A Fight to Remember

Squirrels and Mice and Bears

Enjoy!

Seattle September 2029

Ellis

Springside was only two hour drive from Seattle which was good because any longer and I was sure mom's head would explode. Bailey's phone was constantly beeping as he snickered over messages from his friends. In the front seat, Zola recited her speech for student body president for college, and I stared out the window and turned my earphones up louder. The rule was no tech once we left the car.

Finally we arrived, mom parked the trailer and unhitched it. "Okay," she sighed as we piled out of the car, "there's only enough room for two in the trailer, so-"

"Dibs!" Zola and Bailey called, shooting their hands in the air like first graders.

"Okaaay..." Mom raised her eyebrows at me. "Looks like it's you and me in the tent. You cool with that?"

I briefly considered begging to be in the trailer with my sibs, but the thought being in the same room as those two was unbearable. At least mom would be quiet and leave me alone. So I shrugged in response.

"Good." Mom said, "Help me set up the tent?"

I nodded.

Mom gave further directions for Zola and Bailey to unpack and set up for dinner, and I reached into the car for the tent. We set it up right next to the trailer, which was parked under some tall pine trees. The tent was easy to set up, Dad knew that mom was a dunce at this stuff, so we basically just had to press a button and then pound the pegs in. Easy peasy.

Mom grabbed the cooler and a box of supplies and set it on the kitchen table. Bailey chopped some wood and Zola set up the firepit. We were going to have hotdogs and salad tonight.

The sun lowered in the horizon, and lessening sunlight only meant for brighter flames. I held my weiner stick over the fire, turning it slowly. Zola and Bailey were oddly silent for once, and the only things heard are the snap of wood and the roar of the fire.

"This is- this is nice isn't it?" Mom asked finally.

"I wish dad was here." I said simply.

"I know sweetie, I know." Mom sighed.

Zola chuckled. "Remember those corny stories he used to tell?"

A brief memory of dad holding a flashlight under his face as he told a horror story. "Oh yeah... I piped up. "BLOODY FINGERRR!" I shoved a finger in Bailey's face.

"Stick a band-aid on it!" We all said at once, laughing. The laughter faded, and I lost myself in the glow of the fire again. Dad wasn't here. He was supposed to be here, but he wasn't.

"Oh!" Bailey exclaimed. "Mom I need your keys!"

"Huh? What for?" Mom asked.

"I forgot something... please?" Bailey said with puppy dog eyes.

"No texting," Mom said, tossing him the keys.

"Yeah, yeah..." he muttered, dashing off to the car. He appeared through the blackness a moment later with a plastic bag. "Okay, chocolate, graham crackers and marshmallows."

S'mores!

"Sweet," Zola said, "I knew you had something up your sleeve," she stood up to help him.

"I know, right?" Bailey grinned.

Mom seemed very confused. "What's this stuff for?"

"You've never had s'mores?"

"S'mores?"