"So then it's confirmed, right?" I asked.

"Yes, sir. We now have your reservation at Anarotiémai National Park and Forest. You are in the Section K, Campground 5. The best one! Right next to the Dólios River and several excellent hiking trails. You just have to show ID and reservation number at the Ranger Station at the entrance."

"For a party of ten, right?"

"Yes, sir."

I opened the confirmation email and chose the option to print it. "Okay, thank you very much!"

"It's a pleasure, sir. We hope to see you tomorrow and make your stay unforgettable."

After hanging up, I grabbed the printed email and stuffed into the side pocket of my backpack. Then Larry came back from the bathroom. "So did you call?"

"Yep. And I called everyone and they're all coming. And here's the reservation ready."

Larry walked over to the speaker next to the door that lets me talk with all the room in the Palace. "All right, everyone! Start packing! We leave in two minutes!"

"Larry!" I grabbed the mic away from him. "We're not leaving until tomorrow morning."

"Oh, yeah." He spoke into the microphone again. "Never mind. We leave tomorrow. But start packing anyway." After I was done checking all my camping gear, Larry came over to me. "Hey, taste this."

"What?"

"Just taste it."

"How do I know that you won't try to poison me?"

"Because it never seems to work anyway."

"What?!"

"Just taste it. It's not poison."

I sighed and opened my mouth. Well, he was right. It wasn't poison. It was…FIRE. That idiot had made me taste Carolina Reaper. Which, in case you don't know, just so happens to be the hottest and spiciest pepper in the world!

My mouth went up into flames and my heart started palpitating. Sweat poured down my nose as my body temperature soared. I panicked. I ran down the stairs to the kitchen. I knew water wouldn't work, so I grabbed the jug of milk.

You wouldn't believe if I told you that I drank half of the gallon right there and there, right? Good, because I didn't. I drank the whole gallon. Panting, I placed the empty milk jug on the counter and saw Larry entering the kitchen.

"Why did you that?!"

He smiled. In that stupid, silly way. "Didn't you say that you wanted to taste it?"

"NO I DID NOT SAY THAT!" I turned on the water faucet to rinse out the milk jug. Then Greeny came in with a bunch of sticks in his arms. "I'm ready, Spiny."

"What's all that for? For the campfire?"

"No. It's for the marshmallows!" he said, a smile glowing on his face.

"Oh, yeah! That's right," I said playfully. Then I tickled him and he laughed in that cute way that I just love.

Then he took out a box of matches. "I also have this."

I immediately snatched it away from him. "What are you doing?! You should never, never, never, carry these around."

"But-but-but,"

"No buts. No go and finish packing. We have to go to bed early."

I sighed and stared at the box of matches. "You know, it's funny. I don't even let Robert or the girls carry these."

With no warning or reason, Larry snatched the box out of my hands. "What are you doing?!"

"I don't let you carry these around either."

"What? I'm responsible, in case you didn't know."

"Yes, but I know how to light these things."

"Yeah, but I know how to handle them once they're lit. Now give me that!" I grabbed onto the box and started pulling. But as you might expect, Larry's got a killer grip. He fought over it for a while. We both pulled without either side gaining an inch.

The box slid out of my hands and went flying and landed in the sink which was half-filled with water. I'd completely forgotten about that. I stood up and turned the faucet off. "Well, we can also try to make a fire the real way. Like the pioneers did."

"Yeah, you're right. It'll be more fun that way, anyway."

I emptied the milk jug and placed it in the recycling bin on the floor. A loud Thump! caught my attention. I looked in the hallway and saw Kathy going down the stairs with a huge suitcase. And I do mean huge. It was bigger than any suitcase I'd seen. It was almost like a trunk.

"Hey! How much stuff are you carrying with you anyway?" I yelled at her.

She didn't stop until she reached the end of the stairs. Panting, she said, "Just the stuff I'll need while in the woods."

"And just what might that be?" I said, walking down to her.

"Just stuff."

"Oh, really? Let's have a look then." She tried to prevent me from opening the trunk but I managed to. Well, what do we have here? Makeup, lipstick, nail polish, accessories, phone, iPad, emergency PSP, and even a laptop.

I grabbed all the "necessary stuff" and threw it out of the trunk. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"I clearly said that we were going camping to get away from all technology. Now, please go and get a regular suitcase. We're going to the woods. We're not moving." She rolled her eyes and went back upstairs.

"So much for light traveling, right?" said Larry.

I was about to give him a response when I heard some commotion upstairs. I looked up just in time to see something big strike me. The stars reappeared around my head, this time a different color. My poor cranium felt like it had just exploded from all the beatings it had taken during the day.

"Oops. Sorry, Spiny," Roger said, flying down the stairs.

"Why are you carrying a log around?" Larry said.

Did he say a log? Roger dropped a log from that height?! "Roger Loski, may I ask what you are doing?"

"Me?" he said. "Well, uh, first of all, it's not a log."

"Then what is it, an oversized branch?"

He shook his head. "No. That's my backpack. It's shaped like a log."

"You mean it is your backpack, because it sure felt like log to me. What are you carrying in there anyway?"

I found the zipper and opened it, expecting to find more modern gadgets. He was carrying 12 different kinds of survival kits, and 6 first-aid kits. Well. At least it was something on a camping trip list.

"Roger, you don't have to bring so many of these. I've got plenty. I've got the first-aid kit, I'm CPR certified, and I've also got the mosquito spray."

"Yeah, here it is," Larry said taking something out of my pack. As expected, he sprayed it right into my eyes. Then, he went over to push Kathy's trunk out of the way and when he slid it against the wall, he grabbed something. "Hey, guess what else Kathy was trying to sneak away with?"

Before you could say "Te pille infraganti" Larry opened a small purple bottle of perfume and poured it all over me.

I looked up and thought Why? Why do these things happen to me? Just to me?

At that moment, my phone beeped, notifying me of a text message. It was Lilia. She was saying, "Meet me for our appointment at beauty parlor. Pedicure."

HUH?! Lilia had made an appointment? For a pedicure? For me? I mean, yes, men do care for they appearance but I doubt that a pedicure is high on the list. A manicure maybe, but a pedicure?!

I must've been staring because Larry said, "Did Lilia call to say that she wants to break up because of an athletic hunk?"

"Wha-no! It's about something else."

"What about?"

"I don't have to give you explanations. You're not my father." I turned to everyone else as they were bringing all their camping luggage down. "Okay, I have to go take care of something. Now please, nobody shoot, drop, or let anything loose."

As if on cue, Robert tripped over his untied shoelaces and a box of fishing gear he was carrying struck a trophy glass display and shattered it into a million pieces.

Sigh.

I got the heck out of there before their clumsiness would kill me. Seriously, I think I'm accident-prone. Anyways, I stepped outside and got in TIV. I'd parked it with the passenger seat facing the door, so I slid in the passenger side to slide over to the driver's seat.

But I couldn't.

Because Larry was already there! And what's worse, he had the keys and was holding the steering wheel.

Then he slammed his foot on the gas pedal and the tires screamed as smoke emanated from them. Well, this was definitely the end for me.