Last Camp

• Kristina Keri, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2019

Today is a hot summer of 1986 and a lot of people are choosing to go and do in city activities involving water. Everyone but Lucy’s family, who have found a cheap newly opened outback-camping resort next to a lake in Victoria. Lucy was the only child in her family and often felt lonely, her hobby was reading the supernatural page in the daily news, an example being a swarm of pointy hats that were meant to protect people from drop bears (Bloodthirsty koala bears dropping from gum treetops). She didn’t believe in such stories and found it entertaining at times.

5th of November 1986, Lucy had packed her bags full of camping gear, ready to explore the wilderness of Australian outback. The trip to the campsite was long and boring. During this trip, Lucy read a story of her favourite cryptid, Bunyip, a very large mysterious monster that lurks in the water and only hunts at night. In the legend of Aboriginal stories, it was scary, it had the ability to shapeshift and was so fast that not many people who have seen it was able to describe it. Lucy found this interesting, the shape-shifting seemed to belong in the distant realm of magic and made no sense, at least the inability of people to describe the monster in details made sense for the shape-shifting part. They finally got there, the camp seemed like a beautiful place, but it eerily seemed familiar. It was completely disconnected from the society and only means of entertainment for Lucy were her family, the campfire, wildlife, and of course the books of supernatural she brought with herself. She couldn’t wait to read them, the smell of the lake and the sound of the forest gave a sense of realism to some of the cases presented in the book. After the dinner, she quickly went into her tent and opened her book, not long after a loud wolf-like cry that echoed through the vast outback interrupted her. It gave her creeps, as she knew that dingoes didn’t live anywhere near her campsite.

The powerful cry has wakened Lucy’s parents up. With fear of their daughter's life, they went to investigate this paranormal scream. Lucy waited for them with anticipation and worry, but they haven’t returned. All of a sudden a loud female scream ruptured. Three was no other campers nearby. Lucy was alone. With great feat and tears dripping from her face, she exited her tent. She knew that this was a really bad idea but it had to be done, she had to save her parents. The eerie sound stalked her, like a tiger following its prey. As she walked, the ground started getting moist and viscous, instantly she knew she was approaching the lake. The quest of her valiance has led her towards her greatest fear. Her parents were lying dead, but she wasn’t alone in the dark. She could hear footsteps moving through the mud and noise of faint breathing as the danger approached. Lucy was oblivious of her danger as she was about to meet her favourite character from a paranormal fable, the bunyip. Her heart started beating fast and adrenalin pumped through her body. She closed her eyes and turned. A strong breath blew the tears on her face away. She finally knew why this place appeared familiar, it was part of Daily News a few weeks ago containing sighting of an unknown creature. Despite the expectation of death Lucy lived. The creature dived into the lake and was never seen again.