Short Stories

2

The next few are just going to be stories from school assignments.

"Make sure all the towels are organised in colour-coded order!" I shouted at my family, as we prepared for our camping trip. We were going to the Canadian Rockies for a week, and everything needed to be perfect. There are 10 people in my family including my parents and me, so there was a lot to handle when packing for trips. I brandished the list I made, and read it out to my whole family.

"Ahem. 20 towels; 2 for each person, 10 sets of bedding, and most importantly, 2 boats. Do not forget that! 2-"

"Boats. We get it." Logan, one of the twins, said. "You went over this yesterday. And the day before that, and the day-"

"Before that." Lucas, the other twin, finished. "It's not that big of a deal. Just throw all your clothes into a suitcase, grab a towel, and go out the door. It's not that hard."

I sighed but obeyed him. All ten of us got into the car and drove to the Canadian Rockies. The scenery on the way there was astonishing. Tall, towering mountains hovered over us, creating shadows as we drove. Rivers were glittering like gold as we passed them. This was all so breathtaking that I didn't even realise we were there. I stepped out of the car and took a deep breath. I'm going to make this a perfect trip, I thought as I started unpacking bags from the car.

As I walked into the campsite, I noticed how beautiful the wildlife here was. There was a collection of trees with different colours, varying from mint green to pine green. I could see a deer snout from here to there, and squirrels were ruffling around on the ground below. Focusing, I could hear the relaxing sound of rushing water from a waterfall. The scent of fresh air filled my nostrils, all the way down to my lungs. I found a flat ground area, so I started unpacking everything, all by myself, as all my other family members were at least 10 feet behind me.

"Towels, socks, shirts, a boat," I muttered under my breath, listing all the things we brought. "Wait, what? 1 boat? I made sure to tell everyone to remember it!" I angrily stormed to my mom, trying to vent my frustration, when she rudely interrupted me!

"Calm down, honey, we can live with only one boat." My mom said with a frustratingly calm voice.

Amelia, the second youngest, quipped in, "Mom's right, and it's probably going to be a lot of fun!" Me and Amelia's idea of fun is very different, I thought, as I walked back into the tent.

I brought out the boat and started to pump it with air. After around 20 minutes, the boat was ready, and I pushed it into the water.

"All right, I know it might be a little tight, but let's try not to complain," I said, rounding up my family. We all entered the boat -with some difficulty- and began rowing.

It became obvious that rowing one boat with 10 people would be challenging. After quite a while, we finally got a smooth rowing rhythm.

Suddenly, the boat gave an abrupt jolt. I had watched a lot of survival TV shows, so it didn't really bother me. The wind gave a nice breeze, and I continued to focus on rowing.

Once again, I got interrupted by something big hitting the oar. The oar almost snapped, and I was starting to get a little worried. What if it was a super secret spy agency trying to kidnap me?! I thought frantically, when I realised I had stopped rowing. Just focus on the rhythm of rowing, I thought and started rowing again.

"Whoa, what is that?" Brian, the oldest said, staring at a spot in the river. I followed his eyes and saw what he was talking about. I jumped up almost a mile when I spotted it. It was a shark fin!

"Umm, guys, let's not go towards the big thing poking out of the water!" I said nervously. But no one heard me, and I didn't bother trying to tell them again, as they would ignore me anyway. I bit my lip, scared for my life, when the boat flipped over!

Forgetting all my safety-in-water training, I thrashed around like a fish out of water. I finally floated to the surface of the water and noticed how cool the water was. I swam around in it for a little while, and thought, Maybe this trip wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Even though I was in the middle of a river and had no sight of my family, I felt peaceful for the first time on this trip. My happy moment was interrupted by strong arms firmly gripping my waist and dragging me to shore. I laid on the soft sand, very confused at what had happened.

"Thank goodness, she's alive!" My mom's voice rang in my ears.

"Why wouldn't I be alive? Also, what happened?" I asked groggily.

"Yup, that's definitely her!" Dad said enthusiastically, "The boat hit a rock and capsized, then we all split up. Everyone made it to shore safely, except you. So I set out to go find you, and then brought you here."

"Thank you so much." I told my dad, and he nodded in appreciation. This trip might not have been perfect, but it was still the best trip ever. Next time we go camping, I'll remember not to make everything perfect, but to relax and have fun.