Marshmallow

I’m always excited for this time during fall. I go on a camping trip see my friend Joel and his family. Joel has read hair that covers his head and he is at least a head taller than me.We arrived at the camp thirty minutes late as usual. My friend Joel had already set up his tent while we were pulling in. It was a campsite in door county that we go to every year.

 There we meet up with my friend Joel and his family, he has a step-dad and he came along to. He has a dog named Rufus and it barks so much it drives me insane. That's why I requested a campsite that wasn't next to theirs. I feel pity for their neighbors.

 We set up our camp and we all drove down to the beach. Me and Joel went swimming and he pulled out a dead lobster and started chasing me with it. I ran ashore and we played in the sand awhile with his little brother. His step-dad started making jokes about how the sand looked like poop. After it started getting dark we started to go back to his camp and make smores. They were really yummy, then we all had some and me, Joel, and his siblings all played ghosts in the graveyard. We had so much fun I was disappointed when my mom told me that I had to go back to bed.

We went back to our camp. And oddly  enough we all fell asleep right away. I was sleeping soundly until the sound of Joel's dog barking awoke me. He sounded really close and I noticed I could see his silhouette outside of our tent. My parents both woke up and tried to take the dog back to his own camp. When we started heading towards Joel's he just ran as fast as his large legs could carry him.

 When he had noticed we weren't following he started barking a lot and we quickened the pace. Once we arrived at Joel's campsite I had a feeling something was wrong. Rufus was nudging at their tent door so my mom sort of knocked on the tent to wake somebody up. There was no noise. My dad became impatient and just opened the door himself to look in. He took a short gasp and turned pale. My mom looked in and started shivering to. It wasn't anywhere near being cold out. It was my turn to look in and the sight made me turn numb.

Everybody was missing. We wanted to find them, but as closer inspection to the tent it looked like there had been a struggle. My dad noticed it was quieter and we realized that there was no more Rufus. He was gone. My mom called out "Rufus!" and barking started coming from the east woods. We all ventured out into the woods to find him until we realized we were lost. Something bumped into me and I yelled out in shock.

My parents both turned and looked but it was only Rufus, I patted him. I scrunched my eyebrows and strained my ears. In the distance  I heard a peculiar dripping. I asked if my parents had heard it but they both shook their heads. I asked them if we could search out the noise and they said sure.

I traveled along but then it stopped. I kept going in the direction but it started up again. It was now coming from a different direction, I crept along that way until I came to a clearing. A flashlight was in the center with a piece of paper by it. I picked up the flashlight and turned it on. I then read the note, it said "Shine the light up if you please, but the sight will surely bring you to your knees." I shined it up and I fell in horror.

All of Joel's family, including him, were hanging from the trees by a rope. Their necks were all bent at a funny angle with their mouths wide open. I closed my eyes and wished this all away but once my eyes were back open nothing changed.I figured out that the dripping was coming from a water bottle hanging on Mrs. Esveldt’s fanny pack. A rumbling sound came from the bush and I turned. A large man came tumbling out of the brush and started sprinting our way. He kept on running and I was frozen to the spot. My legs finally came unfrozen when he was just about face to face with me. I ran away as fast as I could and a started following my parents.

We kept going. Then we hit a highway and hitchhiked our way back to camp. We packed up and left as fast as we could. And now, every night, I have dreams with Joel and the creepy man chasing me with large knives. Every time I see someone or something that resembles him, I quickly turn around or hide in a crowd or something near, because as much as I hope he isn't, I think he is Joel's deceased Dad