I had just left the Webelos and was now a full-fledged Boy Scout. Just ten years old but proud as all get out. Better yet, our first camp out was coming up the next weekend. And I was excited and confident. You see, my older brothers we’re Boy Scouts and our mom told them to take care of me. I was psyched!
That Friday evening couldn’t come soon enough. On Thursday night I packed all my gear. My oldest brother walked in the room while I was packing, shook his hand and said, “Pathetic.”
I kind of hoped he had some positive and uplifting words to prepare me for my first camp out But he only said, “You’d better not embarrass me out there or I’ll leave you in the woods.” Not quite what I wanted to hear but I wasn’t too concerned because my other brother, three years my senior and a year younger than my oldest brother was more level headed. I was sure he’s be excited that I would be going with them on my first outing. But that was dashed when he stuck his head in the bedroom, shortly after my other brother had left and said, “Don’t make us regret taking you with us, punk.”
Okay, so they were both against me, but they’d change their tune when I established myself as a first class woodsman. I continued to pack When Friday evening came we were dropped off at the church, loaded our gear into our troop’s trailer and headed for the woods. When we arrived it was nearing dusk. I asked my brothers where they wanted to set the tent up, but they laughed at me and walked away. In about ten minutes another scout, named Jeff, came over to me and said, “We’ll be sharing a tent.”
Though my brothers didn’t decide to bunk with me, I got along just fine with Jeff. We set up the tent and then unrolled our sleeping bags. It was now dark and after finishing, I thought I would go and enjoy the campfire before dinner. But my surprise, I stepped out of my tent and joined a bunch of other scouts, all holding flashlights, around a dry pit.
Collecting Firewood
“Why isn’t there any fire?” I asked.
My oldest brother stepped up and looked at me and said, “Because you and Jeff haven’t collected any firewood. So, you better get on it and don’t bring any green wood back. Make sure it’s dry.” I guess the request was fair since Jeff and I were the newbies. Jeff was eleven and had joined the scouts just a few weeks before me. So, we bounded off into the near vicinity and collected the required firewood. It was difficult work, maneuvering in the darkness for firewood. We found a way to do it, and when we both showed back up to the campsite, with two armloads of wood, we were met by raucous laughter and a blazing fire. I wanted to kick my brothers’ in the mouth. Worse yet, I wanted to cry. I hated the fact that my brothers were being mean to me.
Later, after dinner, I decided to let them all sit around the campfire and sing their stupid songs (well really, I didn’t think they were stupid, and I wanted to stay and sing along, but since my brothers were being so cruel to me, I decided to do what I knew how to do best – pout and walk away). I got to my tent and settled into my sleeping back. I was tired and looked forward to a night of rest. Jeff was still around the campfire with the rest of the troop.
I had just drifted to sleep when I was suddenly awakened by an excited Jeff. “Come on,” he said, “you need to get up. We’re teaming together to go on a hunt.”
I rubbed my eyes, lifted myself out of my sleeping bag and asked, “What are we hunting?”
“Something called a snipe. Sounds pretty cool. They told me to come get you and they would explain it all.”
Snipe Hunting
I’d heard of a snipe in school. I thought it was some kind of bird. But I scratched my head when trying to figure out why we would go hunting for a bird in the dark. When I reached the campfire, my brothers finally showed me some love. My oldest brother pulled me over and said, “We’re going to go hunting for a snipe. You and Jeff get to go with all of us. Best yet, we’re going to let you two take the lead.”
I was eager to go and asked, “What do I have to do?”
“You and Jeff just need to take the point and start looking for a snipe. They are nocturnal and so there’s lots of them out there. When you see one, we’ll help you catch it,” he explained. I agreed, and so we went. True to their words, my brothers, along with the rest of those in on the hunt, let us take the lead. Jeff and I felt good, almost special, because not only were we the lead, but not everyone was invited on the snipe hunt with us.
At first, as walked, there was a lot of chatter behind us. But I heard my brother whisper for everyone to keep quiet so that we could hear the snipe, should we get near one. We walked for maybe a half hour, Jeff and I, and soon, I couldn’t hear any chatter at all. In fact, I didn’t sense anyone behind us. A sense of fear went throughout my body and as I turned around, I was met with just darkness. I called out my brothers’ names, but there was no answer. I said to Jeff, “Something is wrong. They’re gone.”
“You think maybe they are playing a trick on us?” he guessed.
Alone in the Dark
At that point I knew they were. And we were alone. In the dark. In a place that I was unfamiliar with. They did, however, leave us with our flashlights. But I was scared. Very scared. I had never been in the woods at dark. And so, I decided to do what I did best – cry. That’s what I did, cried. Jeff, himself scared, joined in and with tears streaming down our eyes, we turned around and started to head back. Before too long, we so the campfire in the distance. I could hear the scouts shouting and laughing along with my brothers about how they sneaked away from us, leaving Jeff and I in the darkness. And when I heard their mockery, a sense of bravery overcame me. I turned to Jeff and said, “Let’s get them back.”
Revenge
“Okay,” he said. I told him that we needed to find a rock about the size of a baseball. Once we had located one, we turned our flashlights off and I whispered to Jeff my plan. We quietly made our way just to the perimeter of the camp site and no more than ten feet or so from the fire. We were hidden in the darkness and thick trees. No one knew we were there. And as they all laughed about the prank they had pulled off that night, I screamed at the top of my lungs, “Snipe!” and then threw the rock as hard as I could into the camp fire. Embers and coals exploded from the fire and filled the air. Those around the campfire took off in a panic. We had our revenge.
Later that night, my older brother came over to me and said, “Good one, little brother. But the next time you think about doing something like that, warn me, so I can make sure I bring a change of underwear.”
