Bart Goes To Kamp
Chapter Two: A New Place
It was a bright Saturday afternoon. A sky was as blue as June and the sun shone a brilliant bright yellow. All the kids played outside laughing and giggling, meanwhile, poor Bart Simpson was stuck in his room. He could faintly hear the conversation from downstairs between his parents and a lawyer. Bart felt quite 'off'. Like something wasn't right. Like something bad is gonna happen.
Sitting on his bed, facing towards the window Bart mused his situation. He suddenly heard Lisa, "Ahem,"
Bart turned around to see his younger sister against the doorway, her arms crossed across her chest, "Mom told you to come down for lunch,"
"Oh, I'm coming," Bart replied
"Hm? Why are you so sad?"
"What do you mean? I'm perfectly fine!"
"Right..." Lisa replied sarcastically. Then an evil thought popped up in her head. "Say Bart, no wonder you've been moping around all day. This all really was your fault"
"My fault? It wasn't my fault, I swear! I told the guys to stop-"
"You did the prank Bart so you take full responsibility!"
"I do not!"
"You do too!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Ugh! Just run away or something!" Lisa spat
"What?" Bart asked confused
"Yeah, just run away before you cause more problems for the family. Like always"
"But- But-" Bart was cut speechless
"Well I'm off," Lisa waved goodbye and left
"Run away from home?" Bart thought to himself out loud
As the light thickened(darkened), it was nighttime. Everyone was sound asleep except Bart, who was checking his survival gear.
"Let's see...Protein bar, check. Water bottle, check. Flashlight, check. Comics, check..."
When everything was set to go, the boy took a paper and pen and quickly scribbled down a note, which he left on his bedside table. Then threw on his backpack, went out the window, and slid down the tree. Then he pulled out his skateboard and dashed off into the night.
While skating Bart crossed Milhouses's home. He crossed his broken-down school. Springfield's First Church. Springfield Elementary (yeesh). Soon enough he exited the humble town.
He felt like he'd been skating for hours. The sky was starless and dull. The humid summer breeze hit his face and sweat rolled down his face. His breathing became harder. His legs were shaking from fatigue. He thought about taking a break, but there were only miles and miles of concrete road ahead of him. Eventually, the trail converted to dirt, and more plants were seen, it seemed he was near a forest. He eventually came to an empty place. Bart mounted off his skateboard and trudged forward. He looked up at the sign, struggling to read it due to the dark. He took out his torch and turned it on, directing it toward the sign.
"Kamp Krusty"
"Ay Carumba!" Bart exclaimed as the horrible memories of the place flooded back into his mind, it was nothing to laugh about(heh). Then he got hit on the back of the head with a bat and the world blacked out.
The boy grumbled awake, on a hard wooden floor.
"Ugh, finally. It's about time you woke up," one boy spoke
"What?" Bart asked, still confused and his head still hurting. He looked around the room. It was a wooden cabin. There were two dingy light bulbs hanging on thin wires upon the ceiling, giving the room a bleak yellow glow. There were four or five kids his age standing around him, each one of them holding an angry or dull expression on their faces. There a few boys and girls there. They seemed as if they were ready to beat him up or something. Bart saw in the corner of the room two people rummaging through his backpack. They'd eaten his protein bar and were flipping through his comics.
"Hey! Stop going through my stuff!" Bart spat as he suddenly got up
"Calm down! We're just making sure we can trust you" The tallest and presumably oldest one of the kids spoke. "Just tell us why you're here,"
"Um, I ran away," Bart replied to the unknown person
"Hm, many of us did. Abusive household. Crazy parents. All that messes up kinda stuff. Why'd you run away?"
"Well, all I can say is that I did a prank. And it got me in deep trouble," Bart replied blankly
The boy scrutinized Bart, looking him up and down. As much as Bart tried to look unafraid, he was quaking in his boots. Suddenly the other boy's face lit up.
"Alright then, we trust you. I'm Noah," he said patting Bart's shoulder
"I'm Bart," he replied
"Well everyone introduce yourself to Bart," Noah asked everyone else
Noah was the group leader. He was 14 years old. Caucasian, brown eyes and hair. He wore a dark blue shirt and blue pants.
"Hi, Bart! You better have tin foil. I need some to be safe from the aliens."
Noah's brother, Jeff was 9 years old. He wore a tin foil hat over his buzz cut. He had on a big white t-shirt with overalls. That kid looked quite messed up in the head or just plain stupid. It reminded Bart of his classmate Ralph.
"Hello, Bart. I-I'm Clara,"
In the back hid Clara. She was 12. Wore a green dress and had curly red hair tied up in a ponytail. He had multiple freckles dotted over her face and big wide-rimmed glasses. She kinda reminded him of Lisa, nerdy.
"I'm Stan,"
There was also Stan. He was 12. Had tan skin and blonde hair crew cut. He had a hot-headed nature. He just wore a green t-shirt and cargo pants.
"Whatever. I'm Chantelle,"
She rolled her eyes. She was 14. She looked much different from everyone else, wearing an expensive small white faux fur jacket over a pink top. She also wore a cheerleader-style white skirt and black pumps. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. So, you could say she's a Regina George rip-off, but much nicer.
There were a few more people, but don't bother.
After being introduced to the kids there, Bart asked, "So uh... What even is this place?"
"Just a place for lost kids to go to. And there's the Caretaker," Stan told
"Who's the Caretaker?" Bart asked
"Well, he's basically our boss. He tells us to do stuff and in return, we get a place to stay and some snacks," Noah explained
"Well, what type of stuff?" Bart asked
"Basically, commercials," Chantelle replied
"I'm a bit confused," Bart told
"Well, you'll have to meet the caretaker then," Noah replied
Before Bart could say another word he got whacked in the back of the head with a bat, once more.
Bart opened his eyes, but immediately shut them as an obnoxiously bright light shone in them. Someone had a torchlight close to his face, once it moved away Bart opened his eyes once more. He was in a small dimly lit room, sitting in a chair, and across the table was a mysterious figure who wore full black clothing, even covering their face.
"I've gotten hit in the head twice now!" Bart complained to himself
"Now, I don't want to hear you complain," A mysterious voice came. It was strangely familiar.
"What?"
"Bartholomew J. Simpson. From Springfield. Am I correct?"
"How'd you know my full name?"
"Just call me the Caretaker, because that's the thing about me, I care for the people, like you, who happened to stumble upon my place,"
"Well no, you kinda kidnapped me"
"Look, Bart. I'm a good man," the Caretaker said, "I've heard about you in Springfield. You must be popular?"
"Yeah"
"Well, why'd you run away then?"
"I did a prank and it went um out of hand,"
"Oh, yes. I heard. It was all over the news," he said, sounding more inviting now, "Say, it'd be great for you to join my team,"
"What team?" Bart asked getting a bit suspicious
"Well, most of the time when kids run away from home they have to go through a ton to survive out on their own. Here if you join me, you can sleep in a warm bed, have a room over your head, and food on your plate. I'll give you anything you want and in return, you provide me your services,"
"Wait anything I want!" Bart asked enthusiastically, then he relaxed his tone, "Uh yeah sure. What type of services?"
"I work in marketing and commercials. An upcoming drink company reached out to me to shoot a commercial. They just need a kid to star for the main role of the commercial," he explained, "Your charm and energy will be perfect for the role."
"Eh, commercials, that's pretty cool. Maybe I can be..." Bart told but trailed off
"Bart you can be a star!" the Caretaker said happily, "The fame, fortune, and no responsibilities,"
"No homework?"
"Nope!"
"Alright!" Bart exclaimed excitedly, "Sure I'll deal with ya. When do we start?"
"Within a few days,"
They both shook hands smiling. One's thoughts being excited, exhilarating, and refreshing, couldn't wait for a new future in front of the cameras and away from the problems and hum-drums of normal, middle-class life. Meanwhile, the other person's thoughts went deeper and darker, much much deeper than even the color of their clothes.
Notes: Well, what did you think everyone? I added in OCs, as I thought about adding little sub-plots to make the story more exciting and they're a supporting cast for Bart. Noah, Jeff, Clara, Stan, and Chantelle. I'm not going to lie, their characteristics are quite stereotypical, I just didn't want to overcomplicate things, and I wanted to make the characters easier to process and remember for the reader. :)
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