Going Camping - Chapter 7

It was noon and the sun was high up in the sky when I decided to open my baby blues. What woke me up was not the heat, even if it was close to two hundred degrees in the tent, no it was the fact that it was all silent which was rather unusual being five guys between 15 and 24! Howie was the worst snorer in the group and he was the one that could keep us awake all night. AJ had a habit of doing that too but then it was different sounds that could be heard. I won’t get into more details since its early morning and I want to keep the little I have left in my stomach since yesterday. Crawling out of my sleeping bag I felt very surprised that none of the guys had woke me up and that they all let me sleep in late. Thinking that they were probably concerned over how bad things went for me yesterday as well as giving me a chance to catch up with my sleep I peered out through the opening. Only to find that nobody was out there waiting for me. In other words I was all alone.

"Halloo!" I yelled like some kind of fool but I felt it was best to make my voice heard in case they had decided to go the nearby bushes for an adventure. Why they would do something like that in a group beats me but then I donīt always know what the fella's are up to. For being in the northern part of the world the sun was actually pretty hot; either that or sleeping in a sleeping bag next to four other guys left me sweaty and icky. Comfortably someone had dropped a piece of paper outside the tent and picking it up I wiped my face with it. "Strange," I muttered as I rolled it into a ball and tossed it in the trash bag. Kevin was never one for leaving litter lying around so this was out of his character. Speaking of him, where was that guy anyway?

The fact that no one had blown my face about that I had overslept startled me more than the guys were missing. Shouting their names I expected, hoped, that they would jump out of the bushes as if they were playing soldiers or Indians and then scare me to death with a tomahawk shout. But nothing like that happened. Instead the place stayed unnaturally silent with only one or two birds singing from a tree nearby. This was getting weirder by the second.

Walking, or should I say limping, I noticed that the canoes were still at the shore. This made me think that they couldnīt have gone too far, could they? A disturbing thought popped suddenly up in my mind. What if something happened last night? Something bad! Like if someone came and kidnapped them, an axe murderer or what if some old bear had used them for a midnight snack? The hair rose on my head from fright as I thought more and more about it.

I did my best to try to reason with myself, which is the best way to get the right answer by the way, and then decided that something like that would be pretty farfetched because if a bear were supposed to eat them why had he spared me? AJÂīs words popped suddenly up in my mind. "Because youīre full of shit, Kaos! Thatīs why." He was some dude to have an explanation for everything. Doing my best to press back the panic I felt well up inside me I dismissed the bear explanation mainly because someone that would actually use the guys for a dinner would not get by without instant puking. Especially when they felt Howie's hair products and AJīs smoky breath.

But where did the guys go then?

I must have looked pretty pitiful walking around there on the shore in a foreign country using a large branch as a stick at the same time as I was pondering what to do about the upcoming situation. A brilliant thought crossed my mind. If the guys were still here the car had to be where we left it. With that in mind I set my steps, ok hobbled or limped is more what it was, towards the direction where we parked the small Toyota. My ankle still throbbed from the painful encounter I had with the tree and the sun was making me sweat something awful. I could laugh myself lucky that it wasnīt the Grand Canyon that we had to pass through or even worse the Nevada desert. My pace quickened and hope lit in my eyes as I was about to see the vision of the white car driving up at me. Only to minutes later be faced with my worst nightmare.

There was no car and I was alone.

The guys had left me!!!

The panic that I had done my best to suppress came crashing against me like a hurricane and tears flooded my eyes and then run like a river down my cheeks. . This was NOT something I had expected. Ok I knew that I could be a pain in the ass for them and that they had told me in threats several times that they would leave me somewhere someday if I didnīt stop acting so childish all the time. To that I had laughed loud and clear, sometimes even in their faces, and never in my wildest imagination had I thought that they would make reality of it. Dump me and then leave me alone in Norway! If this wasn't a nightmare than what was?

Pinching my arm I tried to decide if I was still asleep but when my legs suddenly felt like overcooked spaghetti and I was dizzy from it all I realised that it was true. They didnīt want me anymore. I was nothing but a nuisance. Sinking down on the ground I had never felt so small before. What would I do now? Looking at the mountains and at the curvy road ahead of me I decided that walking would be out of the question for now. My ankle hurt too much besides I was pretty sure that if I had to walk that road I would end up motion sick that was how curvy it was. Holding my head in my hands I tried to think of something else. Some other smart solution to the problem Iīd encountered.

Once I was done crying and sobbing anger took over me. I cussed and swore to my so called friends that they were nothing but bastards and I didnīt want to see them ever again. Not that I would ever think I would anyways. The ways things were looking like now I would either starve to death or get bored to death before someone found me. Which was worse I had a hard time to decide.

I have no idea how long I sat there pondering when a new feeling made itself known in my stomach. This time it wasnīt so much the feeling of being lonely, no it was more a growling feeling of hunger. Hoping that they at least had some decency to leave me with some breadcrumbs I hobbled back to my camp. To my sheer and utter surprise I noticed that all the food bags were left as well as the guys personal belongings. Great now I could play E worst dressed whenever I got bored. Iīm sure that both Howie and AJ had something in their bags that would fit.

Ok this was starting to get more creepy. If they had left me why was the stuff still there and why hadnīt they left me a note or anything? That theory about the axe murderer kidnapping them didn’t sound so far off any longer. And it scared me shitless.

Sitting down I pulled out a loaf of white bread, ham and cream cheese and then made myself breakfast. Taking one large drink of coke I started to feel a bit better when the cool liquid ran through my parched lips. This was not what I had expected about this whole trip but maybe going camping wasnīt so bad after all. It could be worse. The sun was shining, birds singing, I had all the food I wanted and best of all I had no one to nag about that I was slobbering with the cheese. Now I could chew with my mouth opened as much as I wanted and I could fart and say dirty words and no one would care. Still I didnīt feel happy.

It was way too lonely and I really missed the guys. Maybe just maybe they would regret themselves for leaving their little brother behind and then they would send out a search squad that would come and get me. That was if they werenīt kidnapped, then such a thing would be too hard to do. Even I knew such a thing. In a wierd sense I hoped for the murder explanation since then it would mean that they hadnīt gotten sick and tired of me and then left me for that reason. I hoped I meant more to them than that.

A guy can always hope canīt he?

After spending my time staring out on the lake for a while, watching some seabirds I was getting rather bored with camping and wildlife. My thoughts kept drifting off to what I could have done to piss the guys off so bad that they left me. Ok I had lots of stuff on my conscious that I had to confess but none had to be so bad that you would ditch someone you said you cared for. At least that is the impression I got from the guys from time to time. I knew I had bugged Kevin yesterday but Kev is pretty good at handling me so that couldnīt be it. In my mind I searched through different events that could have caught such a reaction.

At one time I had tied Kevinīs shoestrings together when he was supposed to stand up from an interview, why he hadnīt seen it coming I had no idea but I think it had something to do with the fact that the interviewer had big breasts and a low cut dress. He was flirting around with her and had no idea what an evil prank he was about to be a victim of. The rest of the guys knew and they all cheered me on, not Howie because he was at home ill at that time which was good since he was the only one that would have stopped me. Although at this time I wished he did because then Kevin wouldnīt have gotten so mad at me. Ok now I am rambling but here is what happened. When Kevin was about to stand up he tripped and fell, flat on his face you might think..Nope he fell flat in the arms or should I say bosom of the interviewer head down into the crack. That gave us all a good laugh and I think that Brian laughed so much that he nearly wet his pants.

I giggled at the memory.

I hadnīt been too nice with AJ either, come to think of it. There was one time when he had thrown out one of my favourite plush animals out of the window claiming that it stank and that I was too old for that kind of stuff and in revenge I put itching powder in his clothes before a show. Iīll tell you that I had never seen AJ dance so wild on a show before. Maybe it should have Brian that had gotten it since he dances like a robot.

Speaking about Brian. It wasnīt my fault that he got in the trouble that he did. I had glued some glue on the toilet seat so AJ would get back from that time when he burned my favourite comic book and was about to call for him to check something out. My plan was to push him on the seat, pants and all of course and then he would get stuck on the glue but somehow the plan backfired when Brian suddenly burst in. How would I know that my main man suddenly got a sudden urge and had to use the premises? It was bad I tell you since we had to call the hotel clerk to help us get something that could get rid of the glue from the toilet seat and Brianīs ass but come to think about it, it was all worth it!

I laughed out loud at the memory only to scare off a few crows that had decided to see if I had left any breadcrumbs for them. The answer was negative.

And then Howie what had I done with him? Or more likely what hadnīt I done with him? Since D is the guy that takes most care of himself, health wise and beauty wise, he is most fun to tease. One time I put mustard in his shampoo then another I put ketchup in his sun lotion. That is just a few of the things that I had done with him and I actually think they are pretty innocent.

I was the prankster in the group. Had been from day one but clearly couldnīt all that lead to my friends leaving me..Could it? Nah I didn’t think so either. It had to be something else.

When a loaf of bread, ham, one package of cream cheese ( I happened to love that kind; plain and nothing in it) as well as two cans of coke and a small bag of chips and cheetos were gone I felt finally full in my stomach. It wasnīt exactly what you might call a healthy breakfast but then I had no one to be on my hair about it so I might as well enjoy the freedom while I could. Digging through my backpack I found my loving Game boy as well as some of my games. Just when I was about to start using the game I remembered something terrible. Something that had me even more upset then the guys leaving me..Ok almost at least.

I had run out of batteries.

"Damn!" I know that Iīm not allowed to swear but then who cares? Itīs not like Kevin can be on my case about it anyway and all that could hear me were the seagulls and I really donīt think that they can rattle to Kevin or the management or even worse my mom. But then what would I know. They could be informants just like they used the pigeons in the Second World War, I think. I was about to throw my Game boy to Kingdom come, after all itīs pretty useless without batteries, when Howieīs face appeared in front of my cornea like an frightening vision. Not a pleasant sight Iīll tell you, especially not on a full stomach. The reason for this vision was that Howie, Sweet D, is the one person I know that always carries everything with him. Always. With that in mind I dug through his bag only to find thousands of different things that be useful on a camping trip, or more likely on a trip downtown LA. There was all stuff you could never imagine existed. Here is some of the stuff I found; Penknife - Ok could come in handy if I was going to defend myself to that bear I had so vividly thought about.

Hair dye - If I wanted to turn my hair a darker shade, more likely black, but why I would do that is beyond my comprehension.

A cloth brush - Come on D why would you need something like that on a trip like this? I mean itīs not like we're going off to meet Cindy Crawford, besides I heard Richard Gere have already put his claves into her so sorry dude youīre a bit late. Note; I am grinning widely at this.

Ten pair of Backstreet boxers. All grey - Ok Howie they look good but ten pairs? Itīs not weīre going to be stuck out here forever. Is it?

Digging further I come up with all sorts of different things. Itīs like Sweet D has brought along his whole medical kit and there are pills that I had no idea that existed. Ex Lax?? Why would you need something like that on a camping trip??? That was if you were not as anal as Kevin could be.

I groaned. No batteries!

"Shit..Damn..fuck!" The words were not nice. But what do you think? A guy in need is one evil son of a bitch, a guy without a Game boy is even worse. "Come on. Come on.." I urged, digging further into his bag, closing my eyes in a prayer and then. Just then my fingers connected with a well-known package.

Batteries. "Thank you Iīm saved." I whispered as I picked up the wanted package kissing it in the process. My boring time had ended and now I knew what to do until either the rescue team or even betterthe guys had decided that they missed their Frack and came back for me.