I decided to start going right into the camping trip. This chapter is a little short but since I'm trying to wrap this up in three chapters the next chapter should be longer.

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Chapter 23

The next few months went by very smoothly. I hadn't run into any major complications with my life and I was feeling pretty good. Work was going very good. So was school, though my English and Math class were intensifying in work I still somehow managed to keep up. My photography assignments were also becoming harder as well, but I didn't mind that. I enjoyed doing the assignments. Ellie and I would try to have at study session at least once a week sometimes more if we could. I was so glad I had Ellie to tackle school with, it seemed to make it less difficult. Mr. Michalchuk had spent the last week reminding me about our camping trip. He told me stories of previews trips and he even showed me pictures of the area. I looked very pretty. Dylan was suppose to come back Thursday night and we would leave early Friday morning. We wouldn't be due back until late Monday. Lucky for us our trip fell on a holiday so Dylan and I would only be missing one day of school instead of two. That Wednesday night was spent in the garage with Mr. Michalchuk trying to get out all our camping equipment. He wanted to see what we had tonight so tomorrow we would know what we needed when we went shopping for supplies. I stood at the bottom of the ladder as Mr. Michalchuk handed me fishing poles, two tents, life jackets, hiking packs, ice chests, sleeping bags, two hunting rifles, comfort mats, flashlights, and two canoe paddles. We lined everything up and Mr. Michalchuk went through and inspected everything. We pitched up the tents to make sure everything was alright with them. Then we complied a list of supplies we would need: fishing bate, batteries, bug spray, sun block, lighters, gas for the electric heater, water, and some snack foods. He said we may add more to the list later if he thought of anything. I looked through the equipment.

"Are we going to bring all of this?" I asked examining one of the flashlights.

"Yes we are." He replied, "Though we may not get around to using it all. It's better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it. Especially in the wilderness."

I put the flashlight down and looked at the rile, "We are actually going hunting?" I asked trying to image Mr. Michalchuk or Dylan hunting.

"Oh, probably not." Mr. Michalchuk laughed, "It's just for safety really."

"Safety?" I replied my gaze shifted from the rifle to Mr. Michalchuk.

"Oh you know. From bears and such." He said starting to take down the tent.

"Bears?" I squealed, I hadn't meant for my voice to get so high pitched.

Mr. Michalchuk broke out in a heavy chuckle.

"Yes." He said, "But not to worry, it's only precaution."

"But aren't there like forest rangers there if we run into trouble or anything?" I asked not liking the idea of really have to fend for ourselves.

"Yes, but Dylan and I camp deep into the forest. So we are pretty much on our own. We like to experience nature at it's fullest."

"I see." I said not feeling entirely convinced I wasn't going to get killed on this trip.

"Don't worry, Alex. Dylan and I do this every year. There is nothing to worry about."

"Right." I said, still not feeling totally convinced.

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Thursday morning Mrs. Michalchuk woke me up at 8:00 and told me that Mr. Michalchuk wants to get the shopping out of the way early. So I reluctantly got up and showered. I dressed myself in jeans and a white t-shirt and went down for breakfast. Mr. Michalchuk and I ate quickly without much conversation. Then we were off to go shopping for supplies. Our first stop was the sporting good store. Mr. Michalchuk reminded me to stick to list but if we spotted anything that would enhance our trip not to hesitate to investigate further. This was one of the biggest sporting goods stores I had ever seen. They must have had everything. Mr. Michalchuk allowed me little time to browse as he rushed me back to the camping equipment.

"Look at this flashlight." He said pulling a big box off the shelf.

"We already have a flashlight." I reminded him.

"Yes, but not like this. Last year Dylan and I almost got lost on a midnight hike because we didn't have enough light to see where we were going. I really think we could use this." He said placing the box in the cart.

I didn't argue. We managed to pick up most of the things on the list without any trouble as well as get a few extra things that Mr. Michalchuk thought might come in handy. Our last stop was to the grocery store to pick up of a few snacks and drinks. Mr. Michalchuk kept reminding me however, that most of our meals would come from whatever we caught. Shopping for supplies took pretty much the entire day. I had no idea that Mr. Michalchuk was just as much of a shopper as Mrs. Michalchuk. We made it home around five and to our surprise we saw non-other than Dylan's car parked in the drive way.

"He's early." Mr. Michalchuk commented as he pulled into the garage.

I grabbed a few bags before going inside. Dylan and Mrs. Michalchuk looked to be deep in conversation but welcomed me as I came in.

"Here dear, let me get those." She said taking the bags from my hands.

"Alex." Dylan said in a playful voice, "Come here you." He held is arms out.

I rolled my eyes playfully as we embraced.

"How've you been?" I asked still holding him tight in the hug.

"Good." He replied as we parted. "You?"

"I'm doing swell." I replied playfully.

"I hear school's going good. You really like your photography class." He grinned.

I glanced over Mrs. Michalchuk at the thought of them having a conversation about me. I looked back at Dylan,

"Yea, I really like the class." I smiled.

Dylan shot a glance at his mom then back at me, "I know," he said exhaustedly, "that's all my mom talked about."

I laughed.

"So, you, me, dad, camping tomorrow." He said.

"Yep, I can't wait." I said sarcastically.

"Ah, your going to have a good time. You wait and see." He smiled.

"Dylan. Alex." Mrs. Michalchuk called from the garage, "I'm not the ones going camping tomorrow." She said irritably signifying we should be helping bring in the supplies.

"Sorry, coming." I replied back. "Common," I said tugging on Dylan's sleeve. "Come see all the cool things we got."

Dylan smiled and followed me into the garage.

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Sorry updates are taking a little longer. I've been busy. I'm going to try to start writing chapter 24 tonight. There is a lot I want to happen during the camping trip but I also don't want it to go on for to long. I'm hoping to finish it and have them home in the next few chapters.