Imaginer

4 - Where There is a Crazy Camper

         “Why are you here, then?”

         I winced inwardly at his verbal stab. Instead of letting my face crumple like I would with anyone else, I shrugged my small shoulders indifferently. “My mom’s taking a nap so she made me come here.”

         Dark green shoots burst through the ground, replacing the white flowers and dwarfing the dandelions. My eyes were drawn towards the new plant I had no name for. There were no flowers among the leaves.

         Why are they fuzzy? I thought, wanting to reach out and touch it. I imagined it would tickle at first, but it looked so soft, like Horace.

         Jacoby threw his rubber ball ferociously at my shoes and it ricocheted off my toe and bounced away into the underbrush.

         “Ow!” I yelped. I scowled and raised my foot off the ground, nursing it. “What did you do that for?”

         It was Jacoby’s turn to shrug. “Where did my bouncy ball go?”

         “I don’t know. Somewhere there,” I said, pointing in the general direction the rainbow ball had bounced to.

         “Well come on. Help me look for it,” he said impatiently.

         With a huff, I placed my foot back down onto the ground and tramped into the bushes after Jacoby. His mother called out and told us not to wander too far.

         We both crouched down on the ground and squinted at the greenery. The bouncy ball should not have been hard to find. Amidst the green and brown colours, that rainbow ball would stand out like a beacon.

         “Where is it?” Jacoby grumbled, leaning forward on his toes and narrowing his eyes even further, huffing because we had searched all over but hadn’t found it.

         A grin spread across my face as I extended my hand, fingers splayed, and gave his back a shove. He toppled onto his front with a grunt, head landing in a tuft of wispy greenery.

         Bang!

         I gave a start as a firework appeared out of nowhere and exploded in a burst of stars.

         Jacoby was on his feet in a split second, towering over my crouched form. His mud-streaked face was impassive, but more fireworks were banging and crashing against each other as he took a step towards me.

         Mreeow!

         Cat? No, it’s a weird orange flower.

         I scrambled back on all fours like a crab, but he crushed me in an instant, yanking at my hair and making me yell and pummel him as hard as I could.

         “Get off me!” I shouted as he pushed my head back into the dirt.

         “Say sorry!” Jacoby yelled back, his hands balled around my shirtsleeves as I managed to get my feet under his chest and pushed him up and off. He did not lose his grip on my shirt and I tumbled forward with him.

         The momentum sent us flying into the air and we hit the ground with a thump.

         “Oomph!”

         “Let go, Jacoby!” I screamed, sinking my fist into his cheek and hearing my knuckles crack upon contact.

         “Argh! You’re going to pay for that, Jasslyn!” He got a hold of my hair again and yanked even harder than before.