Swamp Dweller

Chaper One

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Summer had just started.
And, of course, my family wants to instantly go out for vacation. This happens every year, and I don't get why we need to go the day that school lets out. Don't get me wrong, I love going out for vacation with my family...it's just.. This trip feels different. We're going camping. I absolutely hate camping. I never liked the feeling of the mosquitoes on your skin and the sticky feeling of the bug spray that Mom insists on having. I didn't mind sleeping in a tent, I just wish that it wasn't so cold at night.

I pick up my last bag for the trip and swing it in the back of our black SUV. My little brother, Elijah, was already in the car and kicking the back of my mom's seat. He had his tiny toy dinosaurs in one hand, his apple juice in the other, and chocolate all over his face.
"Who let Eli have chocolate before the ride? He's going to have a stomach ache, and we're going to have to stop at a gas station so he can use the bathroom." I could hear my dad's annoyance in his voice.
"I let him have a little. You know how he is with chocolate. He can't eat it without wearing it," my mother answered, closing up the back of the car. She walked around the side of the car and over to the passenger side to get in.
"Holly, have you gotten everything you need for the week? We're trying out a new campsite, it's a 4 hour drive there and we're not turning back around," Mom asked, turning around to look directly at me with her piercing green eyes. I nodded and pointed back to my three bags in the trunk.
"Yup, and I made sure, like, six times before I even closed each one," I gave a half-hearted laugh as we pulled out of the driveway. I put my window down, letting the nice cool wind throw around my lengthy black hair. You'd never catch me without my headphones this week, and I'm so grateful that I was given the wire headphones instead of the Bluetooth that my brother was given. The drive was peaceful, honestly. There were a few conversations held between us, but it was mostly silent the whole way. It was very pretty outside, too. The leaves were swaying in the bright summer sun.

It took around 4 and a half hours to get to the campsite, Elijah needed to use the bathroom, not even an hour into the drive. Which, Dad complained about it the whole time we were stopped. We got out of the car and instantly started to unpack the more important items like the tents, the grill, and a few other things. We got set up fairly quickly, and I got a tent all to myself, which was kept to my liking with my special blanket and pillows I brought. I got comfy in my tent, keeping the door open so that I could still see everyone else and grabbing the book I had just started earlier that morning at school.
"Don't you have anything better to do? We just got here, and you're sitting around reading a book," my Dad scolded me instantly as soon as I opened the last page I was on. I groaned and put the book back in my bag as I got up. My dad nodded and went and grabbed a beer from the cooler. The ice had mostly all melted by now, so everything was just floating and getting slowly ruined by the water.

I decided to take a little walk by myself around the woods surrounding the campsite we had. It seemed to go on forever, as I looked around to see only trees and darkness. It was a pretty nice day still. The sun wouldn't be setting for about an hour, so I could stay out for quite some time. Well, I was told to come back by dark. It was pretty boring to walk about by myself, but I couldn't stay back at the tent and do nothing all week. I could hear the leaves rustling in the wind around me, which was sort of freaking me out. It didn't help that I was out there alone in this place, nowhere to go, but on the trail. I started to walk back to the camp as I was starting to get more and more creeped out as I went on. I could hear other things in the trees with me, which I was hoping they were just some birds and squirrels.

Quickly, I walk down the path until some how coming across a swamp area. It looked like your typical swamp, some muddy water, trees fallen in the water, frogs hopping around, and plenty of dragonflies and mosquitoes. The moss squished and formed pools of water around my shoes as I walked closer, trying to see if there was anything nearby. Honestly, if I hadn't been so creeped out before, this would be such a great spot to sit and hang out.

It started getting dark all of a sudden, which made me freak out even more. I turned away from the swamp and hurried back the way I came from. I felt completely lost already. The trail got darker and darker as it got harder to see, I could barely make out the difference between the trail and the untreaded area. After around 5 minutes of walking, I finally saw light. I rushed over to the firelight and breathed a sigh of relief as I recognized them as my parents. Elijah had already gone to bed, which was expected as he was woken up early this morning. Both of my parents looked over at me at the same time, looking a bit annoyed.
"I thought we told you we wanted you here before dark? It's been pitch black for almost an hour!" My Dad yelled out at me. Had it really been an hour that I was away? There was no way.

It was only just getting that dark when I was leaving...