Melvin Platypus got on the bus, waving his parents goodbye. Today was the day he would go to summer camp. His parents had signed him up for it; they thought that it would benefit him in the long run, but Mel had no say in the matter whatsoever. Still, he figured it couldn't be the worst thing in the world. He looked around the bus, finding an empty spot; it was next to a young yellow banana slug. He looked to be around ten years old, or four years younger than Mel was. Mel decided to start a conversation with the slug.
"So... did your parents force you to go here, to?" he asked.
"Oh. Actually, I begged them to sign me up for this. I always wanted to attend a summer camp, you see. It always sounded like a lot of fun!" the slug grinned. Mel rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. The name's Melvin, by the way. But if you call me that, I'll salt ya. Call me Mel, instead."
"Um... OK then, Mel. I'm Slinkman. It's... nice to meet you. I guess?" Slinkman held out his hand for the platypus to shake.
"Sorry, kid. I don't do handshakes," Mel said. Slinkman looked slightly disappointed by this.
Finally, the bus stopped at camp. The children exited the bus; outside, the scoutmaster and scoutmaster's assistant stood by the flagpole. The assistant started to speak to the children. "Ahem. Hello, everyone. Welcome to camp. Now, I understand that some of you are returning from last year, but I also know that we have many newcomers as well. So allow me to introduce myself. My name is Brad, and I am assistant to the camp scoutmaster. Now, I expect everyone to be on their best behavior during their time here. With thar out of the way, why don't we all introduce ourselves?"
After the campers had all made their introductions, Brad spoke yet again. "Attention, scouts. We will now be assigning you all to your cabins, so I want everyone to listen." Brad finally announced the last cabin, Pinto; the campers staying there were Algonquin C. Lumpus, Slinkman, and Melvin Platypus. After that, all of the scouts headed to their cabins.
Mel entered the cabin, setting his bag down. Slinkman waved at him with a smile on his face, but Mel simply rolled his eyes. He then took notice of his other cabin mate; he was a young moose who was about a year younger than him. Mel figured that he was Algonquin Lumpus. "So... you're Algonquin C. Lump-us, right?" Mel snickered. "Algonquin. What kinda stupid name is that?"
Lumpus glared at him. "You're stupid, you stupid head! And that's LOOM-pis!"
"Hey, hey. No fighting, you two. Why don't you introduce yourself to "LOOMP-pis", Mel?" Slinkman asked. Mel rolled his eyes.
"Ugh, fine. I'm Melvin Platy-"
"HAHAAHAHAHAHAHA! MELVIN! WHAT KINDA STUPID NAME IS THAT?" Lumpus laughed. Mel grated his teeth, glaring at Lumpus.
"He is dead, Slinky..."
Slinkman sighed. "This is going to be a long summer."
