Campfire Stories CHAPTER ONE TAKE A HIKE


Here is something most people don’t know about me: I really love camping. I know, I know. You may think there’s no way a scaredy-cat like me, Andres Miedoso, would be a fan of the great outdoors.

But it’s true.

I mean, don’t get me wrong. I don’t love everything about camping. I’m not a big fan of sleeping in a tent. I always get stuck with a stick or a rock under my sleeping bag. It’s impossible to get comfortable.



And then there are the woods. Sometimes, when it’s really quiet, I wonder what’s going on out there.

Is there something waiting for me?



But if I hear all kinds of animal sounds outside, then I know exactly what’s out there waiting for me!

Either way, it’s scary!



Another thing I don’t love about camping is poison ivy. Every time I go into the woods, I find poison ivy. And trust me, I’m never looking for it!

Sometimes I think poison ivy finds me!

So do mosquitos and every other bug in the forest. That goes double for super-gross and slimy bugs. They all love me.

Well, they love biting me.

With poison ivy on my legs, and bug bites everywhere else, I spend most of our camping trips itching!



Then there’s the weather. It rains whenever I go camping . . . every single time. And not just a little sprinkle either. I’m talking storms! It’s the worst.





All that rain creates thick, gloppy mud. And that mud ends up all over the place. After my last camping trip, I found the longest, grossest dried-up mud gunk behind my ear . . . and that was a month after I went!

So, why do I love camping? Well, that’s easy.



S’mores!

S’mores are the best. They are the perfect mix of crispy, sweet graham crackers; warm, melty chocolate; and hot, oozy marshmallow. And you get to cook them over a campfire and eat them on a stick.

Sticks are cool too . . . except when you end up sleeping on one.

But let me get to the story. There I am, sitting by the campfire enjoying my yummy s’more.

That’s my best friend, Desmond Cole, sitting next to me. He’s about to tell a scary story. There’s nothing strange about that.



However there’s nothing normal about what happened next. Nothing at all!