by
Kylie
Katy Fudge poured through camp brochures at her marble kitchen counter as she tapped her pen repeatedly. Summer vacation was fast approaching, and her children Toffee and Thumper, were not going to sit around and watch T.V. all day. Not on her watch. Katy sighed. She had been searching for days, and still not found a camp the children would enjoy. They had very unique interests, as well as limits. For example, they could play a game of baseball, and have a great time! But once they swung balls into the windows of every building in the neighborhood, it wasn’t so much fun any more.
They could pretend they were queens and kings in a royal palace, wearing cardboard crowns, and mommy’s high heels. But once one of them tripped and hurt their ankle, it wasn’t so fun anymore. As a matter of fact, nothing they did, or played anymore, was fun to them, for more than an hour. Summer camps lasted for weeks, at the least. What would they do then? Katy buried her head in her paws. Why was she even trying? This was hopeless...
DING DONG!
“What broke?” demanded Katy instinctively,
Katy sighed. It was just the doorbell. She slowly slid herself off of the kitchen stool, and slugged across the floor, into the hallway. Katy twisted, then pulled the door knob, and stared out onto the porch.
There was nobody in sight. Kylieville was a friendly town. It had no prank pullers. What was going on? Katy looked down. There was a large package addressed to her family, bound in white twine and pink ribbon. Katy reached down, and pulled it by the bow into the house, silently laughing at herself for actually thinking someone would do something bad in Kylieville.
Katy pulled out her junk drawer, and grabbed a pair of scissors, as she propped the package up on the kitchen table.
The ribbons cut cleanly and quickly, and the box practically popped open, as she cut the binding.
Packing peanuts were the first things exposed, as the interior was revealed. Packing peanuts, and tissue paper. Katy dug through the box, tossing the peanuts everywhere, and pulled out a brochure, featuring a blue locker on the cover.
“Camp Locker Lover,” read Katy out loud,
“Open blue fields, and luxurious lunchbox style cabins, (still smelling like yesterday’s chocolate chip cookies) deep warm-water pools and fountains, and all in an enclosed locker space!” Katy turned the page. She was interested now.
“During this week long period, campers will compete in soccer tournaments, go on a canoe trip, and hike up Mount Sweater, as their goals for this session. For ages 8-13, only $4.99, plus tax. Call 1-800-ILOVEMYLOCKER today!”
Katy dropped the brochure coldly on the floor. This couldn’t be real! It was a miracle!
“Well, Camp Locker Lover, I think you just saved my summer!” exclaimed Katy, out loud,
DING DONG!
“What broke?” exclaimed Katy in a slightly paranoid, maniacal whine.
She sighed. It was the doorbell again.
“Mom, we’re home!”
Katy grinned a wide smile. Not for long. They wouldn’t be at home for long.
“All aboard! Camp Locker Lover Bus is boarding now! All those who plan to come to camp should get on the bus NOW! That means you too, missy!”
Thumper and Toffee looked at each other, looked at their mom, and then stepped shyly past the counselor. They waved goodbye as the bus pulled out of the parking lot, spewing dirt clouds from its wheels. They stared at each other with sad expressions, and then...
Pelted a rotten egg at a little girls head!
“This is going to be awesome!” exclaimed Toffee,
“You got that right! Nothing but pranks for a whole week!” agreed Thumper,
SCREEEEECH!
“Ahh!” screamed the kids,
The bus had made a sharp turn.
“Okay kiddies, get off! Move it! Move it!”
Toffee tugged politely on the driver’s sleeve,
“Umm, excuse me, Sir, I think you made a wrong turn, Camp Locker Lover is on the other side of the mountain, and this is the swamp!”
“Kid, this isn’t Camp Locker Lover, it’s Locker Hater, from what my papers say,”
Toffee held her breath. They had gotten on the wrong bus.
The driver paid no attention to the children’s pleas to go back, as he shoved them into a small cabin by the lake.
“And if I catch you two trying to leave these grounds, it’s off to boot camp for the rest of the week!” he scolded, as he slammed the door shut behind him.
Toffee and Thumper sighed as they looked around the cabin in horror and disgust.
The walls were practically paved with smelly green mold, and bugs could be seen on every board. From what they could tell, there was no light switch, so the room was dark, and gloomy, except for the two bunk beds on each side of the room. Thumper sighed. It was going to be a long week.
The next day alone, consisted of stinging bees in the children’s bunks, floorboards collapsing into a concrete basement 30 feet down, a massive hole in the roof, revealing thunder storms, poison oak, cafeteria food that got off your plate and walked away, piranhas in the swimming pool, finger paints that burn in arts and crafts, and obnoxious room mates.
The itching, bruised, burned, soaked, bitten, and angry Toffee and Thumper, knew that they could not survive 6 more days of this torment, so they scheduled a secret meeting in the broom closet.
“Maybe we could pretend we’re delivering pizza, and get in a car, and drive away!”
“Nah, it’s been done too many times, and besides, we can’t drive!”
“That’s never stopped us before,”
“Never mind, we need a better plan,”
“We could dig holes underground?”
“No,”
“Stand on each others shoulders, and pretend to be a grown up?”
“No,”
“I got it! Maybe, we could pretend to get hurt, and they would send us home!”
“That’s brilliant!”
“I know,”
“Okay, here’s how it’s gonna happen...”
“Ouch! My paw!” screamed Thumper the next day, breaking out in tears.
Two councilors came rushing over immediately.
“What’s wrong?” asked one,
“My paw, I think it’s broken!” sobbed Thumper.
“Why are we helping this kid?” whispered the other councilor, through clenched teeth.
“Because,” whispered the other, back. “His parents might get some lawyers to investigate, considering he got hurt playing on the rusty Playground of Doom,”
“I WANT MY MOMMY!” screamed thumper, at the top of his voice.
“That was the cue,” thought Toffee, from behind the cabin.
Now it was her turn to pretend to get hurt. She crept up against Mt. Sweater, and calculated her position carefully.
“One, two, three!”
Toffee launched herself into the air, but was pulled back suddenly.
“What are you doing?” asked a councilor, holding Toffee by the ear.
Toffee didn’t answer, for she heard a rumbling in the distance.
An avalanche.
“Please, I have to go!” pleaded Toffee.
“You aren’t going anywhere!”
Toffee could now see the massive boulders tumbling down the mountain, gaining speed. She panted, and that was the last she saw, for everything went black.
“Toffee?” called out a voice in the distance.
Toffee blinked her eyes open.
“Where am I?”
“You’re at St. Bear Memorial Hospital, and it’s about 9:00 in the morning,” whispered Thumper.
“You kind of, well, broke every bone in your body,”
“Well, are we out of camp Locker Hater?”
“Yes,”
“Then, that’s good enough for me.” whispered Toffee, as she fell into a peaceful sleep once more.
The End.