Camper's Diary

Chapter 1: Grief and Guilt

Dear Diary,

It's been one week since they found Tyler's body in the woods, but it still doesn't feel real. I keep expecting to see him walking down the hall at school, laughing with his teammates from the football team. But he's gone, and it's all anyone in town can talk about.

I miss Tyler so much it aches. We'd been friends since elementary school, even though I was always too shy to let anyone know how I really felt about him. While the other kids made fun of me for being quiet, Tyler was always so kind. He'd stick up for me when Danny Reynolds or his crew started in with their insults.

Now the rumors swirling around town are just as hurtful as anything Danny ever said. Ever since the police found Tyler with my soap clutched in his hand, everyone thinks I must have been involved somehow. Like I'd hurt the one person who was always nice to me. It isn't fair.

All I wanted was a way to show Tyler how I cared without having to say the words. So I started leaving little soaps I'd carved special messages into where I knew he'd find them after football practice. Silly things like "SMILE :) " and "U R AWESOME!" Just to let him know someone was thinking of him. I never planned to tell him they were from me.

But now my secret is out, and no one believes I'm innocent. Not even Mom and Dad want to look me in the eye anymore. All I want is to understand what really happened to Tyler that night, but the police say it's an open-and-shut case of an animal attack. Something about that just doesn't feel right, though.

Tyler was the woods smartest guy I knew. He taught me everything about spotting animal tracks, starting a fire, and what plants you could eat if you got lost. There's no way a wild animal could have gotten the jump on him like that. And my soap...why was it in his hand? Had he somehow figured out the messages were from me? Did he go back to find me that night?

These thoughts swirl in my head at all hours of the day and night. Sleep doesn't come easy anymore. The nightmares when it does are so vivid—Tyler's bloody face staring up at me from the forest floor, his eyes accusing. I keep thinking that if I could just understand what really happened, maybe the nightmares would stop.

That's why I need to find answers, even if no one else believes me. Tonight after my parents went to bed, I snuck into Tyler's empty room, hoping against hope I'd discover something to point me in the right direction. And that's when I found it—his old camping journal, tucked away under a pile of dirty clothes.

Tyler had kept meticulous notes about nature and his outdoor adventures. Flipping through, I saw he'd filled pages and pages with details from his last trip deep into the woods. My hands trembled as I read passages about strange sounds in the night and glimpses of mysterious figures moving through the trees. Tyler was smart, but he had a penchant for getting himself into mischief. Had he stumbled onto something dangerous?

A particular entry two nights before they found his body caught my eye. In it, Tyler swore he glimpsed men loading heavy equipment into an abandoned house way off the hiking paths, under cover of darkness. He'd meant to investigate further the next day but never had the chance. I felt a chill down my spine as I put it all together—what if Tyler discovered something illegal and someone wanted him silenced?

Before I could read more, I heard my parents' door creak open down the hall. Heart pounding, I tucked the journal under my shirt and hurried to my room, barely making it inside before my dad peered in on his nightly check. Now with the light out, I clutch Tyler's journal to my chest, too afraid to hope but unable to let go of the clue that could help solve this mystery. Tomorrow I'll search out the old house Tyler described and see what secrets it holds. For his memory, I have to find the truth.