backward still without any sort of scream.

Alex who seemed desperate for a scream leaned forward and waved his claw-like hand. The very next second Sarah started running in a direction that was neither towards the camp nor towards me. I got up in order to catch her but everything was happening so fast. Sarah ran directly into the bushes. I knew I couldn’t shout her name as this would wake up everyone so I ran behind her. I had never seen anyone running so fast; as if they were running away from death itself.

A four-legged animal

The odd branches grazed my wrists but I kept running until I slipped through an edge and as much as I wanted to stop at that point, I couldn’t. I went sliding down for about half a minute until I reached the level ground again. I realized I had a torch on my phone, so I turned it on. I could see a path so I walked further.

Adrenaline rushed through my veins as I looked through the darkness using the torch. “Sarah, where are you?” I shouted as I took one step at a time so I didn’t fell again. “Ron is that you?” Sarah shrieked from behind a tree and rushed towards me. She hugged me so tightly that for a second she could’ve broken my bones. “It’s okay, it’s okay!” I whispered and patted her on the back. “Grrrrhhh” A four-legged animal stepped outside from the bushes, saliva pouring out of its mouth.

Its eyes shining in the darkness as it looked straight at us. Its stance seemed like it was about to jump on us. Goosebumps ran down my back as I realized that I had left the baseball bat at the rock near the camp. Sarah held me tighter than ever as I stared back at the wolf in fear. Suddenly, I observed its expressions changing as I heard leaves crackling from behind us. “Guys!” Alex shouted.

The wolf stepped back as Alex entered the scene with the baseball bat in his hands. We started moving backward whilst still maintaining eye contact with the wolf and the bat pointing towards it. A moment later the wolf turned around and disappeared into the bushes. Either it had given up its plan on such an amazing feast or was going to get back up. Nevertheless, we couldn’t wait for that and all three of us bolted back towards the camp, breathless and horrified.

We’re back…
Several minutes later we found ourselves back near the camp, trying to catch our breaths. “See, I scared the wolf away without the mask”, Alex cheered until Sarah punched him in the stomach with all the energy she could muster. “Don’t you ever do that to someone again!” Sarah furiously told Alex whilst keeping her voice as low as possible. Alex fell on the ground and tried not to make a sound either.

He kind of knew this was coming. “And I did not expect this from you”, she whispered as she gave me a deathly stare. “We really are sorry”, I sighed as she walked away to her camp. I helped Alex get up and shouldered him back to our camp. “So who are you scaring tomorrow night?” I giggled to Alex as we tried to find the first aid kit to put on our bruises. There was still one more night before the trip concluded but we decided not to pull this kind of prank tomorrow and makeup to Sarah somehow. “Honestly this is going to be my most memorable adventure”, I whispered to Alex, who smiled and said, “I will make sure you have even better ones.”

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