Davis Discovers Camping - Part 2
"Okay, there we go," Colin said sitting at the computer in the suite's game room. He had logged on to the Internet, and brought up a web site that said "Silvania" at the top.
"What's this?" Hikari asked.
"About a year or so ago, Travis Dunn read on an Internet news service web site," Colin explained. "About some person who bought an offshore oil rig or something somewhere in the North Sea, and since it was in waters not claimed by any nation, he had the right to proclaim himself King of the Oil Rig, and officially make laws and set taxes for people that lived on it. Of course, no one lived on it, except for the guy and his wife.
"Anyway, Travis thought it was cool that this person had his own 'micronation,' so he decided to invent his own micronation and make a web site for it.
"For a couple of months, he started to make up a government, a language, an alphabet that he spent way too much time on than he needed to, which is ironic because the web site doesn't have the alphabet on it, and some other things."
"Neat," said Hikari. She turned to Takeru. "You were in on fooling me?" she asked.
"We were going to tell you at dinner tonight," Takeru said. "Unless you figured it out before then of course. Which you probably were going to."
"I've talked myself out for today, so I'll go get the 'king'," Colin said. "He isn't actually at a press conference, he's in his room working on a thing he's going to put on the site about how Silvania is against the war in Iraq." And he left the room.
"Ha ha," Hikari giggled.
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Colin walked into Travis's room.
"She found out," he said. "I told her everything."
"I thought you were good at being quiet," Travis said.
"She's too smart to keep secrets from."
"Oh well. They in the suite?"
"Yep."
"Okay then, I'm on my way up."
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"Dang you, mosquitoes!" Jun yelled when another mosquito had bit her on the arm. "I hate this. Why did I want to come with you guys?"
"Yamato was here," Taichi reminded her.
It was dark out, and Taichi was trying to get a fire started, but he was having trouble.
"Maybe I need more lighter fluid," he said, reaching into his pack to get some more lighter fluid.
Jun was having a lousy time. After holding it in for an hour or two, she finally decided to use the latrines, and she hated it. The smell was terrible, the sight was terrible, and afterward, she stepped in something she hoped was mud. While walking back to the Bruin Site, she fell and scraped her knee, and she had to put a large, uncomfortable bandage on it.
"I think ( of the bottle is enough," Taichi said as he lit a lighter to light the logs on fire. The flames shot up a few feet from the wood, making Daisuke jump.
"Holy freaking crap!" he exclaimed. He thought he felt something on the left side of his head. He touched it with his hand. "Is my hair still there? Oh no, I think some of it burned off!"
"Relax, you're fine," Yamato. "What the heck's the matter with you, Tai?"
"I just want to go home," Jun said. "Will you cuddle with me, Yamato?"
"Not tonight," Yamato said.
As that went on, Daisuke pulled out a plastic bag and opened it.
"What are you doing?" Yamato asked him.
Daisuke pulled a small white object out of the bag. "I am preparing to toast a marshmallow," he said.
"Well I'll be danged," Yamato said. "A marshmallow. Where'd you learn to do that?'
"On the drive here, I consulted with Taichi on the common rituals of, 'camping out.'"
"Really? So tell me Davis, what do we do after we toast the marsh-uh- marshmallow?"
"We consume them." Daisuke's answer was matter-of-fact.
"I know we consume them. I mean after that."
"Oh." Daisuke thought for a moment. "I believe we are required to engage in a ritual known as. a 'sing along.'"
"That's great," Taichi said. "I haven't sung around a campfire since the last time sang around a campfire. What should we sing?"
"Let's get the heck out of here," Jun said.
"What about, 'Camptown Races'?" Yamato suggested.
"'Pack up Your Truffles,'" Taichi suggested.
"Are we leaving, Tai?" Daisuke asked.
"It's a song title, Davis," Yamato exclaimed.
Then, Taichi thought of one. "What about, 'Row, Row Your. Row Your Boat.' I love 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat.'" He turned to Daisuke. "Do you know 'Row, Row, Row, Row, Row Your Boat?'"
"That song did not come up in our discussion, Tai."
"The lyrics are very simple," Taichi said. "They're, 'Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily- merrily, life is but a dream. Matt, why don't you start? Matt will start, then I'll jump in, then you. Matt, if you please?"
"Okay, I am the singer after all," He took a swig from his water bottle, and started to sing:
[Yamato] Row, row, row your boat gently down the streeeaaaamm.
[Taichi] Row, row, row your boat gently down the streeeaaaamm. | | [Yamato] Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dreeeaaaamm.
[Both together] Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life.
"Daisuke, why didn't you jump in?" Taichi asked.
Daisuke stared at him. "I was trying to comprehend the meaning of the words," he answered.
"It's a song, you dim-witted-Davis!" Yamato said. "The words aren't important, what's important is that you have a good time singing!"
"Oh, I am sorry Yamato," Daisuke said calmly. "Were we having a good time?"
"Gosh!" Yamato exclaimed. "I liked him better before he discovered 'C'!"
"Shut up!" Jun yelled. She had tears in her eyes. "What's the matter with you? Have you no compassion for others? I'm here being miserable and the three of you are completely ignoring me, having your sing along after you roast your marshmallows, and you haven't even roasted marshmallows yet!"
The boys looked ashamed.
Jun continued. "Why don't you help me have a good time? I want to enjoy myself with the three of you, but you don't seem to want to enjoy yourselves with me." A sob escaped her throat.
The three boys looked at each other. Then, they each got a marshmallow, roasted it, and made a super three marshmallow s'more. Then, Yamato gave it to Jun.
"Here, enjoy yourself," he said. Jun said nothing as she took it from, and then she slowly bit into it.
After chewing for a few moments, she swallowed. "Good," she said. "Very good. Thank you, guys."
"You're welcome," they said.
"Umm." Taichi started to say. "I brought a book. Why don't we all go into the tent, and I'll read it to you? Sound good?"
"Yes," Jun said. Yamato and Daisuke nodded.
"All right," Taichi said. "Let's go."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/
"And that's why the language isn't on the site yet," Travis said to Hikari as he showed her the Silvania web site. "Stupid Yahoo! Pagemaker."
"Well Mr. Dunn," Hikari said. "I'm very impressed. It's a somewhat entertaining site; it just needs some more content. Perhaps you should add a page about that Chelonian Cavalry you were talking about."
"I'll try it, thanks," Travis said. "Now that all that is explained, it's time for you two to enjoy yourselves."
* * *
The rest of that day, Takeru and Hikari enjoyed tennis, sunbathing, a movie, bike riding, and stuff of that sort. Micronation or not, Hikari had a great time with Takeru, and the two ended the day on the beach, watching the sunset. A warm, orange glow added to the feeling of calm and closeness.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/
The four of them laughed out loud in Taichi's tent. Taichi continued reading from the book he brought.
"'It's not easy being Danish. Watery meats, unfunny clowns, the whole Hamlet mess. Thank goodness for Carlsberg. And Tuborg. And Old Gambrinus Dark. You Danes are great! You are my people. I love you guys, man.'" Taichi read out of a book called Mind over Matters. "Oh, this next one's funnier! It's called 'Friend Good,' about being a tall, quiet guy."
After reading a few more essays out of the book, they all decided to go to sleep.
"Good night, Matt," said Taichi.
"Good night, Tai," said Yamato.
"Good night, Jun," said Taichi.
"Good night, Yamato," said Daisuke.
"Good night, Taichi," said Jun.
"Good night, Daisuke," said Yamato.
"Good night, Tai," said Daisuke
"Good night, Davis," said Taichi.
"Good night, Jun," said Daisuke.
"Good night, Daisuke," said Jun.
"Good night, Jun," said Yamato.
"Good night, Matt," said Jun.
"Good night, Moon," said Daisuke.
"Say what?" said Jun.
There was silence as they all started to fall asleep. Then Daisuke stirred.
"Tai," he said.
"Yes Davis?" Taichi asked.
"Life is not a dream."
"Go to sleep Davis."
Mind over Matters © 2002 by Michael J. Nelson published by Harper-Collins
Silvania created by Travis Dunn: 2001. www.geocities.com/king_travis_i
Campfire scene from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989).
"Okay, there we go," Colin said sitting at the computer in the suite's game room. He had logged on to the Internet, and brought up a web site that said "Silvania" at the top.
"What's this?" Hikari asked.
"About a year or so ago, Travis Dunn read on an Internet news service web site," Colin explained. "About some person who bought an offshore oil rig or something somewhere in the North Sea, and since it was in waters not claimed by any nation, he had the right to proclaim himself King of the Oil Rig, and officially make laws and set taxes for people that lived on it. Of course, no one lived on it, except for the guy and his wife.
"Anyway, Travis thought it was cool that this person had his own 'micronation,' so he decided to invent his own micronation and make a web site for it.
"For a couple of months, he started to make up a government, a language, an alphabet that he spent way too much time on than he needed to, which is ironic because the web site doesn't have the alphabet on it, and some other things."
"Neat," said Hikari. She turned to Takeru. "You were in on fooling me?" she asked.
"We were going to tell you at dinner tonight," Takeru said. "Unless you figured it out before then of course. Which you probably were going to."
"I've talked myself out for today, so I'll go get the 'king'," Colin said. "He isn't actually at a press conference, he's in his room working on a thing he's going to put on the site about how Silvania is against the war in Iraq." And he left the room.
"Ha ha," Hikari giggled.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/
Colin walked into Travis's room.
"She found out," he said. "I told her everything."
"I thought you were good at being quiet," Travis said.
"She's too smart to keep secrets from."
"Oh well. They in the suite?"
"Yep."
"Okay then, I'm on my way up."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/
"Dang you, mosquitoes!" Jun yelled when another mosquito had bit her on the arm. "I hate this. Why did I want to come with you guys?"
"Yamato was here," Taichi reminded her.
It was dark out, and Taichi was trying to get a fire started, but he was having trouble.
"Maybe I need more lighter fluid," he said, reaching into his pack to get some more lighter fluid.
Jun was having a lousy time. After holding it in for an hour or two, she finally decided to use the latrines, and she hated it. The smell was terrible, the sight was terrible, and afterward, she stepped in something she hoped was mud. While walking back to the Bruin Site, she fell and scraped her knee, and she had to put a large, uncomfortable bandage on it.
"I think ( of the bottle is enough," Taichi said as he lit a lighter to light the logs on fire. The flames shot up a few feet from the wood, making Daisuke jump.
"Holy freaking crap!" he exclaimed. He thought he felt something on the left side of his head. He touched it with his hand. "Is my hair still there? Oh no, I think some of it burned off!"
"Relax, you're fine," Yamato. "What the heck's the matter with you, Tai?"
"I just want to go home," Jun said. "Will you cuddle with me, Yamato?"
"Not tonight," Yamato said.
As that went on, Daisuke pulled out a plastic bag and opened it.
"What are you doing?" Yamato asked him.
Daisuke pulled a small white object out of the bag. "I am preparing to toast a marshmallow," he said.
"Well I'll be danged," Yamato said. "A marshmallow. Where'd you learn to do that?'
"On the drive here, I consulted with Taichi on the common rituals of, 'camping out.'"
"Really? So tell me Davis, what do we do after we toast the marsh-uh- marshmallow?"
"We consume them." Daisuke's answer was matter-of-fact.
"I know we consume them. I mean after that."
"Oh." Daisuke thought for a moment. "I believe we are required to engage in a ritual known as. a 'sing along.'"
"That's great," Taichi said. "I haven't sung around a campfire since the last time sang around a campfire. What should we sing?"
"Let's get the heck out of here," Jun said.
"What about, 'Camptown Races'?" Yamato suggested.
"'Pack up Your Truffles,'" Taichi suggested.
"Are we leaving, Tai?" Daisuke asked.
"It's a song title, Davis," Yamato exclaimed.
Then, Taichi thought of one. "What about, 'Row, Row Your. Row Your Boat.' I love 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat.'" He turned to Daisuke. "Do you know 'Row, Row, Row, Row, Row Your Boat?'"
"That song did not come up in our discussion, Tai."
"The lyrics are very simple," Taichi said. "They're, 'Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily- merrily, life is but a dream. Matt, why don't you start? Matt will start, then I'll jump in, then you. Matt, if you please?"
"Okay, I am the singer after all," He took a swig from his water bottle, and started to sing:
[Yamato] Row, row, row your boat gently down the streeeaaaamm.
[Taichi] Row, row, row your boat gently down the streeeaaaamm. | | [Yamato] Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dreeeaaaamm.
[Both together] Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life.
"Daisuke, why didn't you jump in?" Taichi asked.
Daisuke stared at him. "I was trying to comprehend the meaning of the words," he answered.
"It's a song, you dim-witted-Davis!" Yamato said. "The words aren't important, what's important is that you have a good time singing!"
"Oh, I am sorry Yamato," Daisuke said calmly. "Were we having a good time?"
"Gosh!" Yamato exclaimed. "I liked him better before he discovered 'C'!"
"Shut up!" Jun yelled. She had tears in her eyes. "What's the matter with you? Have you no compassion for others? I'm here being miserable and the three of you are completely ignoring me, having your sing along after you roast your marshmallows, and you haven't even roasted marshmallows yet!"
The boys looked ashamed.
Jun continued. "Why don't you help me have a good time? I want to enjoy myself with the three of you, but you don't seem to want to enjoy yourselves with me." A sob escaped her throat.
The three boys looked at each other. Then, they each got a marshmallow, roasted it, and made a super three marshmallow s'more. Then, Yamato gave it to Jun.
"Here, enjoy yourself," he said. Jun said nothing as she took it from, and then she slowly bit into it.
After chewing for a few moments, she swallowed. "Good," she said. "Very good. Thank you, guys."
"You're welcome," they said.
"Umm." Taichi started to say. "I brought a book. Why don't we all go into the tent, and I'll read it to you? Sound good?"
"Yes," Jun said. Yamato and Daisuke nodded.
"All right," Taichi said. "Let's go."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/
"And that's why the language isn't on the site yet," Travis said to Hikari as he showed her the Silvania web site. "Stupid Yahoo! Pagemaker."
"Well Mr. Dunn," Hikari said. "I'm very impressed. It's a somewhat entertaining site; it just needs some more content. Perhaps you should add a page about that Chelonian Cavalry you were talking about."
"I'll try it, thanks," Travis said. "Now that all that is explained, it's time for you two to enjoy yourselves."
* * *
The rest of that day, Takeru and Hikari enjoyed tennis, sunbathing, a movie, bike riding, and stuff of that sort. Micronation or not, Hikari had a great time with Takeru, and the two ended the day on the beach, watching the sunset. A warm, orange glow added to the feeling of calm and closeness.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/
The four of them laughed out loud in Taichi's tent. Taichi continued reading from the book he brought.
"'It's not easy being Danish. Watery meats, unfunny clowns, the whole Hamlet mess. Thank goodness for Carlsberg. And Tuborg. And Old Gambrinus Dark. You Danes are great! You are my people. I love you guys, man.'" Taichi read out of a book called Mind over Matters. "Oh, this next one's funnier! It's called 'Friend Good,' about being a tall, quiet guy."
After reading a few more essays out of the book, they all decided to go to sleep.
"Good night, Matt," said Taichi.
"Good night, Tai," said Yamato.
"Good night, Jun," said Taichi.
"Good night, Yamato," said Daisuke.
"Good night, Taichi," said Jun.
"Good night, Daisuke," said Yamato.
"Good night, Tai," said Daisuke
"Good night, Davis," said Taichi.
"Good night, Jun," said Daisuke.
"Good night, Daisuke," said Jun.
"Good night, Jun," said Yamato.
"Good night, Matt," said Jun.
"Good night, Moon," said Daisuke.
"Say what?" said Jun.
There was silence as they all started to fall asleep. Then Daisuke stirred.
"Tai," he said.
"Yes Davis?" Taichi asked.
"Life is not a dream."
"Go to sleep Davis."
Mind over Matters © 2002 by Michael J. Nelson published by Harper-Collins
Silvania created by Travis Dunn: 2001. www.geocities.com/king_travis_i
Campfire scene from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989).