Camping with Grunt
William’s grandma was back in town and somehow agreed to take William and me camping on Itchygooney Island. Apparently, William’s dad had planned the camping trip in advance but had to go out of town for the weekend as part of his job. He felt bad so he talked William’s grandma into taking us. The weather for the weekend was going to be extremely warm for a fall weekend. As soon as William had found out his granny was taking us, he began planning a weekend to remember. It didn’t take him long to come up with his latest plan. William invited me over to his house to explain everything.
The first part of the plan showed William making strange bear noises outside of Granny Grunt’s tent.
William explained to me that he’d be wearing an old Ewok costume that he had found at a local garage sale. He would then pretend to act like a bear cub as she made her way out of the tent to find out what or who was making all the noise. His grandma would be shocked to see the bear cub crawling around outside her tent. William also thought it would be funny if he started talking to her in a silly voice after a bit. She’d be totally floored by a talking bear. I tried to think of all the things that could go wrong, but I really couldn’t think of any. (I guess hanging out with William was starting to rub off on me.) Plan B showed William in the bear suit talking and Granny Grunt passing out in shock.
William and I sat down at the kitchen table and began creating a list of things to gather for our camping trip. We had to make sure that we had everything with us. We were going to be over on Itchygooney Island and once we arrived by boat, it wouldn’t be easy to go back to get forgotten things. William and I created a list on my laptop and added reasons why to bring them. It looked like this:
Camping Trip Supplies
As soon as we finished the list, William and I began collecting all the items and loaded them into the boat. After an hour, we had everything loaded and ready to go. We wanted to get there early so we could set up camp. That way, we’d be able to go fishing before it got too dark. We double checked the boat to make sure we had gas, life jackets and emergency supplies. It was all there and we were anxious to go. I text my dad to come on over as he was really good at backing up the boat at the boat launch. He said he needed some time to get ready before he came over. William wanted to try on his own, but since he didn’t have a licence to drive, it was probably a good idea that he didn’t pull the trailer to the launching area. Anyways, I ran home to say goodbye to my parents and then ride back over to William’s with my dad.
Roughly twenty minutes had passed when my dad and I arrived at William’s to get the boat. Granny Grunt was already standing by the boat when we arrived. My dad quickly backed up to the boat and hitched up the trailer. We double checked to make sure we had everything ready and then the four of us headed off down the road. The best thing was that the boat launch wasn’t too far away from where we lived. We were there in a few minutes and had the boat in the water in no time.
Granny Grunt fired up the engine and we put on our life jackets for our next big adventure. The two of us quickly untied the boat from the dock and we were on our way across the river to the island. William’s grandma was pretty cool as she knew how to drive the boat and get us to shore without wrecking the boat and prop. She began barking out orders as we positioned the boat close to the shore. William had to jump off the bow and into the water. He waded to shore holding on to a line and slowly pulled the boat in closer to land. Once we had the boat tied off securely William began inflating a small raft to help move the supplies from the boat to our camping site. I stayed on the boat holding onto a line as William’s grandma loaded the supplies into the raft. We quickly had everything off of the boat and onto dry land.
The hardest part was helping his grandma into the raft so she wouldn’t get wet. I decided to get in the raft as well and William pulled the two of us to shore. It didn’t take too long to have all the supplies carried over to a clearing so we could set up camp.
Once the camp was set up, William and I grabbed our fishing gear and headed down to the shore to do some fishing. As we fished, William and I carefully went over his plans. He knew his grandma would be going to bed as soon as it got dark and we’d wait for her to start snoring. As soon as she started, we would put the plans into action.
Eventually, darkness settled in and his grandma headed off to bed. William and I got out the supplies for Smores and sat out by the campfire. It was a lovely night and we enjoyed the relaxing evening. We noticed his grandma was reading in the tent so we continued to eat by the fire for some time. It took over an hour, but we finally heard her snoring. William and I scurried over to the tent and got ready. The two of us got into our pyjamas and then climbed into our sleeping bags. William had his Ewok costume hidden inside his sleeping bag and struggled to put it on. While he did this, I got out the bear spray so the prank would look more realistic. Eventually, we had everything ready to go. William slipped out of his sleeping bag and headed off into the darkness outside. I waited for William to start making strange bear sounds outside the tent.
His grandma was a pretty sound sleeper and she didn’t wake quite as easily as we thought. It was hard not to laugh as I watched William’s shadow cast on the side of the tent. As he moved around outside, I could hear him making some very awkward sounds. I finally had to nudge his grandma to get her to awaken. As soon as she was up, I quietly told her that I could hear some strange sounds outside of the tent. His grandma and I slowly peeked out of the door of the tent. William knew we’d be coming out so he hid behind some bushes and waited. I quickly grabbed my fishing rod and can of bear spray and made my way out of the tent. Granny Grunt was right behind me and the two of us stared into the darkness. William began to make some growling sounds and the two of us spun around to see a silhouette of what appeared to be a small bear cub. That’s when William slowly came crawling towards us growling. I took a quick look at his grandma and then ran towards the darkened figure. William continued heading right at me so I began screaming and whacking him with my fishing rod. I knew he had on a padded suit so it wouldn’t hurt. His grandma just stood and stared as this was going on. To make things more interesting, William stood up straight and started heading towards his granny. I ran back to her side and pretended to be terrified as I grabbed her legs. Just as William was about to start talking, his grandma grabbed the can of bear spray out of my hand and began spraying it towards William. It must have hurt a lot because William started screaming and yelling at her to stop! Then, he turned and headed for the river. As William ran, he tore off the costume and dove into the water. I hurried to the tent and grabbed a flashlight and explained what was happening to his grandma as we headed down to find William. William had his face buried in the water and was waving his arms at his sides. The two of us laughed for a split second and then checked to see how he was doing.
This time, things didn’t go as well as William had planned. (Gee, what a surprise!) Since it was too late and dark out, we decided to stay at camp until morning. During the night William had to keep flushing his eyes with water to help reduce the burning sensation. I felt bad for him as he complained that it was very painful, and it was also hard for him to open his eyes.
By the time the sun came up, William’s eyes were still red and swollen shut. It was kind of funny as his grandma and I had to help him to the boat since he couldn’t see very well. William really wanted to bring that bear spray so badly. (I’m pretty sure he wasn’t thinking that by now.) I took a few pictures of William and then we loaded up and headed back to the dock.
On our way back from the island, I texted my dad to come get us right away. As soon as we docked, my dad wanted to know how the night went and why we came back so early. He took one look at William’s face and all I could say was we ‘bear-ly’ had any sleep.