Dear Mom,
I want to wish you a Happy Mother’s Day. I feel that now is a good time to confess a little secret to you. Here it goes. When I was younger staying at the campground with Grandma every summer was the best part of the year. I got excited every June on the last day of school knowing that I would be packing up and heading out for two and a half months. We would have the freedom to hang out with our friends that came every year so we could enjoy new adventures and create exciting teenage memories.
Oh, the fun we had at that campground. Roaming around all hours of the night trying things for the first time. Well, one summer we did indeed have a true adventure. My cousin and I noticed some older guys staying at the site diagonally across from us. We were up for the challenge, so we flirted throughout the day unaware of what would happen later that evening.
The guys had gone shopping earlier that day and purchased a few cases of beer. The beer was left out on the tailgate of their pickup truck when they left their site. So, after our nightly curfew time of 11:00 pm, we snuck out of the tent, over to the site, and grabbed a six-pack of Budweiser. We met KJ and took off down the deserted road at the bottom of the campground. We drank the beers as we walked to the end of the road with no regard to grandma looking for us or what the guys would do about the stolen beers.
Thanks to KJ, we were able to get our drunken butts back up to our tent and pass out before we were caught sneaking out past curfew. We were woken up to a strange sound. It reminded us of the sound that plastic wrappers make when you crinkle them in your hand. Then we felt something touching us. It was dark so we weren’t sure who or what it was. After some kicking and swatting, it/they disappeared.
The next morning, we found KJ and told him what happened. We weren’t sure if he was playing a prank on us due to our non-cognitive state the previous night. He reassured us that he, too, went home and did not return to our tent. We think it was the guys from the campsite across from us. They might have been under the impression that the fee for the stolen beers was about to be paid in full.
KJ agreed to sleep in our tent that night to make sure the guys did not come back. We agreed this would be a great idea and if grandma came outside, she would see the blonde hair and think it was Liz. It was a plan that was going to work for sure. At 11:00 pm, we tucked in for the night and used an old shoelace to tie the zippers shut for extra protection. KJ slept in between us so if they did get into the tent, it would be his legs they would touch first.
Well, they did come back. We woke up to the sound of zippers being opened. KJ said something and because they heard a man’s voice, they took off. In the morning, we found shreds of the shoelace on both sides of the tent door. Our string lock was not going to stop them from whatever they had in mind.
We were fortunate that the situation didn’t end up worse and that it never happened again. I wanted to tell you that I am sorry for pulling that crazy stunt and thankful that I was able to live through it unhurt. As a grown woman with children of my own, I wanted to tell you about one of the immature adventures of my youth. I know we can laugh about it now but if you knew back then, I would have been grounded for the rest of my teenage years.
Happy Mother’s Day. I Love You.
About the Creator
Angie Johnson
I share life with my awesome husband, our 3 adult children, and our 2 cats. I am a lover of books and strive to be a writer.
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