I don't want to go if Drake is on the team, Cecil told Dan, her boyfriend, who kept assuring her that nothing would happen.
Cecil and Dan have been playing to go camping for four months now. It was meant to be a date between them in the wild while exploring nature together. It was main day, and they were making preparations to move while Dan's friend Drake was downstairs with his girlfriend.
"Have you gotten the camera, the extra bottle of water, the tent, and..." "Yeah, yeah, I have gotten them called," Dan cuts Cecil as she was talking. "You have to relax, babe; it's going to be fine; you have nothing to worry about," Dan said to her as he went through the list again. While reading the list, someone from his right side dragged the list before Dan could make a move to keep it. "What do we have here, a list for camping?" Drake said to Dan.
"Can I have my list back now, Drake?" Cecil said it with a harsh tone. Drake and Cecil never saw eye-to-eye, even though Cecil was dating his best friend. "Relax, drama queen, I took it from Dan's hand," Drake responded to her sarcastically. "You two are at it again, right?"
A soft voice from behind came to cool the whole mood, and they all turned to the back to see who it was. It was Drake's girlfriend, Ember—the cord that has kept the friendship going on between them all. "Thank God you are here. I was thinking of how I was going to handle them both," Dan said to Ember. "Drake, what have you done again? Don't tell me you're picking on Cecil again."
"Of course not, babe," Drake replied, attempting to sound innocent, though a mischievous glint lingered in his eyes. "So long as we come along during the camp trip, then I will let it all slide," he said again.
Cecil sighed, feeling a mix of frustration and apprehension. She hoped Drake's practical jokes wouldn't spoil their camping trip. "Can we please just focus on getting ready?" she pleaded, casting a pleading glance at Dan.
Ember stepped forward, placing a calming hand on Cecil's shoulder. "Let's not ruin the excitement of our trip with unnecessary tension," she suggested gently.
Dan nodded in agreement, trying to diffuse the situation. "Yeah, let's keep the peace and enjoy the adventure together," he said, smiling reassuringly at Cecil.
Shortly after their preparation, they set out to the camp location, which was not too far from the main town. They got to the entrance of the forest, and the guard told them not to go behold the rift. They stood for several minutes, attentively listening to the forest guard's advice, before he handed them a walkie-talkie. "If you get lost in the forest, call to me, and I will come find you," the guard told them. "Yeah, yeah. Can we go now? We aren't kids anymore, you know." Drake burst out because he wanted to go into the forest already.
The guard looked at Drake, then shook his head. "You all can go now," he said. They all begin their journey into the forest, but a few minutes into the forest, they get to the rift and a sign at the top of the tree in the forest saying "Keep Out."
"Whao, we are just a few minutes into the forest, and we have gotten to our stop already." Dan said. "I guess we will be camping here." Ember said as she watched Drake look over the rift. "Don't you all think we should go over the rift? This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and we have the walkie-talkie with us if anything happens. I know you all want to go, except for Cecil. We would only be using three days; we can always find our way back to this place, and we would be going too deep." Drake insisted. He walked over to the rift, then pointed to a nearby location and pleaded with them all, which they all accepted.
Reluctantly, Cecil nodded, deciding to push aside her reservations for the sake of the trip. But as they set off into the wilderness, a nagging feeling of unease lingered in her mind. She couldn't shake the feeling that trouble might be lurking around the corner, especially with Drake on the team.
As they ventured deeper into the forest, Cecil couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding. Little did she know, their camping trip would soon take a turn they never expected, and the warning to "keep out" would become more relevant than ever before.
The End
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
I love how beautifully the story ended, you really did a good job with the prompt.
😘😘
Thanks so much for the comment
I do appreciate it
Humans love to trespass. Words like "don't, keep out, stay clear, etc" raises curiosity. And sometimes our curious mind leads us danger.
Hope they don't die anyway 😂
hehehe, I will leave the ending to your thoughts
It seems like Cecil and Dan's camping trip is about to take an unexpected turn with Drake on the team encouraging them to enter restricted zones
Yeah. it is definitely going to take an unexpected turn
A hallmark of a short story is that it should have a strong, satisfying resolution. Your story is not well resolved and you most certainly had the opportunity to offer a good story here because your idea was solid.
Thanks for the comment.
I wanted to make it unsolved puzzle, leaving the reader to work the rest with their imagination but I get the point you made