Just Some Old Campfire Story

  I let out a deep sigh, sprawling out onto my bed and feeling the springs recoil beneath me.

  I had to endure a hard day at work, straining, struggling, miserable all day for a measly paycheck at the end of the week. It was hardly worth all the effort, except I needed this money to live off of. I've lived with my foster family since I was baby, and now that I'm 18 and still living under their roof I have to pay rent, help out with groceries and buy my own clothes.

  I get it. Learning responsibility so that I don't live off of my parents like a parasite, and I respect them for that. In fact, I was trying to save up money for my own place, but having this 12 hour week day job, and on top of that trying to keep up with my online college classes on the weekends was starting to take its toll.

  My mind finally started to relax, and I could feel my mattress contour to my extremely exhausted muscles, slowly slipping into a peaceful sleep.

  Buzz, Buzz.
 
  I groaned, my muscles protesting as I rolled over onto my side and reached for my phone.

  "All I want to do is sleep. Just a few hours of sleep, is that too much to ask?" I muttered while trying to squint away the blinding light, scanning the notification glowing on my screen.

  "Yo you gotta check this out"  -Ollie
 
  Ollie, my friend since grade school, was always trying to involve me in some wild money making scheme. I debated on even answering him, rubbing my eyes and flopping back over. I had decided to ignore the schmuck and get the sleep I needed when my phone buzzed again.

  "Come on, man......just hear me out" -Ollie

  The downside of being friends for so long? You no longer had private thoughts of your own. I glanced at the clock, 10:37 glowed back at me.

  What are you doing, Sawyer?

  I mentally kicked myself as I opened my phone, and typed back, "What??"

  "Just hear me out, k? This isn't like anything I've tried in the past, this is legit, bro.....trust me" and so begins his repetitive lure, which seems to work every time. The only thing keeping me from completely ignoring him was the prospect of making easy money. Nevertheless, I sighed, knowing that 'legit' probably wasn't the word to describe it.

  "Sure," I answered reluctantly.

  I watched the typing icon fluctuating in place for what seemed like an eternity. My eyes grew too heavy to bear, and the pain in my muscles eased a bit. I slipped into a deep sleep, my exhaustion finally claiming me.

  I was awoken by the persistent vibrating of the mattress beside my hand, I propped myself up on my elbow and answered.

  "Yellow?" I rasped.

  "You gotta hurry up, man! You gotta get dressed and you have to be here in 30 minutes," Ollie's voice on the other end of the line confused me.

  "What are you talking about," a wave of anxiety washing over me, had I forgotten some important appointment? All of my sleepiness was gone instantly, I shot out of bed and looked around for my clothes, only to realize I was already dressed. A little wrinkly, maybe, but dressed.

  "You didn't read my messages did you?" he didn't sound surprised at all.

  "Of course I did," I fibbed as I opened up the texts he had sent me last night, sitting back down on my bed.

  "You are a horrible liar, Sawyer. Just be at the old docks at Princeton River in 30 minutes. I'll explain more when you get here," and with that, he hung up.