You're probably wondering what I mean by "Collision." Well, I'll tell you. At the end of the portage, during lunch, Mom and I got in a really big argument. I actually said some pretty nasty things during it. Things that I shouldn't have said, but I did. Mom and I don't argue as much anymore, but even when we do, they're never as bad as the one I had with her at the end of the first portage. It was pretty bad. Don't say anything. Just let me share it with you.
Let's begin with when we reached the end of the first portage. After what felt like forever, Mom, Uncle Bart, Aunt Lydia and I finally reached it, and I was totally out of breath. Mom and Uncle Bart had let my arms go, and slouching, I let them hang in front of me.
"Ugh, ugh." I groaned. I grabbed hold of a tree limb, "FINALLY!" and continued to take deep breaths. That took way longer than it should have. I did not want to go back. No way was I going to do that hike all over again!
The end of the first portage was actually pretty small. It would be hard to fit ten people and four canoes here. We had to go down a small hill in order to reach the water. After Mom, Uncle Bart, and Aunt Lydia dropped me off and I got some water, I scrambled down the hill and looked to my left. There was the river. We had to go all that way just get around a teeny river. That was pointless. After looking at the "dangerous" river, I next turned my head to the right, and I saw all the canoes. All the canoes had made it to the end just fine. Dad had tied them up. All that was left were the packs, latrine, paddles, and other luggage. The next river we canoed on was Carrying Lake, so this was Carrying Lake I was looking at. After Carrying Lake came Red Squirrel Lake, the lake I was so looking forward to going to.
I stayed behind as the other members of Camp Juniper went back to get more supplies. While I waited, I sat on a rock at the top of the small hill and massaged my feet. I thought about the mysterious boy I saw, or at least, I thought I saw. I knew I saw somebody, though. Camp Juniper may have not believed me, but I knew I did. Although seeing a boy that handsome did seem kind of like a dream. It was the eyes. The eyes were what drove me in. Those eyes were very sexy. I apologize, but they were. That was why it did kind of feel like a dream. It just seemed impossible for a boy to be that handsome.
Uncle Bart returned before the rest of Camp Juniper, carrying the latrine and a few dry bags, and he was sweating like mad.
He dropped the stuff down and sat next to me. "Whew," he said. He rubbed his forehead, "That's quite the hike."
"Ya think?" I asked. I then noticed that he wasn't wearing a bug jacket. "Uncle Bart," I added with, "why aren't you wearing your bug jacket?"
Uncle Bart shrugged, "Well, the mosquitoes aren't bugging me a lot. I put some Deet on, so they're staying away from me."
I however peered down on his legs and saw that a few mosquitoes were circling them. I pointed at them and said, "But they're circling your legs, Uncle Bart."
Uncle Bart peered at his legs and said, "Aw come on, guys, I put some Deet on." The mosquitoes continued to circle his legs.
I chuckled.
Uncle Bart soon faced me and asked, "Is Kylie Wylie taking good care of my whistle?" I reached down and grabbed hold of the whistle, nodding, "I am, Uncle Bart. I am."
"Well that's good. Now, Kylie, tell me something." He cleared his throat and looked me straight in the eyes, "Did you really see a boy in the forest?" Wait, did he believe me? I didn't know how to answer that.
I lowered my head and said, "I don't know, Uncle Bart. I just don't know." I closed my eyes and lowered my head.
Uncle Bart soon wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and he pulled me close to him.
The rest of Camp Juniper, within thirty more minutes, finally managed to get all the supplies to the other side of the first portage. Since everybody was starving, after we loaded the canoes, we had some lunch. Dad kept the lunch barrel out, and we had some sandwiches, quesadillas, and my personal favorite (sarcasm), dried fruit. Dried fruit was our best friend throughout this trip. Lunch at that first portage on Carrying Lake was terrible. Absolutely terrible. The bugs circled us like madmen. The thing was, we had to unzip our bug nets and jackets in order to eat, and that just gave them a chance to feast. They feasted on me the most. I was the sweetest person out there. I finally couldn't take it anymore.
I leaped to my feet and yelled, "These bugs are getting on my last nerve! I want them all killed!" Everybody glanced at me, but they didn't speak. I quickly finished my sandwich and zipped my bug jacket back up. Everybody else took forever to eat.
Uncle Clement finished after me. He leaped to his feet and announced, "Yoo-hoo! One portage down and one more to go!"
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah," I argued, "but that next portage leads to the Death Zone." I didn't even want to think about Red Squirrel Lake.
Camp Juniper groaned. They got so tired of me always worrying about the Ghost of Ontario.
Mom was the most annoyed. This was the start of our argument. She faced me and said, "Oh bugga. Kylie, please. Quit with the whole Ghost of Ontario thing!"
"I've got an idea." I snootily spoke, and I pointed at her, "Why don't you guys move on and I'll swim back to Finlayson? You can share your paparazzi when you pick me up at the ranger station. I wish you luck."
I waved and tried to sneak away, but Mom grabbed my arm and stopped me. "You're not going back, young lady!" she snapped, "Forget about it! You're going to do this trip, and you're going to grow to love the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park like the rest of us!"
"Penelope," said Dad. He took Mom's shoulders. However, the damage was done. Mom's sentence got me even more ticked off.
I couldn't hold it in any longer. I wasn't mad. I was furious! I ripped my arm free from Mom's grasp and faced Camp Juniper. "DON'T YOU SEE, YOU STUPID ADULTS?!" I shouted at them, "I'M STUCK IN THE WILDERNESS FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK WITH NO ONE MY AGE TO HANG OUT WITH! YOU FORCED ME TO COME ALONG!"
"Kylie!" Mom yelled, but I continued to shout.
"SHUT UP, MOM! YOU LIER! I THOUGHT YOU TOO WEREN'T EXCITED ABOUT THIS TRIP, BUT I WAS WRONG!" This next thing was the worst thing I ever said to my family. I knew I hurt them when I shouted this. My next words were, "I WISH YOU WEREN'T MY FAMILY! I DON'T NEED A FAMILY! I CAN SURVIVE ON MY OWN!"
Every member of Camp Juniper froze. All of them stared at me.
Uncle Bart rubbed his eye and said, "Woof," under his breath.
Mom gave me the evil death glare, but I could see tears flickering behind her eyes. "Ky...," she started, but I didn't let her finish.
"SHUT UP, YOU OLD HAG!" That was the worst thing I ever said to my mother.
All members of Camp Juniper, excluding Mom and I, said, "Ooohh," and brought their hands to their mouths.
"All right, that's it!" Mom shouted. I returned her evil death glare. She stormed towards me and added with, "Kylie, you are almost sixteen years old! I expect you to act like a sixteen-year-old! If you keep this crummy attitude up, then you're not going to get your driver's license until after college!"
"What?!" I shouted, "You can't do that to me!"
"Penelope." Dad said again. He tried to pull Mom away from me, but she broke free from him and stopped in front of me.
"But I just did," she told me, "Get in the canoe with Uncle Bart and drop the Ghost of Ontario nonsense! I don't want to hear another peep out of you for the rest of the day! It's official! You're not getting your driver's license until after college! When we get home, you're grounded for two weeks!"
"WHAT!!" I shouted, "NO!! YOU'RE NOT IN CHARGE OF ME!"
"I am you're mother!" Mom shouted at me, "I am!"
The entire time we argued, Camp Juniper put up the lunch barrel and got ready to leave. See what I mean by it was pretty bad? However, things took a small twist here.
I was so furious that I picked up a rock, a pretty large one too, yelled, and chucked it into the forest. I started to throw my tantrum that I had held onto until this moment. I screamed, pulled out my hair, and stomped my foot.
"Kylie!" Mom shouted.
Camp Juniper, now scared of me, backed up and hugged each other.
"She's gone mad!" Uncle Macon yelled. He hugged Uncle Bart close to him.
I picked up another large rock and yelled one last time. Like with the last one, I chucked it into the forest, much harder and further this time.
Right when I did, from the forest, came a young, male voice. "OW!!" it screamed, "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"
I gasped. The rest of Camp Juniper did too.
"Ow," the voice repeated, much quieter this time, but we still heard it.
"What was that?" Aunt Delia asked. Wait, I recognized that voice. That was the same voice I heard in Finlayson! Oh no, he found us! We were dead. We were so dead.
I turned on a terrified expression and shakily answered, "The Ghost of Ontario."
Mom growled and glared at me again. She soon turned her head, and we, Camp Juniper, studied the forest for just a little bit longer.
Since Dad was the big boss of the trip, everybody pushed him forward so he could check it out.
He peered back to us. He had a "Why me?" face expression turned on.
We gestured him forward.
Dad soon turned back around, and he took a deep breath, adjusting the cap he wore. He tiptoed towards the forest, and the rest of us watched him from behind. Dad stopped in front of it. He stood still for a few minutes. Then, he lifted his hand and whispered, "Hello?"
I smacked my hand to my face. Very smooth, Dad. Very smooth.
Nothing came from the forest. Not for a few seconds at least. Then, we all heard them together. Footsteps. Footsteps like the ones I had heard back at Finlayson Point Provincial Park.
"What's going on, Azul?" Uncle Harrison asked Dad.
"Isn't it obvious, Harrison?" Dad answered, "We're not alone on this island." Oh, so now they were starting to believe in the Ghost of Ontario? Of course, we weren't alone! There's a freaking ghost on the loose! There's a reason why I wanted to start at Latchford! We were so close to Red Squirrel Lake!
Just when we thought everything had quieted down, it happened again. All of us heard a great tumble in the forest and then a scream.
I also screamed. Like at Finlayson, I was gone. There was definitely a serial killer on the loose!
I yelled again and scrambled down the small hill, shouting, "Tallyho!" Without thinking and without taking off the mysterious pouch, I dove a perfect dive into Carrying Lake and started to swim! Literally, I dove!
While I paddled away, I heard the voice of Mom, "Kylie!" but I continued to swim.
And that, my fellow audience, was the first portage and Mom and I's collision.