Trouble in the Forest

Vacation Gone Awry: Chapter 4

It was currently about 11:30 AM and the Parkers had been hiking through a path in the woods for a few hours. Ever since the news that morning, they had been slightly on edge and more aware of their surroundings. The unease could be felt lingering in the humid air but nobody addressed it. Instead, the Parkers continued their hike through the forest as if nothing had changed.

They were about halfway through their hike and within another hour they would have reached their destination for their picnic. For lunch, Anna had packed everybody a sandwich, a bag of potato chips, a chocolate chip cookie, and a bottle of water. In addition, there were small packets of trail mix in case somebody needed an extra snack on the way there or back to the lake house.

Jamie was currently eating her bag of trail mix and as she walked she would occasionally toss a nut into the brush for a wild squirrel to find and munch on. Josh was sipping on his water while he walked, listening to Jamie excitedly point out different animals she spotted as they went and toss food at them. Meanwhile, Anna and William were in front of them both, leading the way.

William said to Anna, "Hun, you are going to love the view at this place I found for us to eat lunch at! According to the internet, it used to be a summer camp but it got shut down in the 1990s because the owner of the camp passed away. Since the owner never married or had any children, there was a huge feud over who would run it after his death. In the end, the summer camp was shut down permanently because nobody could agree on anything."

Anna laughed, "You always manage to find the most unique of places."

Sure enough, in another fifty minutes, William pushed aside some branches to reveal a path that led to a large opening. There was a sizable cabin to the right of them and on the far left side of the camp, there were multiple smaller cabins evenly spaced out. The grass was overgrown with weeds after years of neglect, and moss was evidently spreading on the sides of the cabins. However, the cabins and overgrowth are not what drew the Parker's attention.

Behind the cabins, a vast lake lay glittering under the afternoon sun. It was surrounded by trees on all sides and an abandoned canoe lay peacefully on the shore of the lake.

William loudly exclaimed, "Ha! Just as beautiful as I expected!"

Josh inquired, "Dad, how did you even find this place anyway?!"

"On the drive here, when your mother was driving during the first half of the trip, I was researching what was around our lake house. I was looking for any unique landmarks or places we may want to visit when I came across this place on the map! I wanted to know more about it so I looked up the name of the camp and discovered it has been vacant for years. When I saw the pictures of it, I knew we would have to visit it. I figured eating our lunch here would be the perfect opportunity."

"It was a wonderful idea Will, this is a great place to eat our lunch at," Anna happily replied. "And instead of having to eat on a blanket on the ground, there are picnic tables down near the shore of the lake we can sit at! It works out perfectly."

The Parker's walked down to the lake's shore and picked an old picnic table to settle at. There were a few ants crawling through the small crevices of the table so Anna laid a blanket she had brought with them over the surface. The blanket, however, did not stop Jamie from curiously picking up the bugs and letting them crawl over her hand.

Anna demanded, "Jamie stop playing with the ants. It's time to eat."

Jamie frowned displeased with her mother's demand but listened regardless. She began to shake her hand and pick off the ants, returning them back to their home on the ground. Meanwhile, Josh and William were sitting from across each other and discussing the sport of fishing.

"Dad, everybody knows live bait is better than fake bait."

"Maybe, but fake bait can work just as well as the live one. You can catch equally good fish."

"But, live bait is cheaper and it usually attracts more fish!"

"Ok, what if we make a bet? When we go fishing tomorrow, I will only use the lures and you will only use the live bait. Whoever catches the most fish wins. The loser must eat a piece of the live bait."

Josh stated, "You got a deal. Hope you are ready to eat some worms."

At this moment, Anna had just finished setting up the table for lunch. Everybody began to settle down to eat and dig into their food, their stomachs anxiously growling in anticipation. While the Parker's enjoyed their lunch, they discussed how stunning the lake was and how excited they were for the activities they had planned for the rest of the weekend.