Begin to End

The Trip

The sun had just began to set, although as the entire day had been dull and cloudy, nobody really noticed. A young man sat around a campfire with his friends, trying to keep himself from freezing to death. His hair had finally reduced from dirty blonde to full on brown, and his deep blue eyes matched with it. He had tan skin, as he enjoyed the summer weather much more than others. His name was Tucker Snow; his twin sisters Autumn and Violet Snow sat on opposite ends of the campfire from him. The triplets had the same friends as each other, and Autumn and Violet were so hard to tell apart that they had started a game where they got a point for being called the other's name. Tucker looked similar to them, but as he was a guy, his features were different.

A freezing December had just begun, and many juniors and seniors from the town's high school had joined them on a weekend camping trip; no parents, no rules. Just camping, hunting, survival, and somewhat partying. Tucker was an outdoors guy, enjoying hunting and fishing, while Violet only left the house for snowball fights. Autumn's name described her season of choice, also known as Fall. Violet was rather childish, while Tucker was polite and although not the most social of the triplets, he was definitely a good friend. Violet and Tucker spent lots of time together, as Autumn was a popular girl who always snuck out to parties, and the two had bonded over many things, including laughing at Autumn's failed attempts to sneak out.

Tucker had planned the trip, and since his parents had complete trust in him, they allowed him to take his sisters on the trip. Violet had only gone for the patches of snowfall on the ground, occasionally forming a snowball and throwing it. Although juniors, Violet acted much like a 6th grader and was very proud of it. David, Autumn's boyfriend, broke the silence of the over 20 present teenagers,"How's everyone doing tonight?"

"Cold." Said a sarcastic voice from the shadows that gained many laughs, including his own.

"Any of y'all ever hear about the things that lurk out here?" David smiled, his face rather sinister looking in the orange tint of flame,"The things that look around, just waiting for an unsuspecting victim to kill? Heh. No? Have you ever heard the story of the two 'missing teenagers' who were camping in this very area?"

"Not funny, David." Autumn said, clutching his arm tightly.

Ignoring her pleas to stop, David grinned,"One was trying to get back to his tent after collecting firewood, and heard a rock hit the ground in front of him. Then, he looked up. That's when-"

Violet had snuck up behind David and pulled him off of the log, David screaming while the others laughed. David's face shown bright red with embarrassment, as if he hadn't expected it to happen. Tucker grinned,"I thought you were fearless."

After an hour or so, as the moon was the only light aside from the fire, everyone went to their tents and began the night's rest. The crackling of fire was relaxing for Autumn, who shared a tent with Kayla, her best friend with sparkling green eyes and blonde hair. Like their twin brother, Violet and Autumn shared blue eyes and brown hair, looking exactly alike except for the fact that Autumn wore short shorts and tank tops while Violet wore t-shirts and jeans. Kayla slid into her sleeping bag, and a smile crept upon her face,"So who's sneaking into who's tent?" She laughed.

Autumn blushed, her face turning the color of a cherry,"I'm sneaking into his. There's a reason he's sleeping alone." She laughed awkwardly, and then resumed a silence of listening to the fire. The crackling was interrupted after about 2 hours, the crunching of dead leaves startling the many who were just on their phones, texting their friends. The crackling resumed shortly, but the smell of roasting marshmallows reached many tents in the front of the circle surrounding the fire. Autumn slowly slid out of her sleeping bag and crept up to the tent opening, looking out to see her twin brother snacking on a toasted marshmallow. "Tucker!" She hissed silently.