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

Chapter 12: The Scream in the Forest

Song: "Scary Children Asylum Music" - Mark Kilian

        Dinner ended forty-five minutes after Uncle Harrison shared the flyer with Camp Juniper, and immediately after it did, we got ready for the ranger talk. Before actually going to the amphitheater, we had to do a few things. We had to clean up, wash the dishes, and get ready for our one hour drive to the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park the next morning.

Since I was actually kind of interested in the legend, I decided to help clean up. Cleaning up is something I don't do best. I make things messier than cleaner. However, I tried. I tried my best to clean up well. The entire time I worked, I thought about the ranger talk. I hoped it would be worth it. The talk wouldn't begin until it got a little dark out, and fun fact, Canada actually gets dark a lot later than the U.S. does because it's so far up north. I always thought it got darker earlier, but I was wrong. Oh well.

Camp Juniper worked for a whole hour, and finally, when we finished cleaning and packing, it actually was a little dark. We were finally ready to head to the amphitheater. I'll be honest, I actually really like ranger talks. I always enjoy going to them. However, this ranger talk was a little different.

Once Camp Juniper was ready, we met up with each other, and Dad took roll again because duh, he was the big boss of the trip. All of us were there. We weren't missing anybody. I remember, everybody was super interested in the ranger talk, and I actually was too. While Dad took roll, I watched as a few, young children hurried down the familiar gravelly road in front of us, with their parents, and headed in the direction of the amphitheater. All members of Camp Juniper held a headlamp, but they weren't on yet.

After Dad took roll, he excitedly stated, "All right, we're all here! Awesome! Are we ready to go to the amphitheater, Camp Juniper?" We nodded, and he added with, "All right then! Without further ado," He put his headlamp over his head and turned it on, "everybody follow me!" The bright light shone on all of our faces.

There was a sudden blast of wind, and I held my mysterious flowers in place. Hm, it got windy all of a sudden. Strange.

Dad turned on his heel, and he led Camp Juniper onto the gravelly road where we ran into a bunch other campers who were heading towards the amphitheater. While we made our way towards it, I hummed a tune to one of my favorite songs.

        The amphitheater wasn't right next to our campsites, but it definitely wasn't a super long walk. It wasn't short, but it wasn't long as well. We had to take a small path through the forest to get to it. Since we were in the forest, it was much darker in there than out. However, lucky for us, all the mosquitoes had gone to bed, so we didn't need out bug nets and Deet. All we needed were our headlamps. We turned them on the second we stepped onto the dark path that led to the amphitheater. We soon marched on the trail, in a line, and I was in the very back. I kept on humming the tune to one of my favorite songs. Aside from my humming, I also heard the voice of Uncle Macon.

"So, Azul," he said, and he patted Dad's back, "let me clarify. Do we by any chance have a summary of what the legend is about?"

"I don't think so." Dad answered, "I'm sure it's all going to be told to us once we get to the amphitheater. Yeah, Macon, I'm curious too."

"Do you think it has to do something with canoeing?" Uncle Macon asked.

He stayed close on Dad's tail, and he answered, "I sure hope so. That'd be pretty cool." Another blast of wind blew one of the pink flowers out from behind my ear, and gasping, I stopped humming.

I reached for the flower and called, "Come back!" but the flower blew down the path behind me. I couldn't just leave the flower. I loved my flowers, even though they were given to me in a mysterious way. I had to chase after it! Before I did, I glanced at my family who were starting to leave me. I just had to stay on the trail. Then I wouldn't lose them. I would find them at the amphitheater. They wouldn't mind if I took a small detour, right? They wouldn't. I nodded and turned on my heel, whispering, "I'll be right back." Without another word, I jogged down the path, back in the direction of the road, and chased after the flower.