Seth was relieved to complete the near vertical climb through deserted stretches of trails overlooking Las Vegas. Seth cleaned his dusty spectacles and gazed at blinking lights below.
Ha! And Dave said I couldn’t do it! Seth smiled as he thought of his brother’s derision as he loaned his camp gear to novice camper Seth. But his gloat was fleeting as he realized the sun was almost behind distant mountains, and he had yet to set up camp. The full moon was moving behind heavy clouds and it would soon be completely dark.
Frantically
Seth tried to find a suitable patch of ground that wasn’t rock hard.
He tumbled down into a trench where the softer ground made hammering
spikes easier. The tent was up in minutes with the Coleman lantern
blazing. Ha! He said again, as he dropped trousers to urinate into the dry ground. Giggling as the yellow stream flowed, he mused how indecent this had been in the streets of Las Vegas, maybe.
As
he dozed off warm and cozy within Dave's tent, he heard the thunder in
the mountains and enjoyed the sound of rain falling upon the tent.
When
the ground rumbled and shook, Seth leaped outside the tent just in time
to see the wall of water and mud roaring toward him along the gully.
His last thoughts were, ‘Dave is gonna be really pissed about the tent….’
This is a 2013 Wed. words from the early days. It is a writing challenge for bloggers to use the above underlined words to be creative. I wrote this after going on a bad camping experience, channeling the emotions into this blog. The underlined words come from that weeks challenge.
Please check out Wednesday Words and Prompts at drifting slowly
We have gone camping many times over the years. The only mistake we made was my husband pitching the tent on red ant hill. Not a good thing.
I hate camping. I did it in Girl Scouts, and after I grew up I swore never again. I know some people enjoy it, and that's cool. They can have it.
ReplyDeleteIt can be bad or okay. Most of the time it was awful.
DeleteIs it OK to camp indoors?
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Yes, it is. works for me. bathroom was 20 steps away and the fridge was 15.
DeleteBad place to put a tent. And I always hated camping even though we had a popup camper.
ReplyDeletewhen the kids were little, we camped out in the backyard. It was awesome. Then we had some other camping adventures that required me to do sooo much prep and the soooo much cleanup. The last campout we went on is the stuff of bad.
DeleteI'm not a camper... no indoor plumbing in tents. However I do know not to camp in a gulley. Poor Seth.
ReplyDeleteSome people don't pay attention or understand the power of nature.
DeleteThis just reinforces my decision never to camp. Ever.
ReplyDeleteIt was an idea that didn't appeal to many many people which is why RVs and motel rooms came about.
DeleteI think it was unfair of Seth's brother to not warn him about camping in a gully. I am not a camper either unless it is in a five-star hotel with room service and big fluffy towels.
ReplyDeleteThese days? absolutely. Our last camping event was one with our church. there was horror in that story.
Deletemy beautiful and wonderfully talented friend Susan ❤️
ReplyDeletereading this post made me as i was there :)
your words are powerful and my imagination embrace to become alive and vibrant :)
i am sorry that once your camp was on the residential area of ants .i don't want to think further because i as growing girl made my doll house on such restricted places :(
hugs ,love and best wishes!!!
❤️🙏🫂
I remember in all our travels at first, the warnings in nice areas of 'flash floods' especially in Arizona and New Mexico. LOL We of course started camping in tents then pop ups, and later RVs. The reason is this great story. Good one. Love from NC.
ReplyDelete