A Strange Camping Trip

“Alright, Clara! Please pass these sheets to your classmates.” Mrs. Wiker jots something down on her notebook paper and pins it to the bulletin board. Clara hands everyone the sheets Mrs. Wiker handed her.  I look at the sheet of paper, and it says, “Class field trip to a campsite!” Sounds like fun!

Every year, the school always makes sure our class field trip is fun and educational. I wonder what we can learn from a campsite. Not much, really, except the concept of roasting marshmallows to the perfect frequency. Or making a fire with two thick twigs. 

A bell rings, and soon, class is dismissed. I get on the bus with Riley. “So, Riley, are you excited for our field trip?” I ask. “I don’t know what it is!” Riley says. “Well, you should, because it says “Campsite” on the paper!” I reply, holding it up. “Ohhh, ‘kay!” Riley says. “Do you want to do your homework with me?” I ask. “Oh, yes!” Riley says. 

A voice says, “Double yes!” “Huh?” I say, confused. “It’s me, Sophie! The new kid?” she asks. “Oh, yeah! You came yesterday, right?” Riley recalls. “Yep! I moved here recently. That’s why I’m here!” Sophie answers. “Anyways, I couldn’t help but hear that you were having a playdate! I wanted to join! Would you allow me to join you?” 

“Of course!” I reply. “Also, you can bring some of your friends!” Sophie looks sad. “I don’t have any in this new town.” “Well, we can be your friends! Besties, even!” Riley breaks in. The bus stops, and Sophie, Riley, and I go into my house. “So, this is your house? I love it!!!” Sophie says with expression and excitement. “Mine is still packed with boxes. It’s a little cramped, but we have adjusted!” 

Riley suggests that first we do their math homework together. We all agree, and after finishing our math homework, we do the reading homework. “Now,” I say. “Um, let’s tell each other our favorite hobbies and we can decide what to do next together.” 

“I like to bake and cook!” we say. “Okay, so then we can bake something?” Riley asks. “Oh, it’s gonna be my brother’s birthday tomorrow! Let’s make a cake for him!” Sophie suggests. “What’s his favorite flavor?” I ask. “Chocolate, plain as day,” Sophie says, smiling. 

I grab a large bowl, and we put our ingredients, including cocoa powder, into it. I mix it together, and it forms one delicious-smelling chocolate cake batter. Then Sophie pours it into a bundt pan used for making bundt cake and puts it in the oven. Meanwhile, Riley makes chocolate ganache to drizzle on top. Once the cake is done (I stick a toothpick in the cake, and it comes out clean, which means that your cake is done.), Riley takes the cake out of the pan and sets it on the cooling rack. Once the cake cools, Sophie drizzles the chocolate ganache onto the cake. 

Sophie takes a spoonful of the cake and pops it into her mouth. “Mmm!!!” Sophie says delightfully. “We did a great job!” Riley and I nod in agreement. “I will bring it to your house tomorrow as a surprise in a box,” I say, placing the cake in a box and putting it in the refrigerator. Sophie gets out her sleeping bag and goes into my room. Riley and I follow. We get ready for bed, and then we go to sleep. (We were too excited to eat with my family!!!)

The next day, my alarm goes off. I turn it off after waking up. Riley and Sophie have aroused, too. We go downstairs to eat breakfast: pancakes with maple syrup. Sophie, Riley, and I catch the bus in time, sitting together. When the bus stops, Sophie, Riley, other students, and I get off the bus and into the school.

We do reading, math, social studies, have lunch, French, English, and writer’s workshop. After school, the bus stops at my house, and I get off of it. I rush inside my home to grab the chocolate cake. I run over to Sophie’s house. I see the bus dropping Sophie off at her house. I greet her, and we walk inside. “Happy Birthday!” we say to Sophie’s brother. “Ooh, what is that?” he asks. “Shh, it’s a surprise!” Sophie says excitedly. Sophie’s brother opens the package up to find a chocolate cake. 

“My favorite!” he exclaims. “Thank you!” “You’re welcome,” Sophie and I say. Suddenly, Riley rushes inside. “Sorry-pant-am-pant-I-pant-late?” “Nope, not at all! We were just about to eat the chocolate cake!” I explain. “Oh, okay! That’s good!” she replies. Riley, Sophie, her brother, and I all feast on the cake, and then Sophie’s mom and dad come in, taking two more slices. There’s no cake left!

I say goodbye since I have to go to my house to do my homework. I come back home and finish my homework. I ask my mom if she could sign the field trip sheet. “A campsite? Sure!” She signs it immediately. I take it and place it in my backpack. I have dinner after a few hours of reading and studying, and I get ready for bed. I brush my teeth, put on my PJ’s, and go to bed. 

I wake up the next morning with an excited attitude. I just can’t wait for our field trip today! It’s gonna be at 10:00 a.m. Plus, the test we have today is gonna be canceled!!! I rush downstairs and devour my breakfast. “You’re excited for the field trip?” Mom asks. “Yessss!!!” I say. “We’re going to a campsite. I think so!” I catch the bus and sit down with Riley and Sophie.

We talk about roasting marshmallows over the campfire and sleeping in a tent. We arrive at school and get into the building. Mrs. Wiker says that we’re going to learn about rocks, twigs, plants, and other things at the campsite. She also talks about minerals, and at 9:55, we board the bus. It’s always good to be early. At 10:00, the bus makes a “VROOM!” sound, and we’re off! The driver turns left.

Then right.

Then left again.

Then right once more. 

Then up a highway.

And lastly, we make a final left. We’re at the campsite!

The students gaze at the campsite. There are many children and counselors there. I peer out the window and see my friend who moved last year, Ju! I wave to her, but she doesn’t see me. The bus halts, and we all jump off it, rushing into the campsite. 

“Welcome, campers and new ones!” a counselor says. “Aaaand teachers!” another one adds. “To this delightful camp where you and your students will have the best time of your life!” a third counselor says excitedly. It’s kinda like those ads. One person says a part of the line. Next, another person says something, and the third person finishes it off with the most lines! 

We all start setting up our tents after being given a tutorial on how to do the process. I finish first because my family and I have always camped during summer break. I’m pretty much a natural now! “Done!” I say, putting down my hammer. “Already?” someone asks. “Didja cheat?” another asks skeptically. “No, I always put a heart pillow inside my tent, so yeah!” I reply. “I have been camping a lot of times, just sayin’.” 

Next, Riley finishes. Then Sophie. The last one to finish is a red-haired boy. He looks skinny and has freckles and a blue T-Shirt. “Alright, now let’s take a hike in the woods, you’ll learn how to start a fire with some logs, lint, and twigs, roasting marshmallows to the perfect frequency, we’ll tell you a story, and you’ll go to sleep in your nice and cozy tents! We’re assigning you into groups-five in each group!” a counselor with blonde hair says, smiling brightly. 

We bring our hiking sticks into the woods and hike, following two counselors. After a while, one counselor says, “Now, you must pair up with four other people! Five in each group, remember that!” I get paired up with a black-haired girl, Sophie, Riley, and Ju! “Hi, my name is Maya!” the black-haired girl says. “Hey, Ju!” I exclaim. “Hi!” she replies. “Who’s that?” Sophie and Riley ask.

“My old friend, Ju! She used to go to this school with me, but she moved away.” I explain. “Oh, Ju? From math class? Ohhhhh!!! That sounded familiar!” Riley says. A counselor teaches us about plants, leaves, and other things that we need to know-no, HAVE to know-to survive in the woods and not get eaten or injured or anything like that. I still get a bit nervous. I always went with my older sister in the woods. Never alone. 

Ju hears something. At least she claims to have heard something. I then see something moving. Well, I think something did. I’m not sure. I soon see a dragon flying in the sky. A purple powder explodes, and suddenly, we fall asleep. I take my last few seconds to send an SOS to the camp. 

Two hours later, I wake up. “Hi!” I say. I see that there’s purple powder on my clothes. “Must have been poppy powder or something else…” a nurse says. I see Sophie, Ju, Maya, and Riley in their sleeping bags. “We thought that you didn’t make it after you didn’t come back. We got Carol’s SOS, however. And we immediately began searching for you all. You were lying on the ground when we arrived at your location.”

The nurses let us sleep, and the next morning, we wake up, eat breakfast at the camp, and say goodbye to everyone. “Bye, Ju! And bye, Maya! Let’s video chat!” I say as I board the bus. I gotta say that our trip was actually good! It taught us something: never, EVER go to Evergreen Camp AGAIN. Period.

Written by Kruti Patel