"Camp Hunting Night Bear might be a bit more accurate." Stephen said, his eyes wide, slowly turning to look behind him in the direction of Camp Wunnie-Brydare. "There are bears in them there woods. With huge claws and huge teeth." He finished in a thick southern accent. The other boys sitting on the dock just watched and listened on with a touch of wonderment and fear. "I heard it was once called Camp Running Night Mare" Jarred started "There's some old hermit living out there and he chases kids into his caaaaave............... and they never returrrrrrrrn. Some say that they have even seen the hermit in Gruberville." The Jenkins kid was startled by a quick snag on his fishing line and screeched out a short "Ahhhhh!". Everyone else jumped a bit, then Jarred gave him a poke in the arm for startling him too. It was getting a bit late and the sun was dropping lower behind the trees now. Jarred and Stephen had planned a boys only camp out over at the pond. They invited several other boys, but only four boys showed up. The Jenkins kid showed along with Viola's little brother Donald, Stephen's brother James and Fast Freddy showed up singing some goofy little song about peanuts and popcorn on a wintery night. And now for the first time in a long time Freddy was kept silent by the stories of Camp Wunnie-Brydare. The Camp was originally opened in 1968, by Retired Marine Corps Major Brian Brydare. The Major had looked for a summer camp to send he grandsons to for a couple of weeks. He would say "Nothing builds character like ruffing it for a while". When he could find nothing with in 200 miles, he made a final decision as to where he would spend the money his late mother Wunnifred Brydare left to him. Wunnie was an entrepreneur. After years of experimenting she had her own company that rivaled Betty Crocker; Recipe's were her passion, and talent. She could make anything taste good. And yeah, it was supposed to be Winifred with an "I" not a "U". No one really knows what happened to her name. Some friends called Wun, some Wunnie and others even Bunnie. So on a warm sunny day while lying in his hammock, "I'll build the camp myself." The major said standing up from his afternoon nap in a waking revelation. His grandsons were 10 at the time, and two years later Camp Wunnie-Brydare was open to all boys 12 to 18. What about dogs? Can dogs come? I wanna go and see what a bear looks like; Huge claws?!? Yeah right. These two boys are making that up. Bears are probably no bigger than that squirrel I chased up the tree in Mrs. Knorr's yard.
Still sitting at the dock, with the younger boys fishing lines still in the water, Stephen continued weaving a tale of suspense and slight horror "The kid ran and ran through the woods but no matter which way he'd go he would always end up right back at the camp fire. He never ran into any of his friends either." Stephen voice got a little lower. "Finally he decide to try and hide near the camp fire and hope that the hermit would just give up or look somewhere else. So he backed into the small opening of a hollowed out tree and stood up inside. He had to step on tip toe to look out a small peep hole that was made by some bird. And then he started to wait. And wait. And wait. Eventually the kid fell asleep." The others boys breathed a little sigh of relief. James checked his fishing line for the fifth time in 2 minutes. "Leave it in there you dolt." Stephen said popping him on the brim of his hat. Stephen was trying to teach James the patients of fishing. "Whathappenedtothatkid?" Freddy asked. "Well.....after a while he woke up and it was dark. He tried to move but felt like the tree had shrunk down over his body. He could feel air move on his face, but he couldn't see anything. He softly said 'Hello?', and 1 second later there was a hello that came back. It sounded like another kid. He thought maybe one of his buddies got away, and was calling back to him. He tried hard but couldn't see anything. Not even the night sky. He thought it must be really cloudy out if he couldn't even see any stars. He said hello again, and again hello was called back. But he was afraid to say to much more. He heard some rocks and sticks rustling noises in the distance, and they seemed to be coming closer. He hoped that one of his friends was coming. The noises came closer and then he heard some sticks being dropped. His friend must be getting ready to light a fire he thought. But what he couldn't figure out was how long he had been asleep before now, becuase the camp fire was going real good when he backed into the tree." Stephen looked around at all the other kids faces and could tell they were all pretty intrigued. He gave a little side wink to Jarred, who then stood up and said "I gotta go take a leek." Stephen continued. "The noises sounded like someone was now walking away. So the kid said hello one more time. And once again the hello came back. This time he added 'where are you?' and the response that came back......" Stephen paused for a second and looked around cautious like. Around the pond was only a light glow of dark blue in the sky now and many stars could be seen." ......was 'where are you?'. The kid recognized the voice this time. It was his own voice. He was hearing himself call back. It was his echo, and HE.... Was In The Cave of Screams." James made a slight gasping sound. Donald moved an inch closer toward Freddy who now had a death grip on his fishing pole. Stephen looked up and away from the boys once again and bringing his eyebrows down said "Where's Jarred?!? He should be back by now." The other four look around a bit but didn't offer any suggestions. Stephen changed his face expression again raising his brows up high and shrugging his shoulders slightly and continued like 'no big deal'. "Anyway, still unable to move the kid closed his eyes real tight hoping that when he opened them again he would be able to see even a little bit of light, but instead he saw nothing. Nothing but pitch blackness. Then after a little while he heard the noises again. Coming Closer And Closer. Then, they seemed to stop right in front of him. 'Hello?' he said trying hard to see anything at all. " The boys all heard a sound in the water, and every single fishing pole came flying out like a whip. Another gasp, but this time from the Jenkins kid. (Still can't think of what his first name is?)
Stephen went on with the story "Then the kid heard a scratching sound and saw a spark, then another scratch and spark, and yet another until on the fourth scratch a single match burned into a flame. The kid squinted his eyes from the brightness of the flame after being in the dark for so long. Then, as his eyes came into focus...." Stephen looked around and behind himself this time. "There He Was. Standing right in front of the kid. It was the hermit." The other four boys looked at one another with eyes wide open. There was a small sense of fear, but more so was the anticipation to what was coming next. "The hermit and the kid just stared at each other for almost a full minute. The match was burning kind of low, so the hermit tossed it onto the pile of sticks that was about 4 feet away. They continued to look into each others eyes, when the kid said 'he-he-hello?!?'. The hermit raised his eyebrows, turned his head toward the fire, and snapped it back over to the kid and said..." Just then Jarred came jumping out of the water with his arms flapping around and screamed. "YOU WANT TO MAKE SOME S'MORES?" Almost jumping out of their skin, the four younger boys screamed jumping up and running into each other with their fishing poles whipping about. James got a hook in his shorts and yelped like...well like a dog would. Just like I would have. Stephen was laughing so hard that he lost his balance at the edge of the dock and fell back into and under the water. The younger guys calmed down just long enough for Stephen to come flying up out of the water screaming "S'MORES S'MORES" causing an all new frenzy. Me? I just laid there. I heard the rehearsal the night before. Yeah, it scared me too.
Henry the dog.
Still sitting at the dock, with the younger boys fishing lines still in the water, Stephen continued weaving a tale of suspense and slight horror "The kid ran and ran through the woods but no matter which way he'd go he would always end up right back at the camp fire. He never ran into any of his friends either." Stephen voice got a little lower. "Finally he decide to try and hide near the camp fire and hope that the hermit would just give up or look somewhere else. So he backed into the small opening of a hollowed out tree and stood up inside. He had to step on tip toe to look out a small peep hole that was made by some bird. And then he started to wait. And wait. And wait. Eventually the kid fell asleep." The others boys breathed a little sigh of relief. James checked his fishing line for the fifth time in 2 minutes. "Leave it in there you dolt." Stephen said popping him on the brim of his hat. Stephen was trying to teach James the patients of fishing. "Whathappenedtothatkid?" Freddy asked. "Well.....after a while he woke up and it was dark. He tried to move but felt like the tree had shrunk down over his body. He could feel air move on his face, but he couldn't see anything. He softly said 'Hello?', and 1 second later there was a hello that came back. It sounded like another kid. He thought maybe one of his buddies got away, and was calling back to him. He tried hard but couldn't see anything. Not even the night sky. He thought it must be really cloudy out if he couldn't even see any stars. He said hello again, and again hello was called back. But he was afraid to say to much more. He heard some rocks and sticks rustling noises in the distance, and they seemed to be coming closer. He hoped that one of his friends was coming. The noises came closer and then he heard some sticks being dropped. His friend must be getting ready to light a fire he thought. But what he couldn't figure out was how long he had been asleep before now, becuase the camp fire was going real good when he backed into the tree." Stephen looked around at all the other kids faces and could tell they were all pretty intrigued. He gave a little side wink to Jarred, who then stood up and said "I gotta go take a leek." Stephen continued. "The noises sounded like someone was now walking away. So the kid said hello one more time. And once again the hello came back. This time he added 'where are you?' and the response that came back......" Stephen paused for a second and looked around cautious like. Around the pond was only a light glow of dark blue in the sky now and many stars could be seen." ......was 'where are you?'. The kid recognized the voice this time. It was his own voice. He was hearing himself call back. It was his echo, and HE.... Was In The Cave of Screams." James made a slight gasping sound. Donald moved an inch closer toward Freddy who now had a death grip on his fishing pole. Stephen looked up and away from the boys once again and bringing his eyebrows down said "Where's Jarred?!? He should be back by now." The other four look around a bit but didn't offer any suggestions. Stephen changed his face expression again raising his brows up high and shrugging his shoulders slightly and continued like 'no big deal'. "Anyway, still unable to move the kid closed his eyes real tight hoping that when he opened them again he would be able to see even a little bit of light, but instead he saw nothing. Nothing but pitch blackness. Then after a little while he heard the noises again. Coming Closer And Closer. Then, they seemed to stop right in front of him. 'Hello?' he said trying hard to see anything at all. " The boys all heard a sound in the water, and every single fishing pole came flying out like a whip. Another gasp, but this time from the Jenkins kid. (Still can't think of what his first name is?)
Stephen went on with the story "Then the kid heard a scratching sound and saw a spark, then another scratch and spark, and yet another until on the fourth scratch a single match burned into a flame. The kid squinted his eyes from the brightness of the flame after being in the dark for so long. Then, as his eyes came into focus...." Stephen looked around and behind himself this time. "There He Was. Standing right in front of the kid. It was the hermit." The other four boys looked at one another with eyes wide open. There was a small sense of fear, but more so was the anticipation to what was coming next. "The hermit and the kid just stared at each other for almost a full minute. The match was burning kind of low, so the hermit tossed it onto the pile of sticks that was about 4 feet away. They continued to look into each others eyes, when the kid said 'he-he-hello?!?'. The hermit raised his eyebrows, turned his head toward the fire, and snapped it back over to the kid and said..." Just then Jarred came jumping out of the water with his arms flapping around and screamed. "YOU WANT TO MAKE SOME S'MORES?" Almost jumping out of their skin, the four younger boys screamed jumping up and running into each other with their fishing poles whipping about. James got a hook in his shorts and yelped like...well like a dog would. Just like I would have. Stephen was laughing so hard that he lost his balance at the edge of the dock and fell back into and under the water. The younger guys calmed down just long enough for Stephen to come flying up out of the water screaming "S'MORES S'MORES" causing an all new frenzy. Me? I just laid there. I heard the rehearsal the night before. Yeah, it scared me too.
Henry the dog.
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