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

Chapter 4: Goodbye, North Tonawanda

Song: "Float" - KT Tunstall

        I saw the rest of Camp Juniper. Just like Dad said, they had arrived. There was my Uncle Clement, Uncle Macon, Aunt Jessie, Aunt Delia, and Aunt Lydia. All of them were chitchatting and sipping cups of coffee. Everybody was also wearing their traveling clothes. There were no more pajamas. I tried my best to not be seen by the rest of Camp Juniper. I slipped over to my dry bag and picked it up. I prepared to sneak outside and put it in the Excursion, but just before I could, Uncle Clement spotted me.

"Hey, Kylie!" he yelled, and he waved at me, "Guys, Kylie is here!" All heads turned to me, and I chuckled nervously. Camp Juniper cheered, and I remember, suddenly, confetti, which came from out of nowhere, washed over me. I was such a big deal in Camp Juniper for some reason. I remember everybody called me "The Oracle." Nevertheless, I was still the only teenager.

        While the confetti buried me, my Aunt Lydia approached me and yelled, "It's you! You decided to come! I'm so glad you did!" I really did not decide to come along. It was more I was forced to come along. I tried telling this to Aunt Lydia,

"Well actually...," but Uncle Clement interrupted me.

"You've already made me proud, Kylie! Come on, give your Uncle Clement a big, giant hug!" He was a tall, skinny, beardless, middle-aged man. He picked me up and pulled me into a hug. He squeezed me so tightly that my eyes popped. I could barely breathe.

Finally, Uncle Clement put me down, and I rubbed my shoulder, saying, "That was quite the hug, Uncle Clement." And it was. I remember Uncle Clement was the fisher of Camp Juniper. He loved to fish, – he still does – and throughout the trip, he tried to catch as many pikes as he could muster. I'll go more into detail about that when it gets to that point in the story. For now, we're still in North Tonawanda.

        I remember Uncle Clement put his fists on each hip, and with the American flag flapping behind him, literally flapping behind him, he announced, "I swear to God that I will catch myself a nice, large pike on this canoe trip! Pike for dinner is always the best, and I will not rest until I get it!"

I chuckled and put down my cereal bowl. See what I mean when I explained Uncle Clement is very bubbly? The next person to approach me was crazy Aunt Jessie, and yep, just like I predicted, she was dressed in a cowgirl outfit. Her brown hair was pulled back in two braids, and she had blue eyes.

In a country accent, she yelled, "Yehaw!" in my face, "Well howdy, mate!" She gave me a tip of her hat, "I've heard that we're in for quite the adventure this week! This will just be like accelerating speed in a horse race! Behold, the newest Triple Crown winner! Aunt Jessie the cowgirl!" Aunt Jessie loves watching the Triple Crown races. She's totally crazy about horses. She loves them. She yelled, "Yehaw!" one last time in my face, and this time, she sprayed me with spit. I felt like I had just gotten sprayed by a warm hose.

I rubbed my cheek, and Aunt Jessie finished with, "Looking forward to canoeing with you, mate!" and she gave me one last tip of her hat. Then she left me.

Finally, the last person to approach me was my Aunt Delia. She had short, graying hair and blue eyes. She's a really good person. I really like my Aunt Delia. I would be spending some time with Aunt Lydia and Uncle Macon later. For now, only Aunt Delia, Aunt Jessie, and Uncle Clement spoke to me.

"Well, Kylie?" Aunt Delia asked me, and she placed her hands on her hips, "This is it. Are you excited?"

"Ehh," I answered, and I waved my hand.

"Ehh?" Aunt Delia repeated after me, "Just ehh? Don't worry, cupcake," She pinched my cheek, "when we get on the lake tomorrow, you're spirit will change. You'll have a ball!" Yeah right. Yeah right, Aunt Delia. You'll have fun of course because you're with people you're age, but me? I'm fifteen years old and am an only child, so what does that make me? The bait? I think it does. At least, I thought it did. In my position, I saw myself as the bait and the rest of Camp Juniper as the fishermen. I totally didn't belong with them. I belonged at the mall with my friends, not in the wilderness.