The Wonderful Disastrous Summer Vacation
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Zoe sat at her desk, squirming. She had just taken a spelling test. She hoped she got them all correct. The last
kid turned in his paper and the teacher, Mrs. Whitty, smiled. "All right class," she said. "Now we will write an
essay on What I Did On My Summer Vacation. You may get started." She began correcting papers. Zoe stared at the blank piece of paper on her desk and thought. Then in a rush, all the happy memories came back to her. She began writing eagerly. WHAT I DID FOR MY SUMMER VACATION By Zoe Smithson For my vacation, I went up to Big Bear. It's in the mountains. I had a great time! The drive up was amazing! The view was great. I got carsick and Mom had to stop the car a couple of times so I could throw up, but I enjoyed it anyway. It was much cooler in the mountains. The first thing we did was go to our campsite. We camped out for two weeks. After we got set up, Dad suggested we take a hike. My brother, Adam, and my sister, Sarah, agreed. I did, too. So we picked the Woodland Trail as a starter one. It was beautiful! I didn't see the deer Dad pointed out, or the chipmunk Sarah saw, but it was fun anyway. When Adam saw a blue tailed skink, I turned too late and it ran away before I got a chance to look. I'm sure it was beautiful! Mom kept pointing out all these beautiful wildflowers and interesting plants. Adam even saw a beautiful yellow fern. Sara found a plant that looks like it has Venus flytraps all over it. It was really cool. I looked around and I finally saw a pretty plant. It was shiny and had three leaves together. I walked into it and picked a leaf to see if it had a scent. I called everyone over, but they stayed away. Finally Dad said," That's poison ivy, Zoe." I missed the rest of the hike, because Mom took me to a nurse. She put calomine lotion all over my legs and told me not to scratch. It was pretty itchy, but I didn't. I did have to miss a day of fun, because I waited for it to heal. Finally it did. After I got better, we decided to go swimming. I looked everywhere for my swimsuit, but I had forgotten it. So I just went swimming in my jeans and shirt. It wasn't comfortable, but the water was nice and cool. Adam kept teasing me, but I just ignored him. Boys! That night we had a fire and we toasted marshmallows. Sarah had eaten most of the bag, so there was only two for each person. The first of mine fell off the stick into the fire. The second one got burned. I ate it anyway. It tasted interesting. I don't think I like burned ones, but my mother is always telling me to try new things! After that, we went to bed. Everyone hung their backpacks and their things up in a tree. I can't imagine why. I just left mine by the fire. Who would steal it? But in the night, we heard noise outside. When we looked, a bear was running away with my backpack. It didn't have much stuff in it though. Just my toothbrush, extra pair of jeans, and a shirt. The shirt was getting old, so I didn't mind that much. I had put my money under my pillow. Wasn't I lucky! We went on a boat trip for most of the next day. I got really sunburned because I forgot my sunscreen. Dad gave us all turns at steering the boat. When it was my turn, I didn't get anywhere! Even eight year old Sarah did better than me. My turn was over quickly, because Dad got tired of waiting. It was fun steering! Maybe I'll do better next time! As evening came, I asked Adam if I could borrow his mosquito repellent. Mine had gone away with the bear. Of course, he wouldn't let me. What a pain older brothers are! So I got a lot of mosquito bites. They didn't hurt that bad though. Dinner was wonderful! We had chicken and salad. We had to sit on the ground, and I accidentally sat in an ant-hill! Silly me. I only got a few bites, even though I had to change clothes. Mom said she wouldn't have them in the tent, because they were full of ants. I don't blame her! The next few days, we mostly went shopping. I found a neat shirt with a panther on it. It took up my whole allowance. At lunch, pizza sauce got on it, and it wouldn't come out. The stain doesn't show that bad, though. I'll just wear it around the house. It was definitely worth $20.00. The next day, we went horse-back riding. My horse was beautiful! The guide told me that I really needed lessons. I don't think I was that bad, though. At the end, when we neared the stables, my horse was so excited to be home, he started to gallop. I couldn't control him. It was the best ride of my life! And I got there before anyone else. The next day was the last day. We would leave in the evening. We all decided to try a difficult hike. So we did the Cougar Crest Trail. Sarah and Adam claim they saw a cougar, but I never did. On the way up, I had to stop and rest a dozen times. One time, a bee stung me. My hand swelled up a lot! We weren't that far away from camp, so Mom ran back and brought ice and bandages. It didn't hurt as bad as that stingray last year on the beach! After Mom bandaged up my hand, we continued. Along the way there were some wonderful views. Sarah, Adam, and Dad took pictures of them. I'd forgotten my camera along with my swimsuit. They were both probably on my dresser at home. It didn't matter, though. I could see the pictures Sarah and Adam took. At the top, everyone took pictures again. I was walking towards shade, when I tripped and twisted my ankle. Even with Mom and Adam helping me, it was tough getting back down. When we reached our camp, my ankle and my hand both had to be put on ice. Then we all had to pitch in with the cleaning up and packing. I hobbled around, doing my share. It didn't hurt bad, so it wasn't hard. I was sorry to leave Big Bear, but I had to get supplies for school. On the way down, I fell asleep, only to be awakened by, "Zoe! Zo, wake up!" I woke up and asked, "What?" Sarah pointed by the side of the road and said," A coyote!" I looked, but nothing was there. "It must have run into the woods," Dad said sadly. "Too bad you didn't get to see it, Zo." I shrugged and went back to sleep. I had had a great time! THE END Mrs. Whitty finished reading the essays. Then the bell rang. As Zoe was passing through the door, Mrs. Whitty stopped her and said gently," I read your essay." "What'd you think?" Zoe asked, her face bright. She had gotten an "F" on her spelling test and had a ton of homework because she had taken so long on a class project. Everyone else had finished early and gotten most of their homework done. "You must have had a miserable time," Mrs. Whitty replied. "What are you talking about?" asked Zoe. "I had a great time. It was the best vacation I ever had!" She sprinted out the door, tripping on a broken pencil on the floor as she did so. The End |