August D.

I can never forget the day that my dad and I went camping. It all started when I wanted to spend quality time with him.

¨Joseph, I just don't think that you're ready for camping yet,¨ he said.

¨But I've studied all about it in my Cub Scouts handbook and I think I can do it,¨ I said.

¨No, not until you get older,¨ he said. I could already feel the tears building up in my eyes. I ran up to my room. I couldn't believe it. After all those hours I spent studying about camping and how to do first aid I just got a ¨No¨. I went to sleep.

I woke up in the morning and I saw myself in the mirror. ¨Looking good,¨ I said. There I saw myself. Brown curly hair, glasses, brown eyes and my favorite sweatshirt. The one with my initials on it. J.L. Standing for Joseph Lamastra. I turned around to see a bunch of pictures hanged on my wall I saw my mom, my dad, my brother Philip and my dog Toby. I saw a group picture with my best friends, Patrick and David. I walked downstairs and see my dad with 2 backpacks, 2 tents and 2 sleeping bags. ¨Get dressed, we're going camping!¨

Camping wasn't at all what I was expecting. It was really just a bunch of green mixed with brown mixed with black. We were walking for hours until my dad said,”Oops, I was holding the map upside down.¨

So we just set up camp then and there. I had so much fun. We roasted marshmallows and we told ghost stories. We did all kinds of other great stuff like that. We were having a great time until the fire went out. ¨Oh,¨ my dad said ¨the fires running low, Joseph, can you please go and get some firewood?¨

So I go out to find some firewood. I almost have enough until I heard the shrill scream of my dad and some howls of wolves. I dropped my wood immediately and sprint back to camp. I saw all of our stuff, wrecked and ripped. And I saw drops of blood near the fireplace.

¨DAD?!¨ I screamed. It was useless. I felt a billion angry raccoons in my stomach, they were fighting. I decided that it would be better if I got some supplies before I did anything. I ripped off a bunch of my shirt that I didn't need like my sleeves. Then I grabbed a bunch of sticks. I made a chestplate out of sticks, a shield and a sword that I sharpened with a rock. I ripped off a part of the tent and used it as a sword handle. I saw inside the tent some matches and a bit of gasoline. I ripped off the bottom of my shirt and wrapped it around the stick. I slipped some bark in the cloth and dipped it in the gasoline. I lit it with a match. I never really knew the feeling but that when I learned what butterflies in your stomach felt like. But I had to find my dad.

I set out into the woods following the footprints. It wasn't long until I found a cave and I saw my dad inside, he was unconscious. I walked inside and clearly saw my dad.  He was lying down with a really mangled leg. I knew that the wolves dragged him into the cave by his leg. I dragged him out, praying that the wolves wouldn't come back. I found a few bones outside of the cave but nothing really mattered except getting my dad to safety.

I was dragging him awhile until I found lights and heard cars zooming by. We were at a highway. I did a couple of hitchhiking signs until a car stopped. It was a doctor, and the reason he stopped was because he saw that we needed help. He zoomed us to the hospital.

Dad was healthy in a few days and came back home. But he had crutches. He didn’t have to pay because of his time in the army. He was so proud of me that I saved him.

“Joseph, just please remind me once in awhile, to never, ever go camping again,” he said.