The Boy
Chapter 1. Welcome to camp miserable.
"Remember, this is the wilderness not a playground so we need to follow the instructions of all our adults while we are here, also lights out is at 9 pm....", I groaned and looked at my watch, only 47 hours and 23 more minutes until I could finally leave what was already looking up to be a dirt hole. My mom got a cold that prevented her from keeping her nostrils plugged for more than three seconds, a small reconciliation for the torture that I was currently enduring. However, for some reason the scouts charged a grand a person and this was the last trip of the year so of course someone had to fill my mom's spot. I'll give you three hints. It was me. By some miracle the fat man in the scoutmaster uniform had finally shut up and dismissed us to our "bunk". I use the word "bunk" in the loosest form possible. Wood that was 80 percent termite and 20 percent strings of wood that somehow managed to keep the structure looking like it might pass the building regulations in a 5th world country. I went inside and my brother and two of his friends jumped up behind me, I was surprised but I didn't really show it. I made a remark about my brother's disastrous attempt at making toast the day before and continued walking over to my dad. Only to nearly got splattered by several groups of screaming kids whose parents had given up trying to control them. Somehow I made it to my dad unscathed and before he could ask I said,"I'll take bottom" he nodded then gave me a dire warning about how the bears would eat me first. I shrugged him off and climbed the ladder to the top of my bed. The first thing I noticed was a map of the place, I picked it up and started unfolding the pages. I studied the map trying to determine my location and also trying to pick out the best escape routes. My mood was considerably brightened when I saw that the lake was about a 3 minute walk away from my bunk. I wriggled out of my bed inch by inch until my feet were on the ground. I walked to the side of the bed and grabbed my fishing pole. My dad was texting mom and he looked up at me and then down at his watch and said, "You can't go anywhere now, the activities start soon." I looked at him with my best, do-you-really-think-that-is-going-to-happen face and slowly said,"I am sorry I'll be missing the knot tying introduction, I'm going down to the lake now, but I promise I'll make it up to you and go to the woodworking class." He sighed and submissively said, "Dinner is at 6:30." I did an about face and melted into the crowd.
Chapter 2. Reflections
Every couple of months I make it my business to do a reflection on how my life is going. I think about stuff like, have I been behaving, what do my grades look like, how is my social life, and some other topics. "I have mostly high 70s and low 80s this quarter but grades always drop in the second quarter", I thought to myself, and then I forgot what I was thinking about. I tried to pinpoint the cause of the disturbance when I heard it again, it was more pronounced this time but I still couldn't identify it. Then a wave of fear spread through me as I heard the sound of leaves being crunched under foot, or claw. I instantly stood up and turned around to face the oncoming creature. The sound was getting closer, close enough for me to realize that it was human, the fear deserted me like the cafeteria on taco Tuesday. I figured that maybe someone had come out and had gotten lost. I stood there unsure of what to do as I heard the person blundering toward me. I finally decided to call out to them when I judged them to be pretty close to me and so I yelled out, "Hey, are you lost?" I saw a flash of something that looked like a wave of blond hair but I wasn't sure, I stood there dumbly. I didn't understand the furious whispering going on from the people in question, I tried to listen in and was able to catch snippets from their conversation, ".....we have to........leave this place....hostage..." I stopped listening and started thinking at that last words, "hostage". Maybe they were hostages who had just escaped and we're trying to figure out whether or not I posed a threat to them. Apparently they had come to a conclusion because I heard the sound of someone moving around. All of the sudden a girl stepped out of the bushes. The first thing I noticed was her hair, it was knotted and full of leaves and dirt, she had piercing hazel eyes and a she looked about my age. My second and third thoughts were, she is hot, and she is definitely not from the camp. Eventually she guiltily said,"Sorry".
I started to say,"Sorry for what?" when I sensed a presence behind me and began to turn. I suddenly stiffened when a hand appeared over my mouth and shoulder, preventing me from twisting and looking at my attacker. The owner of the arms said in a quiet voice, "I am going to release you now but if you move I will have my friend put a bullet in you, nod if you understand". I nodded and became aware of a third girl who looked just as good as the first girl, but she looked a lot less cute holding a handgun that happened to be pointing at me. Slowly strong arms started to release me but I still stood stock still, I looked at Hazel eyes who stood there giggling like an eight year old. Finally she said between laughs," I think our boy is too terrified to walk. We might just have to knock him out." Finally I had a coherent thought, "RUN", so I did. I sprinted out of strong arms reach and into the woods. I already felt victory at having escaped my attackers and I started to relax when I heard a sound next to me, Hazel eyes was keeping up with me with ease and I started to run full pelt again.
Chapter 3. Captured.
I must have run faster than I ever had before. The trees and ground were a blur and I felt I was making a gap between me and the girl and for the second time in as many minutes I started to relax. I started angling back toward my bunk and ran back at a slow jog, being very careful to make as little noise as possible. I thought I heard voices so I started running again, but as I passed by a tree that looked identical to every other tree in the forest I thought I saw something appear from the side of the tree, I realized at the last second that it was a foot but by then my momentum carried me forward. I felt the impact and tried to regain my balance, I failed and started flying toward the ground. I desperately put out my hands to stop my fall but I still hit the ground hard. I felt pain shooting up through my arms and groaned as I lied on the leaves and hoped that I had not broken anything. A split second later Hazel eyes jumped on me, she pinned my shoulder, arms,and legs, but there was no point, I just laid there, groaning. She realized this and walked around and squatted in front of my face."Don't you know that it's not polite to leave a party without saying goodbye?", she laughed and patted my head. I could feel my arms being yanked back and felt her slipping something around my arms to I couldn't move them. I groaned again and tried standing up, this brought a fresh wave of pain that made me gasp and fall back to the ground. I tried to focus on suppressing the pain and didn't hear what the girl said. She nudged me with her foot to get my attention and I looked up at her. She was leaning against the tree that she had hid behind. "What is your name?", she repeated. I decided I would not tell this girl anything. She waited patiently until it was clear I was not going to answer. She stood up and rolled me on to my back, this simple action brought tears to my tears to my eyes. They were replaced with fear as she bent over me. "She is going to hurt me" I thought. I tried to squirm away but she just sighed and stepped on my stomach so I couldn't move. She reached into my pocket and took out my phone. "Password" she demanded. I was to scared to think so I told her and she entered it in and sat down again. She was quiet for a few minutes and then she looked at me and said, "Hey Josh ", then she took my elbow and helped me to stand. I swayed but managed to put one foot after the other as we made our way to wherever she was taking me. I tried to talk to her but every time she would just ignore me and we would keep moving. I fell a couple of times but eventually we made it. I looked up and panicked when I realized we had reached our destination. By now I had regained some measure of strength so I tried to escape her grip. It was no use. She pushed me forward.