The Ghost of Ontario (Part 1) (10 Grade Draft)

Chapter 9: Voices, Flowers, and Eagles

All of Camp Juniper descended the stairs and piled back into our assigned cars. I stared out the window into the forest and watched for the mysterious shadow, but I didn't see it. Perhaps I had just been seeing things?

Dad soon turned on the Excursion, and we pulled back onto the gravelly road. We started forward, and he said, "The sites are just around the corner."

        We drove for about five minutes. Sites 1 and 2 were very close to the ranger station. I was amazed by how fast we got to them. We turned left on the gravelly road into one of the most forestry, buggy-looking areas of Finlayson and pulled right up to Site 1. Uncle Clement pulled up to Site 2. Sites 1 and 2 were right next to each other. I remember both of them were right in front of a swamp hidden in the forest. The swamp was where all the mosquitoes lived. Awesome. This was just what I needed. A campsite that was right in front of a swamp in one of the most bug invested provinces in all of Canada. All right, I do have to admit that I kinda did like the site. The Excursion half of Camp Juniper was going to stay in Site 1, and the Explorer half was going to stay in Site 2. Dad actually did let me choose which site I wanted because I was the only kid there, and yes, I did pick Site 1. I just wanted to get out of the bloody car. I had already been in it for over seven hours. Site 1 was a decent sized site, and the ground was soft enough to make setting up a tent not that difficult. A picnic table was tucked in towards the back of it, and a fireplace was right next to it.

Dad turned off the Excursion, and just to my luck, the second I stepped out of it, bugs attacked me.

"Ugh!" I yelled, and I swatted my arms and legs.

Dad, Mom, Uncle Harrison, Aunt Delia, and Aunt Lydia all together got out of the Excursion, and I saw Aunt Lydia pull a baseball cap with a moose on it and a mosquito net out of it.

While continuing to swat mosquitoes away, I turned my back to her and examined the swamp because that same weird feeling that I was being watched washed over me. Seriously, what was with this? What could be watching me? Don't tell me it was that creepy eagle again! No, it wasn't. It was something else. Something that I'll get to eventually. No, it was not Ihaan. It's going to be awhile before he steps onto set. Now that I have you guys on the edge of your seats, shall I continue? All right.

        I continued to stare at the swamp and swat away bugs, but suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I leaped out of my skin and whirled around. "Aunt Lydia!" I yelled. Yeah, it was Aunt Lydia.

"My, my," she said, and her eyes rotated all around the site, "This is quite the site." Then she focused in on me again, "Here, Kylie," and she held the cap and mosquito net she pulled out of the car to me, "Why don't you go ahead and put the cap on and the mosquito net over it? I'm a bug magnet just like you." That was true. Aunt Lydia too was a bug magnet, so she came prepared with bug supplies as well.

I thanked her and accepted the cap and net.

Aunt Lydia put her own cap and net over her head. The net protected her head, face, and neck. To me, she smiled and said, "This is what I do, Kylie. Watch." A mosquito sluggishly made its way towards her neck. She let it land on her. "I just wait until it lands on me," she explained, and she lifted her hand, "and then I smack it!" She smacked the mosquito on her net, and it fell dead to the ground, "These mosquitoes are sluggish, so they're easy to smack. That's the only problem with being a big mosquito vs. a small one."

I nodded and put the hat over my head. Then I put the net right over it, and officially, I was wearing my bug protection gear. The net made everything look a lot darker, like shades, but at least it kept the bugs off my face and neck. However, shoulders down, I wasn't protected, so the mosquitoes just whined around my arms, legs, and ankles instead.