Assignment #2 Fearless Bob
“Mommy! Mommy!” I screamed, running down the long, dark hallway. “Mommy! Mommy!” My fear eased slightly when I saw my mother’s silhouette in the doorway of her bedroom.
“Johnny, Honey, what’s wrong?” Her voice was so calm and soothing.
I thought to myself, how could she be so calm when there are monsters in my closet? “I’m scared, Mommy!” I was trembling when she knelt down and put her warm, comforting arms around me. “There is something in my closet, Mommy! I know there is!”
“How can there be monsters in there if the light is on?” she asked me.
“The monsters turned the light off, Mommy!”
“Let’s go look.”
I became more terrified. “No, Mommy, no! You can’t go in there! They will get you!”
“It’s okay, Johnny. There is no such thing as monsters. Let’s go see what happened to the light.”
I was still scared, but I followed closely behind her. I was certainly not going to stay in that dark hallway alone. When we reached my bedroom, Mommy turned the light on. My eyes went straight to the dark shadows in the window, which looked like long arms reaching out to grab me from a bottomless black pit. My mom went to the closet and reached for the string hanging from the light. I barely stopped her in time, “Mommy, don’t go in there!”
“It’s okay,” she assured me. When she pulled the string, nothing happened. I waited in anticipation for some horrible creature with sharp fangs and red eyes to jump out at her, but nothing happened. Then, she turned to me, “See, the light bulb went out; that’s all. It’s okay. See, there’s nothing in here.”
“Are you sure?” I whispered.
“Come see for yourself.” I hesitated before I walked over to her. She moved aside so I could look inside the closet. Just as she had promised, there was nothing there. I felt a little better, but I was still scared. “You can sleep with us tonight if you are still scared, and tomorrow, we will get you a new light bulb. Okay?” I nodded. She hugged me tightly, making me feel safe.
The next morning at breakfast, everyone seemed to be safe and happy, which made me think maybe Mommy was right. If there had been a monster, surely it would have gotten my older brother Joey! But he was still alive, stealing my breakfast as always. As Joey shoved eggs and toast into his mouth like a starved animal, my father sat across from him, hardly eating at all. He looked like he was thinking really hard about something, and when he had that serious look on his face, we knew not to say anything to him.
Then, he looked at each us, curiously. “How would you boys like to go camping next weekend?”
With food hanging from his mouth, Joey popped off, “That would be cool, Dad! We could go camping out in the woods, and go fishing and hiking.”
Daddy smiled, “You’d like that, huh?” Then he looked at me, “How about you, Johnny? How would you like sleep outside under the stars and roast hot dogs and marshmallows over a campfire? Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
“Oh, yeah, Dad, that sounds great!” popped off Joey again, and Daddy just smiled.
I had never been camping before; I didn’t know if I would like it, being outside in the woods at night. That didn’t sound very exciting to me at all, especially after last night. When I looked at Mommy, she seemed to know what I was thinking.
“We’d all be together the entire time, having fun as a family,” she said. Somehow, that seemed to make it sound better. I knew I would be okay as long as Mom and Dad were with me.
Then, Joey poked me in the arm. “We’d have fun, Johnny! We could yell and play and swim all we wanted to, all day if we wanted to! It would be great!”
I smiled at the idea of being able to play and swim all day without having to do chores or homework. “Okay,” I said, “Going camping does sound like fun.”
“Great!” exclaimed my dad, “Then, that is what we will do next weekend!”
The next week seemed to fly by quickly. Mom started packing for our camping trip on Wednesday. School let out early on Thursday for the Easter holidays. We wouldn’t have to go back to school until Tuesday, giving us four days to spend on our camping trip. I was beginning to get excited about it. We woke up early Friday morning, loaded up the van with all of our camping gear, and headed for the woods.
I had no idea where we were going, but it seemed like we were driving for a very long time. I just wanted to hurry and get there so I could play. As he drove, Daddy told us, “You boys are going to just love this place! If I’m not mistaken, I believe there is even a small lake where we can go swimming and fishing. There are even some small hills we can hike up and cliffs we can try to climb maybe. I can’t wait to show you boys all the excitement an outdoor adventure can offer!” Mommy just smiled; his enthusiasm made us happy and anxious. “Don’t worry, we’ll be there soon!”
The next hour passed more quickly. Soon, towering trees surrounded us. We knew we were close. Then we turned onto a dirt road, which ended abruptly at the site of a small clearing in the woods. Daddy stopped the van and said this would be where we would set up our campsite. There wasn’t a single person in sight. It wasn’t at all like I had imagined. As soon as we had helped unload the van, Joey and I wanted to go swimming.
“Hey, Dad, where’s the lake?” inquired Joey.
“Hold up, boys; let your mom and I finish unpacking the camping gear.”
I stood by and allowed Joey to do all the begging. Daddy could obviously tell we were anxious to begin this adventure, so he finally consented. “You will have to walk a little way to get to the lake. It should be on the other side of that patch of trees there.” He pointed to the trees on the other side of the clearing. “But be very careful going through the woods. Watch out for snakes especially!”
“We will, Daddy!” We yelled simultaneously, as we raced to the trees. By the time we reached them, we were exhausted from running so hard. We stopped to catch our breaths before going any further. Through the looming trees above us, we could see only small flickers of sunlight. To me, the branches looked like long, crooked witches’ fingers reaching out to grab us. Joey must’ve seen the fear in my eyes. “Come on, Johnny! We have to hurry if we are going to have enough time to swim before it gets dark.”
I forgot about the menacing trees and quickened my pace behind him. Soon, he started to slow down. He seemed to be confused. “What’s the matter, Joey? Did you see a snake or something?” I asked.
“No,” he answered, looking around curiously. The trees were getting taller and the brush was thick enough that we couldn’t see very far in any direction. “How far did Dad say the lake was?” he asked.
“I don’t know. He said we would have to walk a long way to get to it.”
“Yeah, I know, but it seems like we’ve already been walking a long time. I’m going to be too tired to swim by the time we get there.”
“I know. I’m starting to get tired, too. Maybe we should stop and rest for a minute,” I said.
“We don’t have time to rest. It’s going to be dark soon.” He hesitated for a moment, looking around him. He noticed that a fallen tree a few feet ahead of us and motioned for me to follow him. “Here,” he pointed, “You sit on this tree trunk and rest while I investigate to see what is past those trees over there.” He pointed in the opposite direction.
“I don’t want to sit here by myself.”
“I won’t be long, Johnny. I am just going right over there and I’ll be back in a few minutes. Okay?”
“You promise, Joey? Just a few minutes?”
“Yes, I’ll be right back.” Then he scurried along toward the group of trees.
I sat there for as few moments and waited. Then I stood and paced back and forth, getting anxious. Those few minutes seemed really long to me. I felt like the trees were beginning to close in on me. Suddenly, I could hear all these noises around me, birds, crickets and even noises I didn’t recognize. I shook my head and held my hands over my ears to block out the sounds. I didn’t like being in those woods and regretted agreeing to this stupid camping trip. I wanted to go home. After a few more minutes, I yelled out, “Joey,” but there was no answer. I could feel my heart start to race inside my chest. “Joey!” I yelled again. There was still no answer. I searched desperately in every direction for him, to see if I could see him anywhere. Everything looked the same to me and I couldn’t remember which way he had gone. “Joey!” I screamed louder. There was silence. I hoped he was just playing a trick on me; why wasn’t he answering? I was scared and I started running in the direction we had come from, or so I thought. Soon, I realized I didn’t know where I was going, but I had to find Joey. I yelled out his name over and over and each time he didn’t answer, I became more afraid. I kept running, desperately searching for him. I could tell it was starting to get dark, and I ran faster through the woods.
I stopped only when I needed to catch my breath. Then I kept running. I don’t know how long I ran, but the fear of being alone in the dark kept me from stopping. Ahead of me, I could see the sun was about to disappear behind the hills. My heart started to race faster. Soon, I came to the clearing where my parents had set up camp. For a moment, I felt relieved. “Mom!” I screamed, “Dad!” There was no answer. I could see the campsite in the distance as I hurried toward it. My imagination was racing with weird ideas of what might have happened to my family. I wondered if a bear had eaten them all or if they had found the lake and fallen in and drowned. I was scared that something horrible had happened to them. “Mommy!” I yelled. “Mommy!” When I finally got to the camp, there was no one in sight. The tent was up, the van was still parked in the same place, but no one was there. “What has happened to my family?” I cried. “Mommy! Daddy!” I yelled, “Where are you?” I waited for a moment but there was only silence. The tears were streaming down my cheeks. The sun had disappeared, leaving barely enough light for me to stumble to the pile of camping gear and clothes near the tent. I scrambled through the duffle bags, looking for a flashlight. Finally I found one but it didn’t work.
I searched for something else I could use to see with. Then I came across some matches and long slender candles. I hesitated, remembering the many times I had been warned not to touch matches, that they were dangerous, that I might accidentally start a fire. I didn’t know what to do. “Mommy!” I wailed. Cautiously, my hands trembling, I tried to strike the match. Nothing happened. I tried again. A tiny flame burst from the end of it like magic. My eyes fixed on the bright flame. Feeling the heat from it, I dropped it instantly. Then realizing what I had done, I stomped on it fiercely until it went out. “I have to do this quickly,” I thought,” Before I burn myself.” I got the candle ready and lit another match. Quickly, I lit the candle; then I threw the match down. The flame on the match flickered out in the dirt. I was starting to calm down a little since I could now see what was around me. I tried to think where would my parents have gone. Why weren’t they at the campsite? I walked back toward the woods, trying to be brave. As I neared the frightening trees, I noticed I was still shaking.
“I have to find my family!” I said to myself, “I have to be brave for them, in case they are in danger.”
For a moment, all I could hear was my feet crunching against the leaves. Then, I thought I heard someone whisper my name. “Johnny.” The voice was very faint, but sounded like it was very close to me.
I looked around but couldn’t see anybody. “Joey? Is that you?” I asked.
There was no answer. Then, I heard it again, “Johnny.”
“Joey? Where are you, Joey?” I questioned insistently, but there was still no answer.
I took a few more steps. The night air was silent. “Johnny.” There was that voice again, whispering my name. I could hear my stomach turning and my heart thumping loudly.
“Who’s there?” I cried, “Mommy? Daddy?”
“Johnny.” The voice sounded like it was right next to my ear. I jerked around suddenly, but there was no one in sight. I was getting very scared now. “Johnny.” At that moment, I looked at the candle in my hand; it appeared to be moving, almost wiggling between my fingers. I dropped it instantly and quickly backed away. It was still moving.
“Now I’m going crazy,” I said to myself.
“Johnny.” The candle stood by itself, like it was alive.
I screamed and ran back to the clearing.
“Johnny!” yelled the voice, “Don’t leave me here! I’m sorry I scared you! Pick me up! Pick me up!” I stopped, looking behind me. “Johnny! Come back!”
I shook my head, “No, this is too weird. The candle is not alive,” I tried to convince myself. Then I laughed. “Calm down, Johnny. It’s okay,” I told myself. “You are just scared out here alone. Nothing is going to hurt you.” I tried to think of what my mother would say to me now. I walked back to where I had dropped the candle. I saw a little flame flickering a few feet away from me.
As I reached down to pick it up, it spoke again, “Johnny! Thank goodness you came back! I’m sorry I scared you; I was just having fun.”
I stared at the candle, completely bewildered. “Who are you? What do you want?”
“I’m Bob,” it said. “I just want to help you find your family.”
“How do you know my name? How do you know I’m looking for my family?”
“It’s okay, Johnny. I want to be your friend. I know your name because I was in the van with you all the way up here.”
“This is weird. Candles don’t talk.”
“I know, Johnny, but see, I’m special. So, do you want my help or not?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, you can’t see very well without me, and I know how afraid you are of the dark, so let me help you.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
“Well, first, you need to pick me up before we start a forest fire. That wouldn’t be cool.” Then he laughed. “Cool, get it? I’m so funny.”
“You are not funny.”
“Lighten up, Johnny. I’m harmless.” The candle looked around and laughed again. “Get it? Lighten up?” I just looked at him, still confused. “Pick me up.” I carefully picked him up. “Laugh, Johnny; that was funny.”
“I’m scared. My parents are lost. My brother is lost. I don’t feel like laughing.”
“I’m sorry, Johnny. I was just trying to make you feel better. I know you are sad.”
“Are you going to really help me find them?”
“Oh yeah, of course,” said Bob, glancing around. “Let’s go that way.” He nodded to the left. As we walked, Bob yelled out, “Joey!”
Then I yelled, “Joey!” We kept walking when there was no answer. All I could see was maybe a few feet in front of me, but for some reason, I wasn’t afraid with Bob there. “Mom!” We both hollered.
We trampled along through the dark woods, my new friend and I, in search of my family. We ventured through the shadows, unknowing of what lay ahead of us. We talked about different things as we walked. He asked me what made me so afraid of the dark.
“It’s scary,” I answered. “Monsters hide in the dark. People get hurt in the dark.”
“Have you ever been hurt in the dark?” he asked me.
“No.”
“Have you ever seen a monster?”
I reflected for a moment. “Well, no.”
“Then why do you think that?”
“I’ve seen other people get hurt,” I answered.
“Who?”
“People on TV.”
“TV isn’t real. Those are just actors, pretending to get hurt. And the monsters on TV are just make believe.”
“They look real!” I blurted.
“There aren’t any monsters in real life like the ones on TV. That’s why you don’t have to be afraid of the dark.”
After thinking for a moment, I responded, “Well, I’m only scared when I’m alone.”
“Well, maybe you are more scared of being alone than you are of being in the dark. Well, right now, you aren’t alone, Johnny. I’m here.”
I smiled. He was right, I thought to myself. With him there, I wasn’t frightened at all. As we walked along a little further, I felt my shoes sink into some soft, mushy mud. “Hey, it’s muddy here. Maybe we are close to the lake my Daddy was talking about.”
“Maybe we are!” exclaimed Bob, “But I can’t see very far a—ahhhhhh!”
Suddenly, it felt as if the ground disappeared beneath us as we went sliding down a hill in the mud. We both shrieked with excitement as we bounced over rocks and tree limbs. Then we ended up in a heap at the bottom of the hill. “Wow! That was fun!”
“Woa! Now, that was scary!” yelped Bob. “I’m surprised I’m still lit after that.”
“I held on tight to you, Bob.”
“Thanks, Johnny, I could’ve really been hurt terribly.”
“I wouldn’t let you get hurt; you’re my friend.”
Bob smiled as I wiped the mud off his wax. I held him up and looked around. Ahead of us, I noticed there weren’t many trees. I wondered if indeed we were at the lake. In the silence, I could hear what sounded like water trickling in a stream. “Mom!” yelled Bob, breaking the silence. We listened for an answer. Suddenly, I thought I heard something in the distance.
“Sshh, did you hear that?”
“What?” asked Bob.
“I thought I heard something.” I paused. “Mom!” I screamed. Then I heard my name being called from far away. I was very faint. “Mom?” I yelled again.
This time, Bob heard the same thing. “Mom!” he shrieked. Then he looked at me. “I heard somebody that time. It’s them! They’re okay!”
“Johnny? Is that you? Where are you, Baby?” My mom’s voice sounded far away.
“Mom! I’m over here! I’m okay! Where are you?”
“We’re by the lake! Can you see the flashlight, Son?” My dad’s voice was much louder and clearer.
“Daddy? It’s dark out here! I can’t see anything!” As I looked all about us, I thought I glimpsed a small light off in the distance. “Wait! I think I do see the flashlight! Hold it up more!”
The light seemed to move upward slightly, and I knew it was my dad. “Is that better?” screamed my dada. “Can you see it now?”
“Yes!” I shrieked with relief. “Stay right there! I’m coming that way!”
“Be careful, Johnny! The water is hard to see in the dark!” yelled my mom.
I could barely see the reflection of the flashlight in the water as Bob and I carefully made our way toward my parents.
“Be careful, Johnny! Watch out for the lake there,” said Bob, sounding a little depressed.
“I see it now. I couldn’t see it before. My parents are right over there,” I pointed. “We have to get to them.”
“Hold me out a little further so I can help you see where you are going.”
“Thanks, Bob! I never would have found my parents without you!”
“No problem, Johnny! That’s what friends are for, to help each other!” Bob hesitated for a few moments. “I think you had better hurry!” I could hear the depression and fear in his voice.
“Why? What’s wrong, Bob?”
“I’m burning up pretty fast. I’m not going to last much longer, Johnny.”
I stopped and looked at this little candle in my hand. He was much smaller now than when we left the campsite. I realized he was melting away quickly. “What happens when your fire goes out and I can’t light you anymore?” I asked him.
“Then I’ll be gone, Johnny.”
“What about our friendship? You can’t just go away!”
“We’ll always be friends, Johnny! Don’t forget that!” For a moment, I thought I saw a drop of water trickle down his wax and wondered if it was a tear.
“I’ll miss you, Bob! Thank you for everything.” I could feel my own eyes filling with tears.
“I’ll miss you, too, Buddy! Now, hurry and get to your family. They’re waiting for you!”
I smiled and held him tightly as I hastened towards my family. I thought to myself, I would never forget the new friend I made that night. I knew no one would ever believe my story of our adventure in the woods, in search of my family, but it didn’t matter. He was my special friend and no one else’s.