There was a buzz of excitement as Mrs Stevens passed out the notices for school camp the following term. We were going to camp Green Lake for a week to experience activities such as Kayaking and abseiling. It would be a week to remember by all means but not in the way we expected.
In the weeks leading up to camp the weather was lovely but on the 14th of
February, two days before camp, the weather took an unexpected turn for the worst as there was rain an even a thunder storm all night. The school thought about postponing camp but the weather was due to clear up on the 16th so they went forward with it. Mary Ann, one of my best friends at the time, came to school the day before camp bitterly disappointed announcing that her parents said she couldn't go to camp due to the bad weather. Little did Mary Ann's parents know, despite their annoyed daughter, they had made possibly one of the best calls of their lives.
On the day of camp we all gathered in the school auditorium with our bags. I ran up to my best friends Ashley, Amy and Katie. A few minutes later we were all called to help put bags on the bus. Then we all got on the bus. I sat with Ashley and Amy and Katie were directly behind us. I had brought snacks with me on the bus because the ride was about 3 hours long. The ride started of well with us laughing and listening to music but after a couple of hours Ashley, Amy and Katie started to dose off. About 2 1/2 hours into the ride Ashley had woken up and we were talking about previous camps the when there was a screech of brakes, a sudden thump, a scream from a child and then silence.
Over the next few minutes I don't remember much. All I remember was waking up in a pile with Amy, Katie, Ashley and a pile of suitcases, sleeping bags and a few school bags. My first thought was to call out to other people but when I did there was no reply. I checked on the others to find that Amy had what looked like a broken arm and Katie had a big gash in her leg. I knelt down next to Ashley to find that she was still unconscious. I woke her up quickly and all four of us stood up to see what had happened. It looked like a giant had come through and torn up the landscape in and angry rage. We appeared to be at the bottom of a tall steep hill. There were bits of bus everywhere but not a human in sight. Suddenly I heard a muffled, but familiar, "listen up" from Mrs Stevens.
"Over here!", I screamed as loud as I could. No reply. I tried again, "Mrs Stevens?". Still no reply. It was not worth it, no one else heard the, "listen up" so I figured it was just a fragment of my imagination. I decided to look through the bags to see if there were any worthwhile supplies.
