Room 101

Fear: bugs

During the mile hike to the campsite, Steve knew this was not going to be the worry free vacation his friends had promised him. He followed behind a handful of friends as they hiked up the path. It was difficult to follow the path since it had not been trod on many times, but Jason at the front seemed to know the way and the rest followed him.

Steve looked up at the foliage and tried not to think of what could go wrong. He was always one for adventure, as he constantly claimed showing off his body almost entirely covered in tattoos. Well, at least his limbs were almost always covered in tattoos. It showed he was a real man and wasn’t afraid of anything. However, his manly bravado came into question when his leg brushed against a delicate fern on the side of the path. He screamed and bolted into Grant in front of him and held him in a way a child might instinctively hold a parent when afraid.

“What the fedge!” Grant exclaimed.

“Um, did I scare you?” asked Steve in a shaky voice.

“More like annoyed me,” Grant replied. “Now cut it out and let’s try to get back to this campsite.”

The group continued and soon came to the clearing they were searching for. A charred circle showed where many other campers enjoyed a fire, and holes in the ground marked places where the tent stakes had been pounded in before. Jason took charge as he did in setting up the whole expedition and assigned people their duties. “Grant, you and I will set up the tent. Dave and Steve, you two go find firewood and set up a fire. It will be dark soon and I can’t wait to taste those roasted hot dogs!”

Dave went right away into the forest around the clearing in search of firewood while Steve hesitantly followed behind. Dave already had an armful while Steve gingerly kicked around a few bigger pieces of wood and had as many twigs as his hand could hold. After Dave came back from delivering the first load, he scolded Steve and told him to hurry up.

“But I can’t seem to find anything good,” complained Steve.

Dave pointed to a large log. “That would be a good one to bring back. How about you get that one?”

Steve looked at the log and considered what was underneath it. It would take his manhood down a notch to say why he didn’t want to pick it up, and it would also take it down a notch if he said it was too heavy. “I bet you can’t pick up that log, Dave.”

“What? Of course I can!”

“I’ll bet you fifty bucks you can’t pick it up and carry it back to the campsite.”

“You are so on!”

Just like that, Steve lost his fifty bucks.

It became dark soon and Steve stayed as close to the light of the fire as he could, trying not to think of what was in the dark woods behind him. He was already on his third beer, but he was only getting a small buzz. He wished he had brought something stronger. As he reached again for the cooler, Dave gave him a look and said, “Save some for the rest of us, why don’t you?”

Jason had already eaten several of his beloved campfire hot dogs when he put his hand to his chest. “Heartburn?” asked Grant.

“Yeah, I think I’ll go check the first aid kit for some Pepto or something.”

When Jason came back, Steve had already planned his next step. “I think I’ve got some heartburn, too. I’ll go to the first aid kit and get something, too.”

His bladder had been killing him, but he did not want to let it out in the dark woods, so he relieved himself near the side of the tent where he could still see yet was hidden from the group. He entered the tent afterwards and looked through the first aid kit for some sleeping pills. He found some and took double the recommended dosage, just to be safe. As he walked back to the fire, he could already feel the effects. “Um, guys, I’m feeling pretty tired so I think I’m going to go hit the sack.” Nobody paid him much attention, so he walked back to the tent. He found his sleeping bag and unzipped it entirely before giving it several strong shakes. He zipped it back up again and got inside just before he fell asleep.

There was something on his face. It was moving up his cheek and then down the side of his face before coming back up his cheek again. He jerked awake after the realization of what it could be hit him and he screamed. He opened his eyes to Dave laughing is head off with a feather in his hand and a large rip in his sleeping bag. He let out a stream of curses that only made Dave laugh harder. Adding a few more obscenities, he asked what Dave was doing.

“Come on, Steve, it’s almost noon and you haven’t stopped snoring! Time to go!”