AUTHOR'S NOTE: In this chapter, our gang embarks on their big camping trip that they have planned. However, will things go to plan or will their trip prove to be absolutely disastrous? Find out in the following chapter.
Legal Disclaimer and Crap: I do not own the Raccoons. And now, time for a quote I find inspiring, from none other than the late, great Jim Morrison (of the Doors): "Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free." My deepest fear is (prepare to laugh) a fear of needles. Maybe I should follow this advice and use it for myself. Sort of had to, actually: I just had my wisdom teeth pulled yesterday. Lucky me that I was unconcious when that happened...
Anyways…
CHAPTER EIGHT: Paint It Black
It was a perfect day. A clear blue day, not a cloud in sight. Our outdoor adventure had gone perfectly. Now we were lazily making our way down the river. Bert was rowing and going on about something I wasn't really paying attention to. Cedric was pointing out landmarks on the shoreline (admittedly, there weren't very many), and as for Melissa and I? We were both rowing and chatting with each other.
"Ralph, I never thought you would have known so much about the outdoors."
"You'd be surprised at a lot of things I do know."
"How'd you ever get to be such a sweetheart, Ralph? I'm surprised there haven't been more girls interested in you."
"That's just who I am, really." I smiled.
"Hey, look over there!" Cedric said, pointing. "I think I can see Beaver-bite Swamp in the distance!"
"Beaver-bite Swamp?" I said. "I don't think I want to go there."
"Me either," Melissa said. "You know, I'm sure it's not a terrible place but it probably smells worse than a rotten fish."
I chuckled a bit.
"Ah, this is the life, gang, isn't it?" Bert said as we continued to row downriver.
"It sure is," Melissa said.
"You couldn't have said it any better," I said, agreeing with her.
"I may love Pop," Cedric said, "but it sure is nice to be out here and away from him for a while!"
We all laughed at that comment.
There was no way this day could possibly go wrong.
Then suddenly, the sky darkened.
Dark storm clouds rushed in and blocked out the sun. All of a sudden, all was very dark out.
We could hear thunder rumbling from up in the sky.
"Storms?" Cedric said, surprised. "But I thought today was supposed to have perfect weather?"
"It was sunny just a moment ago," Melissa said, worriedly, "where did all the clouds come from?"
"I don't know," I said. "I swear this wasn't forecast."
"Storms? Pah!" Bert said, scoffing. "I'm not scared of a few showers. I think we can make it the rest of the way downriver."
"Bert, are you sure you want to do this…" Melissa said, sounding afraid.
"Bert, remember, if it starts storming too badly, the river will get rough and it'll be hard for us to get to shore. We may get wrecked!" I felt nervous as well.
"You guys aren't scared of a little storm, are you?" Bert seemed determined to continue his course, not deterred by the sudden change of the weather for the worse.
"I'm not scared of the storm at all," Cedric replied. "I just don't think it's very safe for us to continue further down the river in this weather."
"Bert, please, if you don't mind, I think we should head for shore and wait the storm out." Melissa was scared, I could tell. I felt scared too. What could happen if we continued further down the river in this type of weather? I felt worried something bad might happen to us.
"C'mon you guys, I swear, I know what I'm-" He was interrupted as lightning streaked down from the sky and hit on the shore not too far from where we were.
"YIKES!" Bert shrieked, all of his fur standing up on end.
"C-c-can we get to shore?" Melissa asked, her voice trembling with fear.
"I don't know!" I said, extremely concerned. "It doesn't look safe! Our only option may be for us to stay on the river!"
"Stay on the river? We'll never survive in this type of weather!" Cedric was now scared too, we all were. We didn't know what to do.
"It's our only hope!" Bert said, as the storm picked up and the wind started blowing. "Hold on, everybody!"
Instantly, the water became a lot rougher and we were being tossed and bounced around. We couldn't even use our paddles-the river had us firmly in its grip.
Bert shouted out, "Help! Somebody help us!"
"I don't want to die!" Melissa clung to me fearfully.
"But who can possibly help us now?" I said, utterly terrified. This had gone from a perfect day to the scariest moment of my entire life. Our lives were all in imminent danger.
"I don't think anyone can help us!" Cedric was in danger of being thrown out the canoe, so Bert was hanging on to him to keep from being tossed right out of the canoe to his likely demise.
Suddenly, we saw a sight ahead that we all knew meant bad news for us all.
We were about to hit…
…The Evergreen Rapids.
"Not the rapids!" I cried out in horror. "We'll be wrecked for sure!" I knew it too. The rapids were extremely rough and there were many sharp rocks submerged or partially submerged waiting to tip our canoe over. We were doomed.
"Ralph," Melissa said, hugging me tightly, "is this the end?" She was crying.
"I don't know," I said, trying my hardest to comfort her even though in this situation there wasn't much use in trying. "I just hope we don't get hurt too badly…."
"Maybe if we're lucky, we can make it thr-!" We'd hit the rapids and we were being bucked and bounced around as if we were bull riders at a rodeo.
"HELP!" We all screamed, realizing this would not end well.
Sure enough, our boat hit a rock which tore a big hole through the bottom of the canoe.
"Oh no!" Bert screamed. "This really is the end!"
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" We all screamed as our boat hit another rock and tipped over, throwing all of us overboard into the rapids.
We were now at the mercy of the rapids.
Bert and Cedric managed to climb onto the shore, which wasn't far away. I managed to reach the shore too. Maybe our canoe had been destroyed and our trip utterly ruined, but at least we were all alive. Now we would have to sit here and wait for someone to rescue us.
Except…Wait a minute. Where was Melissa? Oh no! She wasn't on the shore with us!
Then I saw her. She was clinging on to the bottom of the upturned canoe. It was wedged in between a couple of rocks. She wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer, though, as the boat was already beginning to crack in half. It would soon break and she would be carried away with it to her certain demise. Not even her life vest would be able to save her.
I could hear her screaming for help. "Hellllllllp meeeee! Somebody, please, helllllpp! Helllllppp!"
I realized that I had managed to save our emergency safety rope that we had in case one of us did go overboard. It was a good thing we had prepared for something similar to this happening. I could throw her the rope (she wasn't that far away, it appeared that it could easily reach her) and save her.
"Hang on Melissa, I'm coming to help!" I called to her.
"Ralph!" She said, seeing me. She felt glad, she was certain I would rescue her. "My hero! Please, hurry and toss the rope!"
"Hold on!" I said, as I tossed the rope out to her. If she caught it, I could pull her to shore with it and she would be saved.
Unfortunately….the rope…missed. It turned out, the rope just was not long enough to reach her.
"Ralllllllphhhhh!" Melissa screamed, realizing that she was, for all intense and purposes, doomed.
"Melissa, noooooooo!" Bert and Cedric could do nothing but watch in horror.
Just a moment or two later, the rushing rapids snapped the overturned canoe in half and the pieces were swept away. I could only watch in utter horror as Melissa was carried away with it.
"NOOOOOOOO!" I could hear her screaming as she was carried away.
I broke down and started crying. The one woman I thought I might have had a chance with…and she was gone now. She was dead, killed in the rapids. What was I going to do? What was going to happen to me now? Would they ever find her? What would Mike Mulligan do to me now that his daughter was dead? Would he really cut my belly open and spill my guts all over the place?
"Melissa," I said, sobbing. "I-I-I'm s-s-s-s-so s-s-s-s-sorry…."
Bert spoke up. "Ralph, how could you let her die?"
Huh? That was not what I expected him to say at all. I expected him to be upset, too, and I would have expected him to try to comfort me and tell me it wasn't my fault and that there was nothing I could have done different. I was expecting him tell me that things like this could just happen and that I did everything I could do to help her. And instead, he was blaming me for her death.
"Bert, I didn't let her die, I tried to help her, but the rope wasn't long enough…"
"No, Ralph. You could have done more. You could have gone in there and saved her. But you didn't, Ralph. You killed her."
What the hell was wrong with Bert? This was totally unlike him at all.
"How was it my fault? What could I have done different?"
Cedric glared at me. "Ralph, you should have dived in there and rescued her. If anyone should have drowned, it should have been you. Not Melissa."
What on earth was wrong with them? This was not like either of them in the slightest.
"But, you guys…"
Suddenly, the scenery around me changed. The sky turned a bloody red and the cliffs grew taller and menacing. Blood started oozing down the cliffs.
What was going on?
"There's no buts about it, Ralph!" Bert said. Something looked different about him. His eyes had grown angry-looking. They had turned bloody red, they were bloodshot, and there was blood oozing from his eyes down his face. He had an evil twisted smile on his face. I was scared. What on earth was going on? This was far from normal. Was I going insane?
"What do you mean-" Cedric interrupted me.
"You know what Bert means, Ralph! Isn't that right, Bert?" Cedric looked different too. His glasses were broken, and pieces of glass were jabbed through his eyes. Blood was streaming down his face as well and he too had the most wicked smile I'd ever seen. It looked unnatural.
"Of course I do, Cedric!"
Bert and Cedric both suddenly appeared to be nearly thirty feet tall, and they were suddenly towering over me. They both looked utterly demonic.
They both screamed in unison: "YOU COULDN'T SAVE HER! YOU WEREN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR HER! YOU KILLED HER! YOU COULDN'T SAVE HER! YOU WEREN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR HER! YOU KILLED HER!"
I was terrified. Their voices now sounded like the voices of demons.
"N-n-no…" I looked around. The cliffs were still there, but the river, the opposite shore, the trees, everything was gone. All that surrounded us was a big bloody red and black void.
I ran through the void, hoping to get away from the now demented pair that had once been my closest friends. I could still hear their demonic voices and it was clear that they were probably following me.
"YOU COULDNNNNNNNNN'T SAAAAAVVVVEEEEEE HER…"
"AHHHHHHHH!" I ran as fast I could, hearing their voices become more distant and more distorted.
"I think I lost them…" Then I saw her. She was facing away from me. It was Melissa! She was alive! I felt so happy and relieved. This madness would end soon. I extended my arms expecting her to hug me and shouted to her.
"Melissa, thank goodness! You're alive! You won't believe the insanity that's going on…"
But much to my surprise, she didn't turn around and hug me. Instead, she spoke.
"Ralph Raccoon, I can't believe I ever trusted you. When my life was on the line, you didn't save me, you let me die. I'm not alive, I'm DEAD! And it's all thanks to you! You killed me! I will NEVER forgive you, Ralph!"
"H-huh?" I was shocked.
She then turned around. Something was horribly wrong with her too. One of her eyes had popped out and there was just a bloody hole where it had been. All of her teeth were broken. Even more horrifying, the front part of her skull was missing and her fur was rotting away-she was decomposing! She had essentially become a zombie.
"No-no-no, Melissa…" This was the most terrifying day of my life.
She suddenly stood about thirty feet tall as well, and her voice took on the same demonic tone as Bert's and Cedric's, who I could hear again not too far behind me.
"YOU KILLED ME! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"
"Waaaaauggggghhh!" I screamed as I ran away from her. I passed many, many familiar faces as I ran from the three of them, among them Cyril Sneer, his three pigs, my mother, my father, George and Nicole as well as Lisa and Bentley. All of them stood nearly thirty feet tall and were grotesquely disfigured. I ran as they all pursued me. I could hear all their voices behind me.
"YOU COULDN'T SAVE HER! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU! RALPH RACCOON IS A MURDERER!"
"Ah! There's no way out of here." I found myself trapped. I was standing before a bloody red and black sea, with no way to get away. I could hear them all closing in on me.
Then, the sea stirred and bubbled. And out of the sea came a nearly one hundred foot tall Mike Mulligan. His face was covered in blood and his eye patch was gone. His eye wasn't stitched up like usual, either. It was an empty hole and a ton of blood was dripping out of it. Most disturbingly, he had a switchblade stuck in his chest.
Mike spoke, his voice also sounding like that of a demon. "RALPH RACCOON! I TRUSTED YOU, KID! I HAD FAITH IN YOU-I THOUGHT YOU WOULD MAKE SURE MY LITTLE GIRL WOULD BE SAFE. BUT NOW, SHE'S DEAD! AND I AM HOLDING YOU RESPONSIBLE FOR HER DEATH!"
I shrunk in fear. "Y-y-you're not going to cut my belly open, are y-y-y-you?"
Mike laughed the most horrifying laugh. "CUT YOUR BELLY OPEN! HAHAHAHA! THAT WOULD BE TOO LIGHT A PUNISHMENT FOR YOU! INSTEAD, KID, I'M GONNA EAT YOU ALIVE!"
I gulped in fear. "E-e-eat me alive?"
"YES." He then reached down with his massive hand and grabbed me by my scarf. He picked me up off the ground and was slowly pulling me up towards his opened mouth. I could see all my friends, family, and acquaintances cheering him on as I got closer and closer to his mouth.
"N-n-no…." I said, trembling as I realized this was how it would all end.
"HAHAHAHAHA…" he laughed as he held me up over his mouth.
Then he let go of me and I fell into the cavern of his mouth.
I was falling, falling, falling…
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Suddenly, I realized I was in my bedroom, in the Raccoondominium. It was thundering outside and it was raining heavily. My heart was thundering too-faster than a Kentucky Derby racehorse.
I realized quickly that that had all been just a dream. Just a horrible, horrible dream. But it had felt so real. I could have sworn it was real. I had never had a dream that had been so terrifying, so real, so…horrible. Did it mean something? Or…HAD it been a dream? I could not honestly say.
Within a minute, Bert opened up my bedroom door. I was scared at first when I saw the door open since I still wasn't completely sure whether that had been a dream or reality. I was expecting him to come in all bloodied and mangled and speak in a demonic tone. Fortunately, he didn't.
"Ralph?" He asked, yawning. "I heard you screaming like a banshee just a minute ago. Is something the matter?"
"N-n-nothing, Bert." I didn't want to tell him.
"No, Ralph. Something has to be wrong for you to scream like that."
"Bert, I had the most horrible nightmare," I confessed.
"Ah. I figured you had had a nightmare or something." He rubbed his eyes. It was still dark outside, so it must have still been in the middle of the night.
"It was awful, Bert. I've never had a dream that terrible before. Not even when I was little."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Ralphie." He said, sighing. "What happened in your dream?"
"Bert, I dreamed we went on our camping trip, and the weather turned horrible and we ended up getting wrecked in the rapids."
"Oh, you did? Don't worry, Ralph. That's not going to happen on our trip at all. The weather's perfect for this weekend, I heard. We'll be just fine."
"That's not all Bert. Melissa was stranded on our canoe and was calling for help. I tried to save her, but I couldn't. She was swept away. Bert, Melissa died in my dream."
Bert did chuckle a bit. "Well, I can't blame you for being terrified there. I would probably be scared too if I had a dream about the love of my life dying."
I growled. "Bert, she's not the love of my life, I just happen to like her, is all." I wasn't in the mood to argue right now.
Bert didn't argue; he just shrugged. "Okay, whatever. So, that was your dream, eh?"
"No, that's not all that happened. You and Cedric both started blaming me for her death. Then everything went…well…crazy from there." I was still freaking out, somewhat.
"What do you mean everything went crazy?"
I explained it to him as best I could.
Bert looked a bit surprised. "Wow, Ralphie. That does sound like quite a bad dream. "
I looked down at my bed, still shaking a bit. "I know, Bert, I know."
"Ralph, it's alright; you don't need to worry. It was just a dream! We all have bad dreams like that once in a while."
"You don't understand," I said, nervously, "what if that dream means something?"
"Huh," Bert said, in a confused way, "what do you mean?"
"I have a feeling that dream was trying to tell me something…."
Bert shrugged. "I don't know Ralphie, you always seem to think your dreams have hidden meanings to them. I don't think they do, it's nothing to worry about!"
I still wasn't convinced.
"No, Bert. What if something's happened to Melissa?" I was really worried something actually might have happened to her.
"Ralph, Ralph, calm down! Nothing's happened to her-I'm sure she's just fine. You have nothing to worry about!"
"I don't know, Bert," I said panicking, which was rather unusual for me. "What if something did happen to her? How would you know? It could already be too late."
"Ralph!" Bert said. "C'mon, you never act like this."
"I'm just worried…" I said, solemnly.
"Look, Ralph, if you're that worried, why don't you just call up the Mulligan house? I imagine that neither Melissa nor her dad will be pleased that you called them at this hour of the morning, though."
Bert was probably right, but I was half awake and not thinking clearly at the time. I didn't care. I raced downstairs and picked up the telephone. I quickly dialed the Mulligan's number.
After several rings, the phone picked up, and I could hear the gruff voice of Mike Mulligan speaking that was already so familiar to me. "Hello. What are you doing calling me at this hour of the night?"
"Mike, it's me, Ralph Raccoon."
"Ralph? Sheesh, kid, what are you doing calling me at this ungodly hour? You got something wrong?"
"I need to speak to Melissa, please."
"You do? That's twice in one day. Once to ask her to go on a trip with you, and now this. What, are you trying to get cozy with her or something? Because if you are, you'd best get that idea out of your head right now, Mister Casanova. But anyways she's asleep in bed. Hold on, I'll go get her," he said rather grouchily.
I heard him calling her to get up, and after a minute or two, I heard her answer the phone.
"Hello…?" I heard her ask in a very tired sounding voice. She yawned.
"Melissa, is that you?"
"Ralph? What are you doing calling here? It's not even sunrise yet. It's only three in the morning," she said, yawning again.
"Thank goodness, you're alright Melissa. I was really worried." I sounded it too.
"Well, of course I'm alright, Ralph. Why wouldn't I be?" She seemed a bit annoyed that I was talking to her this early in the morning.
"I was just really concerned, Melissa. I thought something might have happened to you."
"This isn't like you at all, Ralph. I'm fine, I promise I am. I'm just really tired. Can't you let me go back to sleep?" She was annoyed.
"I'm sorry, I was just really worried…" I said repeating myself.
"No, no, it's alright Ralph. But I think the question is," she yawned again, "are you alright? You don't sound like you're doing well." She could tell I had been panicking.
"Really, I'm fine, Melissa. I was just wondering if you were okay, there's nothing wrong."
"Are you sure, Ralph? You definitely don't sound it. You sound like you just saw the devil himself. Did something happen to you?" She could tell something was up, but I did not want to discuss it with her. She would figure out I liked her, and this was NOT how I wanted her to figure it out.
"No, really, I'm fine. Thanks for asking, anyways."
"Are you hiding something from me, Ralph? You don't have to, you can tell me anything. I won't laugh." She said, sounding really concerned.
"No, no, you don't need to worry, I'll be alright," I said, trying to get her to drop the subject.
"Okay," Melissa said, still sounding a little concerned. "I'm just a little bit worried because this is not like you at all. Ralph, if you feel you need to talk to me about this, feel free to talk to me anytime."
"Okay, then. I'll talk to you later."
"Later, Ralph," she said as I hung up the phone.
Bert was already sitting down on the couch. I sat down beside him.
"So was Melissa alright, Ralph?"
"Yes, she's fine." I said, a bit more relieved. "But she's worried something's wrong with me."
"She has good reason to, you're acting weird." Bert said, yawning.
"I was just worried," I said, repeating myself again. I must have been really tired.
"Gee, Ralphie," Bert said, chuckling a bit, "you must really love her to call her at this hour of the night!"
"Bert!" I said, not very happily. "Wouldn't you call Cedric if you thought something happened to him?"
"Cedric? No, I wouldn't, actually. I know dreams don't mean anything, they're just stuff you see in your sleep."
"Oh," I said. I felt pathetic. "I'm sorry about this Bert. This isn't going to happen again."
"Better not," he said, frowning. "You realize we got work in a few hours?"
"I do now…." I said remembering.
"This is certainly going to put a damper on our work performance."
"I know….you're not mad at me, are you?"
"Nah, I'm not mad," Bert said. "That dream really did a number on you, didn't it?"
"Yeah…" I sighed.
"Well, Ralph. I'm gonna go back to bed," Bert said as he walked to the stairs. "Or try to, I don't know if I can now. What about you?"
"No, Bert, I don't think I will. I don't think I could sleep right now. I'm scared I might have the dream again." I really was.
"Alright, Ralphie. Do ya need anything? I can get you something if you do."
"No…I'm…fine." I said, lamely.
"Well alright. If you need anything call me."
"I will," I said.
I spent the rest of the night just sitting on the couch, unable to go back to sleep. I tried to see if there was anything on the television. Since it was early in the morning, there was nothing at all of note on.
I ended up going to work at Lassater's that morning. But it didn't go well. I fell asleep trying to wipe one of the tables off. Mr. Lassater came out, woke me up, and asked what the problem was.
"Ralph, what's the problem? You've never done this before. Is something wrong?"
"Mr. Lassater, I…I…I don't feel well. I feel sick. I probably shouldn't have come in this morning, but I thought if I didn't, I'd get fired."
"Fired? Nah, son. Tell you what-I'll give you the rest of the day off. You go home and get some rest. Need you back at peak performance," he said chuckling.
"Yes, sir." I said as I put my rag down and went home.
I laid down the rest of the day. Bert got home from work around three o'clock.
"Ralph?" He seemed surprised to see me home so early.
"Oh, hello, Bert," I said, groggily.
"Ralph, what are you doing home?"
"I couldn't stay awake at work…Mr. Lassater told me to go home. I feel terrible right now."
"Ralph, are you still bothered by that dream you had?" Bert was concerned.
"A little bit," I sighed.
"Ralph, if you don't want to go on the trip, you don't have to. I'm not gonna force you to go if you don't want to."
"Bert, I do want to go, it's just…I need some rest, please."
"Well, if you're not feeling any better soon, we ought to take you to Dr. Canard," he said.
"No, no!" I said. Like a lot of people, I really did not like visiting the doctor. "I'll be just fine."
"Okay then."
The next day, I felt much better and had already almost completely forgotten about the dream. Bert was getting all of our equipment ready.
"Yahoo! It's almost time for us to go!" Bert was ecstatic. "Is that everything?"
"I think so," I said.
At that moment, Cedric arrived.
"Hi, you two!" Cedric said as he waved to us.
"Hey, Cedric!" Bert said. "We're all ready to go! We just need to pick Melissa up from her place."
"Oh. You invited her to come too?"
"Sure did." I said proudly. "I asked her to come personally."
"Well, good for you Ralph!" Cedric said congratulating me.
"It's a good thing," Bert said, snickering, "you didn't tell Mulligan I was bringing along some booze."
"Booze?" I was surprised. He was actually bringing alcohol with him for the trip!
"That's right, booze. A little concoction of my own, peanut butter vodka!" Peanut butter vodka. How typical for him. Sometimes, I wondered if Bert had been George Washington Craver in a past life.
"Bert, I don't think that's such a good idea."
"Sure it is! I got a few jars of it right here!" He held them up, grinning like a loon.
"Whatever. Bert, you can have your alcohol. I'll pass it up, and I'm sure Cedric will pass it up, too. Isn't that right, Cedric?" I said looking at him.
"Most definitely, Ralph! I see no reason why we need to drink on our camping trip. I want to remember this trip, after all."
"I'm pretty certain Melissa would pass it up too, but I can't say that for sure," I admitted.
"Eh, suit yourselves." Bert shrugged.
"Well, are we all ready?" Cedric asked.
"All clear, Ralphie boy!" Bert said.
"Good then. Let's go pick Melissa up," I said. I was looking forward to seeing her.
We walked all the way to the Mulligan house. Cedric and I were carrying packs on our back, while Bert was carrying our canoe with him. I had built the canoe myself a few summers back.
I knocked on the door.
Melissa answered the door.
"Hi there, Ralph." She said. "I see you are all ready to go. I've got my things too." She said, showing off the pack she carried on her back.
"Good, good," I said. Mike came to the door.
"Ah, it's you, kid. Let me just say, I hope you all have a good time on your little outdoors adventure. But not too good a time, if ya know what I mean." I took it he was already suspecting I had a little bit of a crush on his daughter.
"Don't worry Mike. That won't be happening."
"Good, it had better not. If it did, I'd have to snap your head off!" He said, in a bit of an angry tone.
"Ah, come on, Dad. What makes you think something like that would happen?"
"I'm just trying to look out for you, honey," Mike said.
"Now, I suppose you all should get going before I start to blither on and on. But remember, you three," he said, his eye narrowing. "She is your responsibility. As I told Ralph in person, if anything happens to her, I will kill all three of you with my bare hands, and I will have no second thoughts about doing it, either!"
Cedric gulped. "Ha, ha, we promise, Mr. Mulligan, sir!"
"Good. Now, go off and have yourselves a good time." Mike slammed the door.
"Alright, guys, let's get going and hit the river!" Bert was excited.
Bert and Cedric were chatting with each other as we headed towards the river.
Melissa and I were also making small conversation.
"So, Ralph, you never called me back about yesterday morning."
"No, no, I didn't." I was already trying to forget about that.
"I assume you must have gotten over whatever was wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing was wrong, Melissa."
She looked worried again. I could tell she didn't believe me.
"No, Ralph, I know something had to be wrong. You wouldn't just call me for no good reason in the middle of night." She was determined to try to find out what was wrong.
"I swear, it's nothing." I did not really want to talk about this.
"Ralph, I can tell you're hiding something from me. I remember-you were worried about me."
"I was, now that you mention it," I remembered.
"Did you have a bad dream?" she asked me, curiously.
"You could say that," I admitted. That was as much as I felt like telling her right now.
"So you did have a bad dream," she said, looking a bit concerned. "If you don't mind, what happened in your dream?"
"Melissa, I do mind. I don't want to talk about it."
"You do?"
"Yes, I do mind. I am just trying to forget about it." I really was, I felt ready to hit the water.
"Well, if you want to talk about it more, I'm all ears!" she said smiling.
"I'll be sure to speak to you when I do," I replied, though I did not plan on telling her any more.
Soon we hit the edge of the river.
"Well, this is it, gang," Bert said, proudly. "Evergreen River. And we are going to go all the way downstream on this baby!"
"This should be fun," Cedric said.
"Ralph, are you ready?" Melissa said, eagerly.
"Ready as I'll ever be." I said.
"Alright gang. Here we go!"
We got the canoe into the water and we all climbed into it. Before we set off (we had tied up to a tree stump), we remembered to put our life vests on, in case of the emergency that one of us did end up going overboard or we did have an accident. That didn't seem likely, though.
"Let's go!" We untied our canoe and began paddling our way down the river.
For the first few miles or so, it was very uneventful. Bert, Melissa, and I were rowing, and Cedric was pointing out any interesting things he saw.
"Look, guys!" Cedric said, pointing out at something. "I think I can see Lassater's Café!"
"You can?" I asked. "Where?"
"Right there!" Cedric said. "Take a good look through the trees."
"I see it," Melissa said.
"I don't really see it," I said, as I really could not see it. "Are you two pulling my leg?"
"No, Ralph," Melissa laughed. "Why would we do that?"
"No reason, I suppose."
"I can't wait until we hit the rapids!" Bert shouted excitedly.
"That should be a load of fun." I replied.
We made our way downstream several miles more. Melissa and I were making small conversation. I was telling her about some of the things I knew about the outdoors.
"They say that you can always tell where you are by looking at the moss on the trees." I told her.
"Really?" She said, a little surprised. "I've heard of that."
"Yes, they say it always grows on the north side of trees. But, that's not true. It also grows on the east, west, and south side of trees too, sometimes more than on the north side. So, it's not a very good method of navigation."
"It isn't?" Melissa asked curiously. "Wow. Ralph, I never would have taken you for someone who knows a lot about the outdoors."
"I have a lot of books on the subject," I admitted proudly. "I learned a lot from them."
"Ralph, I like you, you know that?"
What?
"Erm?"
"Ralph, you're probably the nicest guy I know." She said, moving closer to me. I could tell she was trying to flirt with me. I couldn't believe out of all the people in this Forest, she liked me. Was it because she felt sorry for me? I didn't know.
"Oh, uh, well, I do try…"
"Well, are you two getting comfortable?" Bert laughed.
"Hey! Look, guys. I think I can see Beaver-bite Swamp!" Cedric called out.
Wait a minute.
Other than the fact that it was a little cloudy outside….this was almost exactly the same as the dream I had.
Suddenly, I remembered the whole dream again. The small conversation. The rapids. Melissa drowning. Me getting blamed for it. That whole other…mess.
It looked like my dream was starting to come true. I suddenly freaked out.
I tapped Bert on the shoulder.
"Yeah, Ralphie boy?"
"Bert. Turn around right now."
"What are you talking about? You were so eager to come along." He scoffed and went back to paddling.
"No, Bert. I mean it. Please turn around. I want out of this right now." I said, shaking.
"No way, Ralph. We're too far gone to turn back."
"I'm serious Bert. If you won't turn back, then please row to shore and let's stop right there."
Cedric looked confused.
"Ralph? Is there something wrong?"
"Yes." I replied, visibly trembling.
Melissa looked at me, concerned.
"Ralph Raccoon, what has gotten into you? You were so excited to be on this trip. We were having fun. What's gotten into you?"
"I….I…I…I have a bad feeling about what might happen if we continue on down the river any farther."
"Why?" Melissa asked. "What's the matter?" She was definitely worried about me.
"I have this feeling that if we go any farther something will happen to us and some of us or all of us may die." I sounded terrified.
"Sheesh, Ralphie boy, you're not having flashbacks to that dream you had, are ya?" Bert didn't seem to take me seriously.
Melissa was curious too. "Ralph, what did happen in your dream? Was it something that had to do with this trip?"
"Yes." I just answered simply.
"Ralph, are you having a nervous breakdown?" Cedric asked, concerned as well.
"I d-d-don't know." I said, still shaking.
"I want to help you, Ralph," Melissa said, putter her paw on my shoulder. "Tell me what's wrong."
"It seems like that dream I had is already starting to come true. Bert, please, stop!"
"I think you might have lost it, Ralph," he said as we continued towards the rapids.
Cedric and Melissa were trying to help me, but I could not properly respond.
Soon enough, I saw the rapids ahead. I almost jumped out of my fur.
"N-n-n-no…." I said, afraid.
"Alright, guys, are you ready for the rapids?" Bert said, excitedly.
"I don't know," Melissa quipped, still looking concerned for me.
"We can't turn back now," Bert said. "We gotta go through this whitewater section and then it's a few more miles downstream."
"Alright, Bert." Cedric sighed as he and Melissa joined Bert and started paddling.
I just sat there, hoping that we would make it through here alright.
"Uh oh!" Bert shouted out.
"What's wrong, Bert?" Cedric shouted.
"We're gonna hit that rock!"
"Oh no!" Melissa cried.
My dream was coming true…
We hit the rock and our canoe ended up tipping over. This wasn't a dream. This was reality. We had just wrecked.
Bert and Cedric quickly made it to the shore. Bert managed to save his pack, while Cedric ended up losing his.
But much to my surprise, I found myself clinging on to the rock, which was close to shore (it jutted a good ways out of the water). And Melissa had made it to shore!
I heard Bert and Cedric screaming for me.
"Ralph!" Bert screamed. "Can you hear us?"
"Hang on, Ralph!" Cedric cried. "We'll save you!"
Melissa looked the most worried of all.
"Ralllllllllphhhhhh!" She cried. "Don't worry, I'll try to help you!"
I felt relieved. But suddenly, I found myself losing strength. My senses started to fade.
I was starting to black out. So that was what my dream had meant. Melissa wasn't going to be the one to die-I would be the one to end up dying.
Was this how it all would end?
I found myself passing out…
END CHAPTER EIGHT
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hooray for cliffhangers! Will Ralph survive, or will he meet his maker in the rapids? (SPOILER ALERT-Of course he doesn't die, it's his story. Why would he die in his own story? However, there WILL be an odd twist to it…) You'll find out what happens in Chapter 9. (Number Nine…Number Nine…Number Nine…sorry, forgive me, I'd just been listening to the Beatles' "Revolution 9", one hell of a weird…composition)
Ralph's dream is not actually based on any dream I've ever had (honest! My dreams are considerably more bizarre). It's actually partially based on some "creepypasta" I read on the Internet (lost episode stories). That would actually make a good Raccoons creepypasta. I do apologize if anyone finds it highly disturbing-I disturbed myself writing it. Plus, remember, it's a nightmare. A nightmare is supposed to be scary. You never heard of a good nightmare, did you?
And as always, read and review, and drop me a line (that means PM me) if you feel like it.