The Ghost of Ontario (Part 1) (10 Grade Draft)

Chapter 1: Scooby Doo and Canoeing, Too

Song: "What's New Scooby Doo?" - Simple Plan

        What's New Scooby Doo? I remember that was the last thing I watched the night before we took off for the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park. Don't ask me why, I've just always loved Scooby Doo. I mean, who doesn't? I've loved Scooby Doo ever since I was a small child. I've always loved mysteries, and Scooby Doo was perfect Mystery Heaven for me. Camp Juniper this night had split up. Half of us spent the night at one of my mom's friend's house, and half of us stayed over at our North Tonawanda canal house. I've lived all my life in North Tonawanda, New York, on a wonderful street known as Payne Avenue. That's right, Payne Avenue. I have no idea what is was that convinced my parents to move to Payne Avenue. I mean, who wants to live on Payne Avenue? I'll be honest, I even feel safer on Sweeny Street, the street where our canal house is located. Yeah, Sweeny Street isn't that much better, but it certainly isn't as intimidating as Payne Avenue.

        North Tonawanda, New York, where I'm from, is best known for having two seasons. The first season is winter. The second season is winter. The month was July, and even in July, it remained cool in North Tonawanda. I mean, I guess it's not all bad, especially since I grew up there, but for once, gods of North Tonawanda, I would like to feel freaking warmth! My parents' canal house was located on the Erie Canal. I actually really liked it, even though it was so godly small. During summer vacation, my parents and I usually stayed there two weeks. We would go boating, kayaking, and duck watching. At night, in town usually, there were concerts, so we would go check those out.

        I always looked forward to coming to our canal house, but unfortunately, this summer, we're not going to stay in it. Did I already mention that instead we were going on, oh I don't know, a freaking weeklong canoe trip in Ontario instead?! I think I did. Yeah, I did. Fun, fun, fun. Tomorrow, instead of hanging out with my friends at the mall, I was going to be stuck in the car for seven freaking hours! You can tell that at first I wasn't at all excited, right? Nope. Nope I wasn't. With all the things Todd told me that one day at lunch, I first only saw the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park as freaking Bug Paradise instead of Beautiful Ontario. With all due respect, my fellow audience, if you had been in my position, you'd feel the same way. How would you feel if you were a fifteen year old, the only child in fact, who was dragged into the wilderness for a week with a bunch of adults?

        No, seriously! I was the only kid going on the canoe trip! I was the only kid! Now do you understand what I mean? I thought so. Everybody who went on the trip were all siblings of my parents, Azul and Penelope, and they were obviously not kids! A total of ten people, ten people, went on the canoeing trip! We had my parents and then their seven siblings. Then there was me. Me. Little fifteen year old Kylie Juniper. Life is so unfair when you're a teen. Anyway, now that my little rant is finished with, shall I continue the story? All right. Here I go.

        As I mentioned before, the night before the big drive to Ontario, half of Camp Juniper stayed at the canal house and the other half stayed at my mom's friend's house. Staying at the canal house were obviously my parents and I, and then we had Uncle Bart and Uncle Harrison. At my mom's friend's house were my Aunt Delia, Aunt Lydia, Uncle Macon, Uncle Clement, and Aunt Jessie.

        While I still have time, why don't I do a brief overview of each aunt and uncle? Uncle Harrison, Uncle Clement, and Aunt Delia are all siblings of my father. Uncle Harrison is a very calm man, and he absolutely loves to canoe. He's canoed ever since he was a small child. Uncle Clement is kind of the opposite. He's very bubbly and jumpy, and he too loves to canoe. Aunt Delia is kind of in the middle. She's not as calm as Uncle Harrison, but she's also not as bubbly as Uncle Clement. She too likes to canoe, but she hasn't canoed as long as Uncle Clement and Uncle Harrison. See, I've already given yaw a brief overview of my father's siblings. Why don't we move on to my mother's now: Uncle Bart, Uncle Macon, Aunt Lydia, and Aunt Jessie?

        Uncle Macon is kind of the brains of Camp Juniper. He thinks he knows everything. Aunt Lydia is a very sweet, petite woman who loves to cook and plant, just like my Uncle Harrison. Now, Aunt Jessie is...well, Aunt Jessie, Aunt Jessie. How should I explain her? She's very crazy. She's probably the craziest person in Camp Juniper. She grew up on a farm in Ithaca, New York near the Finger Lakes, and she loved it so much that once she graduated from college, she went back and bought a brand new farm. Aunt Jessie is a horseback rider and cowgirl overall. She's actually attempted to give me a few lessons, but I never did well in them. She got excited over the smallest things, and she always wore a cowgirl outfit. Don't get me wrong, I love Aunt Jessie. She's probably my favorite aunt. However, the sibling who I'm really going to focus on in my telling of this story is my Uncle Bart.

        Uncle Bart is my all-time favorite uncle and sibling of my parents overall. He was the eldest of Camp Juniper. He was in his early sixties I believe when we went to the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park. He's very calm and laid back, kind of like my Uncle Harrison, and he always wore an orange whistle with a dandelion lanyard around his neck. Don't forget this whistle. This whistle is very important. Well, there you! That's my brief overview of all my aunts and uncles. Shall we? All right.

        So yeah, I watched What's New Scooby Doo? before I went to bed the night before we drove to Ontario. That night, I had a very interesting dream that involved Scooby, me, and someone else. Someone that I found both fascinating and mysterious. Scooby and I found ourselves in a beautiful yet mysterious forest. While we ventured through the forest, we listened to the chirps of birds and whistling of the wind.

Scooby, though, stopped suddenly, and he called, "Rylie!" to me.

I peered forward, and my eyes widened. My jaw dropped to the ground. Scooby and I had stumbled upon a mysterious shrine sitting in the middle of the forest! We stared at it, and I said, "Scooby look!" I pointed at the shrine, "It's a shrine. Should we check it out?"

"Res!" Scooby shouted, and he jumped up and down, "We should, Rylie! We should!"

I chuckled and patted him on the head. Together, we started towards the shrine, but both of us were forced to stop when suddenly, over the wind, we heard a beautiful sound. It sounded like a leaflute. Leaflutes aren't common, but they're basically grass whistles. However, instead of grass, people used, duh, a leaf.

        The mysterious song was absolutely gorgeous. It was so soothing. Scooby and I closed our eyes and listened to it. While we listened, we swayed back and forth. I soon heard the flaps of some birds.

        Eventually, the song ended, and Scooby and I were disappointed. We loved that song. I opened my eyes, and I gasped at what I saw in front of me. It was a mysterious figure standing under the shrine that was in the shadows! Now, the first time this happened, it was quite interesting.

Scooby and I exchanged glances, and then we focused our attention back on the figure. No doubt about it, it was definitely a person. I asked him/her, "Who are you?" and I took a step closer to the shrine, "Were you the one responsible for that beautiful music?"

He/she didn't answer. He just stood there. I took a step closer, and by this time, the figure was gone. He/she jumped and dove back into the forest. "Wait!" I called.

"Rait!" Scooby yelled next. The mysterious figure didn't come back. Scooby and I groaned and approached the shrine. Before long, we stood under it, and we together peered up to its ceiling.

"What was that mysterious figure?" I asked Scooby.

"I don't know," he answered, "I just don't know." His tail started to wag, "Scooby Dooby Doo!" This concludes my dream. My dream of the mysterious figure. Don't worry, though, he/she will be back.