Trespassing | ongoing

Chapter 1. Airborne

Chapter 1. Airborne

        When I was eleven years old, I found out I had a fear of thunder. The fear came from past experience when I was four years old and my parents were fighting to the point of nearly losing air in their lungs for how much they were yelling. The night they were in this brawl, a thunder storm sounded from outside our home and seeing how I am an only child, I had nobody else to comfort me, except for my teddy bear whom I named Frankie.

To this day, I suppose I am still afraid of thunder, but sadly enough, I still own that bear of mine for comfort. Yes, an eighteen year old girl like myself owns a raggedy old teddy bear named Frankie to keep her from having night terrors or sleepless nights whenever there is a storm brewing outside.

Now here is the worst news of it all.

This weekend, my parents have decided to plan a family camping trip in the middle of a dark, mysterious forest where there is nobody to hear our screams. Great choice for a trip, guys. Kudos to you.

The weather forecast showed me yesterday that over this weekend, there will be a seventy percent chance of a thunder storm, which is just freaking perfect for me. Fortunately, I still have Frankie. Unfortunately, I will be right in the middle of the storm; outside; with my parents.

"Clover, are your things packed?" Mom calls down from up the stairs.

"Yeah, I'm almost done!" I call back up to her as I place my joggers into my travel bag and leave my bedroom.

"Come on, kiddo, don't want to let the bears have the best camping spot, do we?" Dad tries to joke.

"Get it, because we're in the wilderness?" he laughs.

"Yeah, real funny. Trying to hold back my laughter as we speak." I sarcastically say to him and pat him on the back in sympathy for his terrible jokes.

Once exiting my humble abode, I head straight for our vehicle parked out front in our driveway and place my sleeping bag and travel bag in the trunk. Placing my headphones and phone into my jean pockets, I enter the backseat of our Volkswagen Tiguan. Blasting some of American Authors music into my ear buds, I sit back with a sigh, just waiting for this weekend trip to be over.

Mom comes out of the house with her sleeping bag in hand and her bag strap slung over her shoulder. She places her things in the trunk, along with some camping food and the normal camping essentials. She then opens the car door and sits herself into the passenger seat of the car while Dad locks up the house, closes the car trunk after placing his things into it, and sits himself down in the drivers seat.

"Ready for a weekend of family fun?" Dad grins through the rear-view mirror.

"Over joyed." I murmur.

-

An hour and a half later, we finally arrive to Delta National Forest down here in Mississippi. With a yawn, I exit the car as Mom and Dad follow suit.

"Why don't we set up camp, yeah?" Dad suggests as he hauls our tents out of the trunk.

Soft chirps sound from the birds positioned in the trees around us and a dirt pathway leads straight into the darkening forest in front of us. The bright sun shines down on us; the rays heating my skin delightfully.

"Clo, come help me set your tent up beside mine and your mom's." Dad hollers over to me as I stride over to him.

"Remind me again why we decided to go camping of all things?" I sigh, connecting the poles of my tent.

"Because it's fun, that's why." Dad remarks.

"And a vacation to Hawaii isn't?" I retaliate.

"Hey, this is tradition! You used to love to go camping when you were--"