Soft as fog - Freewrite

It wasn't nearly as long as I thought I'd be.

I had imagined the trip taking about 5 hours but we actually got there in about 2.

I didn't know why she had to send me here.

I was way too old for this crap.

Summer camp is for little kids, and besides.... I wanted to spend my summer playing video games in my room.

When we got there I didn't even say goodbye. I just grabbed my bag and started walking in any general direction.

Source: Giphy.com

I found a group of giant logs that were placed together in a crudely formed circle.

Sitting down on the largest one I thought that myself "I hope this summer goes by pretty dang quickly".

Little did I know that this would be one of the most interesting summers of my life.

Within a few days of being at camp Jumping Jimmy I met two boys that I remain friends with even today.

John and James.

We spent our days collecting rocks and trying to get over to the girls side of camp to make a ruckus.

We spent our nights listening to the camp counselors tell horror stories while we ate marshmallows and roasted weenies.

We all knew that they were full of crap but it was still fun to listen in.

Those are nights that I will never forget.

One story that Eric loved to tell was the story of the Fog Monster.

Supposedly about 5 years ago several kids went missing from this camp. I thought to myself that something like that could never happen or else they have to close the camp so it had to be a load of crap.

I didn't tell anyone how I felt though because I didn't want to ruin the story. After all, it was a pretty good one.

There was only about a week left of summer camp and I was having mixed feelings about going home.

We decided to have a little party by the fire and stay up all night telling stories. The counselors were actually a cool group of college kids and they were on board with this idea.

My two friends and I were just little kids though. We stayed up as long as we could while we listened to the campfire crackle but then we ended up falling asleep..... almost all at the same time.

I woke up to the sound of two counselors laughing softly. I could see Eric right behind me so I reached out my hand to grab his leg as a joke.

Was that two counselors there? It looked like Eric was actually sleeping....... and someone else was sitting closely behind him.

My hand clenched onto Eric's leg but there was nothing there.

I stood up in a rush and rubbed my eyes.

I could still see the outline of two human shapes disappearing into the fog.

It was days before the police came to search for Eric.

They questioned me multiple times and I told him everything that I saw.

If I hadn't been 10 years old then I might have actually gotten into some kind of trouble.

The man disappeared in front of my eyes..... he became a pool of fog.

Sometimes now when I tell my kids a bedtime story I see that creature sitting behind Eric and I wonder what exactly it was.

That summer was one of the best summers of my life..... but it was also the first summer that I lost someone that I cared about.

It will truly stay with me forever.