Boon Mountain series

Episode 1: The Nightmare Begins

I've had a knot in my stomach ever since I got here. I don't know when I stopped liking camp. All I know is, I don't want to be here. On top of everything, the sun finally came out after two days of nonstop rain, and now I have to build a raft with Rob. What's he even doing here?

"These logs will never work. Can't you see they're all wet?" I say. I cup my hands together and , "NO WET LOGS. THEY WON'T FLOAT," right in Rob's face.

Rob shoots me a look and then he kicks a log at me.

"What's your problem, Brian? This is why I didn't want to be paired with you on this raft thing," he says.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's just like at school. It has to be your way. Always."

Ugh. Having to work with this dude is a nightmare. I've been coming to Boon Mountain Camp for so long that it's like a habit now. And with Rob here, it's awful. He's always bragging that his mom is the head of some big tech company and they live in a big house and everything. To make matters worse, Rob's best friend is Jackson. And Jackson used to roast me on Instagram. every time I posted something, Jackson was there with his rude comments about me and my friends.

But I don't want Rob to know he's getting to me, so I try to keep my voice steady.

"I want to build the raft my way because that's the right way. I just want to be done with this whole thing," I tell him. "So, find some dry logs to work with, and make sure they don't have ."

"I didn't see any termites," Rob says. "And the pieces I collected are good enough."

I grab one of his logs and point. "Hey, Paul Bunyan, this insect is a termite. That means this log is probably rotten on the inside and won't hold up on the river."

"Give me that," he says. He grabs the log and takes out his paracord. Then he starts tying logs together.

"What are you doing?"

"What's it look like? I'm building a survival raft." Rob says. He shakes his head. "I thought you were supposed to be smart. You're pretty slow to catch on."

"The raft's gonna sink as soon as you drop it into the river," I say, but I stop myself from explaining the basics of raft-building. He won't care.

"I bet you 20 bucks it won't sink," he says. "Check this out." He drags the raft toward the riverbank.

"Seriously?" I yell. "I hope you're not really gonna drop that into the water."

After a minute, I hear a crashing sound and the next thing I see are Rob's arms slipping over the side of the bank.

"Brian! My boot's tangled in the cord! HELP!"

I lean over the edge and reach for Rob. Just looking at the water, I can see how strong the current is.

"Rob! Grab my hand and don't let go." He takes my hand, but the ground collapses under me. Rob and I are both pulled under the water.