Velma Peyton

chapter 4

     Mrs. Peters, the social studies teacher announced the next day in class that there was going to be a school camping.

    "Good morning everyone..." she started and stretched the "morning" with a look that made it seem like she finished ten bottles of brandy last night.

   ''....am happy to announce to you all that there will be a school camping trip next week and you blah de blah—I wasn't really interested-- and by that I mean only the things blah de blah de blah. The order details will be sent to blah de blah blah—I think she said "parents"—blah blah''. She finished off with a quick glance around the classroom that was filled with students that had mixed expressions on their faces, and off she went.

       To cut the story short I hated camping. I mean what do I have to gain when the only thing I got the first time—and last—I went was humiliation and by that I mean disgrace, shame, mortification, embarrassment that's how serious it was. It happened six years ago when I was in London; my school then took us camping In Snowdonia. There were lots of pupils from my class then. I had no friends of course. On the way up the hills, something tragic happened and someone got it all on tape. I had a back pack full of junks—yea I disobeyed the rules wouldn't you? Come on I was nine.—that I didn't really need.                          

       Anyway I slipped and rolled downwards, luckily for me we hadn't gone up to five miles. I got a few bruises and scratches—who am I kidding I got admitted for 2 weeks!—but the whole point of the story is this.....a mean girl called Kat took it all on tape, sent it  to YouTube and it became the number 1 funny video hit on the internet, it was a funny sight though. But ever since then I vowed never to go camping again.

     Why was Mrs. Peters making me go through this again?  

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I don't know how it happened, it just did. Somehow, Mrs. Peters managed to convince my parents for them to let me go on the camping trip because I am so "talented" and the juniors in the school would be looking up to me.

And you want to know that extra details she sent our parents. Well the trip included parents too!! And that was the week my dad had no meeting.

The week before the trip, I bought all the basic camping gears: tent, sleeping bags, flash lights... Since we were going with a group, we didn't have to worry about bringing cooking utensils ourselves, because somebody else would.

As always with traveling, being vegetarians can be an inconvenience. Since everyone else planned on having hot dogs for dinner, we wanted to bring something else meat free. My mind was blank as to what kind of food is appropriate for camping and outdoor. You see when you hate something so bad; you don't care what happens in it or with it.

My mom came up with canned soup, which I gladly went along. For that, I bought a pot, big enough to heat up three cans of Progresso soup for the three of us.

For breakfast in the morning, every family was supposed to bring something to share. Our contribution to breakfast was fruits: pears and bananas, and lots of them. You can imagine how many bags these add up, with the tent, sleeping bags, food, water, fruits and other snacks.

The day of the trip, I got up super early to make a whole bunch of sandwiches, washed and dried the fruits, and did other last minute packing- my mum made me do them.

When all the preparation was done, I had a few minutes to myself, waiting for my parents to get out of bed, meanwhile daydreaming the "best ever" family camping trip – gazing at a plethora of stars in the sky, sitting around the crackling campfire, telling stories and roasting marshmallows, just like in a movie. I pictured quiet woods and a roaring fire and quality "family bonding".

An hour long bus ride took us to the assigned park gate, only to be told that it was a fifty minutes walk to get to the actual campsite. Even though there were park trains that take people to the campsite, the scouts were encouraged to walk, that's what mom and dad did.

I set up the tent no problem. In a matter of ten minutes or so, all the tents were set up and many families had their sleeping bags rolled out, too, ready to have the "ultimate camping experience".

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