Everyone
was so scared. While we were walking down the road we were talking
about this
mysterious creature, wondering if this thing was real or not. On
arrival to the
cabin "The Trading Post," an even scarier issue was at hand. Someone
was in our cabin! In fact, it appeared that many people were there. We
approached
with trepidation only to be confronted by a semi-bald ogre who scowled
at us.
Brian
arrived on the scene and announced that “winter does that to people,”
especially Scout troop leaders. We, in fact, had keys to the other
cabin
"Cheeman" on the other side of the camp centre. It, however, stood
silently across the field of snow, buried up to the windows. We had to
dig our
way in, and in contrast to the past summer, actually had to descend
from the
path to the door threshold.
We
entered the cabin and found ourselves in what seemed to be a big
wooden, mouse
infested “ice box.” A mad scramble to
stake out bunks for the weekend took precedence over starting a fire to
get the
chill out of the damp air. As time progressed Scouter B. discovered
that we
were in need of some water. A delegation headed to the wilderness to
fill our
pots full clean forest snow to be melted over the fire. The snow did
not fully
melt until Saturday morning.
The
night was filled with the sound of chatter, music, exploding popcorn
and the
shuffling of cards. Finally silence, as the last Venturer retired for
the
night.
On
occasion the fire was replenished with wood to ensure that our “ice
box” cabin
stayed at least above freezing. During the middle of the night a
roaring bang
rang throughout the cabin, waking all except a few who were so
unconscious that
an earthquake wouldn't even wake them. Some thought that this noise was
a gun shot;
others thought that it may be the creature coming to take his land
back. This
noise was so terrifying that nobody got up to investigate, worrying
that it
would be so horrible that no one would want to see what it was.
"In
the middle of the night the Scouts armed themselves with spears and put
on some
war paint and got ready to attack us. Lead by a bald ogre they ran
towards
Cheeman cabin. When we heard the shouting we grabbed our broom handles
and
bread knives. We were able to kill most of the Scouts although we had
sustained
many injuries. The bald ogre ate Andrew but died of food poisoning.
After our
victory we celebrated with a great feast of wild boar and elk." Wow,
what
a nightmare! Almost scared me to death!
Morning
came late, way too late. It was like the sun was never going to rise.
Like
winter had taken its toll on the sky blocking it from the inevitable.
But then
maybe it was a state of mind, not totally ready to face the reality of
the day.
Who could say what was in store. There was no plan. Even the thought of
venturing out into the cold to take a "break" at the portable toilet
was beyond comprehension. After all, it wasn't going anywhere. You see,
even it
had a more permanent post in the camp squarely perched, in of all
places, at
the top of the hill, and we all know the saying, “when things don't go
so
well...” We were in a disadvantaged position "down the hill."
It
happened finally, daylight. This was a chance to emerge from the safety
of the
sleeping bag and take a quick trip outside the cabin to relieve the
pressure on
the bladder. It was bitter cold and the steam rose up the side of the
strong
maple. A check on the fire, a chance to start some tea water on the
range, a
great relief from the dark we left behind.
More
horrors. Oh so horrible. Scouter Brian brought instant oatmeal for
breakfast.
Not the specialty packs, but basic bland plan oatmeal. A surprise. One
packet
left from a camp long ago with dinosaur eggs. Who would have expected
to see
such a site? Oh so sweet. But extreme caution must be exercised. What
if the
others found out about the advantage? Who would discover the secret?
After all,
it would be hours before the others awoke.
Apples, sweet apples and black tea to balance out the breakfast
experience. So comforting, so satisfying.
We
all got up and went outside. Donovan took his toboggan. We went on the
iced
lake and walked all the way to one of two small islands, fooling around
along
the way. After about 30 minutes we went to inspect the other cabin "The
Trading Post" but since there was no one around we did not dare to go
inside. Then we had to use the “john.” He, he, he, he! We waited while
10
minutes passed. A strong odour came from some liquid oozing out the
base of one
of the stalls. We panicked, and then start to throw snowballs at the
door to
warn whoever was inside. He shouted, "STOP DOING THAT!" We continued
until he came out very mad. We showed him the evil that was flowing
toward our
cabin and explained it was only in his best interest as he narrowly
escaped its
grip. Then we went back to the cabin to warn the others but forgot the
impending threat as we immediately engaged in playing some card games.
The
image suddenly became clear as we prepared a stew for dinner. The
monster had
two arms and tentacles for legs. The
front side was a strange yellow-red colour.
For a head (we assumed), it was much larger than the rest of its
body.
We could see grotesque fangs and eerie green eyes that seemed to glow.
Without
a doubt, its weakness must have been the head so if we ever had to
attack it we
would know where to strike. As the creature turned around, it looked
friendly from
the back. It was a strange purple and white colour and it appeared to
have hair
or fur coming out of its neck. And there it was, just a described on
the
website was the terrible rash on its rear.
When it turned back to face us it had a look of death and
started to
back away. Little did we know that it would return later?
When
we came back from frightening the ugly, gigantic monster we had some
warm wieners.
While we were eating the wieners we tried to calm down by playing some
cards.
It worked. We forgot all about the incident with the creature. After
lunch some
headed to bed, some went out to build emergency shelters, in case the
Monster
wrecked the cabin, and the others continued to play different card
games. We
continued to prepare the feast for dinner.
Since
one shelter couldn't hold us all, a delegation started on a second. It
started
simply because all we had to do was pile up snow and dig a hole into
it. It wasn’t
simple though. It took 12 hours to build, the heat source was simple,
FIRE . . .
but we forgot to add a chimney and our roof melted. We rebuilt it with
a
chimney. And just in time.
The
stew worked out well. Savoury beef, pork fat, a medley of vegetables,
dumplings
and two rounds of tea biscuits. All home made, and very comforting.
Spices
contributed by the Smiths, vegetables by Scouter B, fat by Venturer
Sam. It was
a feast worthy of the best quincee shelter builders this side of the
Atlantic.
As
soon as we finished dinner we heard the monster shriek. We all ran
outside into
the shelter. We did a head count 1.2.3.4.5.6? but there were 7 of us.
We took a
breath of air, it didn't smell like monster farts. Was he still in the
cabin...
but the monster was in there. UHOH he was a goner, if he wasn't eaten
then the
cabin would have killed him when it collapsed in a fiery rage. Luckily
the collapse
of the cabin killed the monster. As for the missing Venturer, he was on
the
other side of the cabin making sure the Monster didn’t escape!
What
a weekend!