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

Chapter 24: The Bear That Turned Into A Boy

        It is officially time for Ihaan the Hermit to make his debut and stay! It's time for y'all to meet him! Just before we ran into each other again, I had to have dinner with Camp Juniper. We had salmon and rice. I'm not a huge fan of fish, but I was starved that night, so I ate it. Twelve hours of canoeing left me famished. Yeah, I said twelve hours! If we didn't get lost on Red Squirrel Lake, if Camp Juniper just listened to me, then it would've been a lot shorter. Thank you, Dad! I told you we should've stayed at that campground the two Quebecers were staying at! Did you listen to me, though? No!

Anyway, we brought some marshmallows with us on the trip, so we roasted them that night after we ate. By this time, it was finally dark. My family completely ignored me, so I sat away from them and ate my dinner. However, I refused to leave the light of the fire.

I forgot to mention this, but Uncle Harrison plays the guitar. Why do I say this? Well, it's because he brought his guitar along on the canoe trip. He strummed it and sang along to one of his favorite songs. His foot tapped. Aunt Jessie, Uncle Macon, and Aunt Lydia listened to him, while Dad, Mom, and Uncle Clement roasted marshmallows. Uncle Clement kept on burning his marshmallows.

He threw down his stick and announced, "Yeah! That's the tenth marshmallow I've burned tonight!" He cheered. "That's a new record!"

Daddy chuckled and gave his back a pat. Everybody was really enjoying themselves. They weren't even thinking about the Ghost of Ontario. I remember, my Uncle Bart told a story to Aunt Lydia. I looked away from them but eavesdropped.

Uncle Bart shared, "Once upon a time, Lydia, there was a teenage girl named Cynthia Baton. She lived in North Tonawanda, New York with her parents on a street known as Payne Avenue. One day, her parents told her that they were going to go on a weeklong canoe trip up in Ontario, Canada. Cynthia loved to canoe, and she was very good at it. So she was very excited."

I scoffed.

"But on the night before they left for Ontario," Uncle Bart continued, "she woke up to find that she had been sleep walking."

"Bart!" Aunt Lydia gasped.

"Yes," continued Uncle Bart, "Cynthia was on the dock, and she tried to get back in, but all the doors were locked. She ended up sleeping on the dock for the rest of the night. When she woke up the next morning, she found she was lying in a canoe floating up the Erie Canal, and a bunch of handsome, teenage boys hovered over her and fanned her with leaves."

Aunt Lydia laughed, "That makes no sense whatsoever!"

"It's not supposed to." Uncle Bart explained, "Maybe if Cynthia didn't cower over make believe ghosts, she'd get all those pretty boys." He chuckled, "The end."

I scoffed for a second time. This was all just a bunch of poppycock. The members of Camp Juniper were adults, so they should act like them.

        Aunt Lydia soon clapped, and I heard Uncle Clement again. "Yeah! That's twenty burnt marshmallows!" Laughing engulfed the campground, but nobody paid attention to me no matter how hard I tried to get noticed.

I narrowed my eyebrows and leaned down, picking up a leaf. With it, I wiped either side of my lips. I was not having fun. I couldn't spend another day stuck in the wilderness with just adults that completely ignored me. Where was Ihaan when I needed him? My mind momentarily returned to the two portages we did that day. I begged that the next day wouldn't be as hard. It really was a very tough day. I made one last attempt to join the circle of adults, but they simply just threw me out. I had had it with them!

I backed up, brushed myself down, and shouted, "Fine! Don't listen to the teenager! I'm sure happy faces is the Ghost of Ontario's natural prey!" They didn't listen to me, and irritated, I shook my head. Sitting back down, I waited for the Ghost of Ontario to attack us. While I sat there, I thought about him. I thought about the canoe accident, his broken ankle, and the fact that he tried to drown anyone who disturbed his home. To myself, I asked, "Why would a little kid do horrible things like that?"