Camping Terror

• Zali Black, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2020

One beautifully warm, sunny day a family with three children thought it would be fun to go camping down at the river on their property, they were all so excited to ride motorbikes, go kayaking down the rapids, jump off the rope swing into the swimming hole and sleep under the stars. They all piled into the four wheel drive, loaded up with enough gear to ‘last a lifetime’ according to the dad. Not happy with the whole family and the kitchen sink they even took the dogs with them. It took a while to set everything up, and by the time they had dusk was falling and everyone was starting to feel hungry, so they collected firewood, lit the fire and cooked dinner. Afterwards they all sat around the campfire just chatting to one another but then they had lost track of time. The mother looked at her watch and said to the family it’s already eleven fifty six (she always has been quite particular), perhaps it’s time to hop in the tent and read some stories. So they did, they read stories, talked and giggled. They tried to scare each other with tales of the dark but one by one they managed to fall asleep...except the middle child, she could not get to sleep. She kept seeing shadows and heard claws scratching down the sides of the tent, then footsteps on the tarp floor outside. It was pitch black, she was shaking like a leaf and tried to wake her dad out of his snoring slumber to no avail. She was so scared. Then came a loud growl, it echoed through the woods that were near the family’s tent. Her mind was racing what could it be? Was it a bear? Was it a kyote? A wolf? She rummaged in all the pockets of the tent to find a head torch until she finally found one. The stories and the dark were playing tricks on her mind but all of a sudden she felt brave, stood up and ripped the door open of the tent not quite sure if she would still be alive by morning. Expecting to see a ferocious predator, she was shocked to see nothing and then she looked down to see one of their fluffy little chihuahua dogs that would not hurt a flea...that’s right, they had brought the dogs with them. Feeling calmer, she was about to go and hop back in bed but checked the time and realised it was already five in the morning so she decided to stay up and watch the sunrise. When the rest of the family woke up she told them about her wild night and as she was telling them she felt a strong gust of wind whistle past. When it had gone by she felt something hit her back and she wondered if really was just the dogs last night. A shiver went down her spine.