Meeting Astro: Years Later

Chapter 3: Camping With The Gang

The robot boy thought for a moment. A smile grew on his face. "Light bulb!" Astro sang.

Toby laughed a little. "You got an idea?" he asked him.

Astro smiled and nodded. "Let's have a camp out! I'm pretty sure my dad won't mind if I borrowed the tent," said Astro.

Toby remembered him and Jack used to go camping all the time. Almost every weekend during the summer. "Jack and I used to camp out in a tent! This one time, he got chased by a wolf!" Toby said.

Astro tried to hold back his laughter, but of course, things got the best of him. "At least it wasn't lions!" he said.

"Or Tigers!" Toby added.

Astro smirked, knowing where this was going. "Or bears!"

"Oh my!" Toby said with a fake gasp.

The two boys laughed at their own jokes.

It was a dark night. Astro and Toby put the tent together, with the help of Dr. Tenma. Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge joined them.

"Suddenly, the man spotted something hulking in the dark!" Zane whispered, telling a ghost story. He let out a quiet moan.

He continued. "Then it just vanished, and he knew . . . THE ABANDONED HOTEL WAS HAUNTED!" Zane shouted.

The group of kids sat in the tent, looking unimpressed.

Toby frowned. "I think I liked the story with the Banshee better," said Toby.

Astro gasped. "Wait! I got one! And this is a true story!" said Astro.

Zane sat down and rolled his eyes. "Is this a 'a friend of my cousin knew somebody that this happened to' story?" Zane asked.

Astro gave him a creepy stare. "No. It's a story Peyton told me," said Astro.

Toby raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, no. My mother used to tell the most scariest ghost stories when she was a kid. But as long as it's not the one about-" Toby began.

Astro interrupted him. ". . . the snowstorm? Yeah. That's the one I was going to tell!" said Astro.

Toby gulped. "Oh, no. That story always terrified me. Mom would tell it to Jack just to scare him," he muttered.

Cora looked at Astro. "Tell us the story!  I want to hear it!" said Cora.

"Long ago, a snowstorm buried an entire town for weeks. A month later, Peyton realized she hadn't seen her friend Nini since the storm. So she and some others went to check on Nini's family, but when they got there, no one was home. Just a fire flickering in the fireplace. The men went out to search for Nini and her missing family while Peyton stayed behind to investigate. She found nothing strange. Everything seemed normal. Suddenly, she heard a voice," said Astro.

Astro looked at Toby. "It's so cold and I can't get warm!" Astro said, mimicking a little girl's voice.

Toby started shaking. He was really scared now.

Astro continued the story. "Peyton turned and saw Nini standing by the fire. She was blue like she was frozen. Peyton ran outside for help, but when they got there, Nini was gone!" said Astro.

Cora's jaw dropped wide open. "W-Where'd she go?" Cora stammered.

Astro stared creepily. "No one knows. Nini's house stands empty to this day. But sometimes people would see smoke coming up from the chimney," said Astro.

The group was terrified, all hearts thumping.

Astro's eyes were half-way closed. "Like little Nini is still trying to get warm," Astro whispered in an eerie voice.

There was a long, dead silence filling the air. Neither of the kids spoke for a while.

"BOO!" Astro shouted.

Toby, Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge all let out terrified screams.

Astro couldn't help but laugh. "Hahaha! Now that was funny! You should have seen the looks on your faces!" Astro said, through laughter.

Cora punched his arm. "Not cool, Astro! Not cool!" she snapped at him.

"Dude, you nearly gave us heart attacks!" Toby snapped.

Astro laughed. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I couldn't resist!" said Astro.