In Our Words Canadians Reading Together

Vacation Camping Trip

RITA D. CAMPBELL

Sara starts walking along the stream. Looking down, she sees part of the lake through the woods half a mile away. The smell of the trees is strong for it has rained lightly all night. She hears the birds and other forest animals. The sky is blue and there is a light breeze. Sara decided to go for a walk before the sun set and it started to get dark. She has already eaten supper and cleaned up so the wild animals would not be attracted to her campsite by the smell of food.

Sara takes her backpack with her in case of any minor accidents or some other incident. Sara is in good shape, so it does not take her long to walk the half-mile to the lake.

Sara stands looking out over the calm placid water when she sees movement off to the side not 100 yards away in a campsite. The man at the campsite starts running away from his tent yelling and screaming, he trips and falls.

Sara immediately rushes over, jumping tree roots along the way. She reaches the man, who is sitting on the ground rubbing his ankle, looking intently at his tent.

Sara takes her backpack off, crouches down beside him and says, “Are you alright? Do you hurt anywhere?”

He replies, “My ankle is a bit sore. I was running when I tripped over something and fell.” “Let me take a look at your ankle. I’m a paramedic. I heard you yelling from over there. Is there a wild animal in your campsite? Oh, by the way, my name is Sara. And your name is…?”