Grizzly Summer Vacation

  By Daniel Propst

  Chapter 1: The Worst Summer Vacation Ever

  If you ask my little sister, Sam, she’ll tell you I’m a complete witch. I’m not. Not completely anyway. She’s just jealous because I’m so cute and popular. Our parents must’ve been reading Archie comics when they named us, though. Ugh. Abigail and Samantha? Please. And for the record, it’s Abby, not Abigail. Of course, my sister loves her name. She thinks it’s cute that she has a boy’s name or something. “Oh, look at me, I’m Sam! I love baseball and soccer, yay! Wanna see me kick a goal?” The other day she found my makeup kit and asked why I had so many different shades of eye shadow. Like, hello, sometimes I need to wear different colors. It’s called matching. She thinks a match has something to do with tennis. Like I said - jealous.

  I need to explain what happened last summer. With the car, you know. By the cabin. At the lake. If you’re from Krebville, you already know what I’m talking about. Everyone at the school was talking about it anyway. But if you’re not from around here, you probably don’t know. Which means someone has to tell you. Sadly, that’s me.

  Okay, so, Dad came home from work one day, and he was, like, way too excited. We were all sitting around the dinner table. Mom, who is a complete witch, doesn’t let me bring my iPhone to the table anymore, so I’m basically forced to listen to whatever the family wants to talk about.

  “Hey, listen up everyone,” Dad said, grinning ear to ear. “This summer we’re going to a cabin by Teeter Creek Lake! I rented one of the places out there. It’s going to be perfect!”

  Sam’s eyes lit up. “Oh my gosh! That’s great, Dad!”

  My mom and I shared a look. Neither one of us is a big fan of the outdoors, so I thought I could count on her to rescue me. Shows what I know, right?

  “Are you sure that’s a great idea, honey? A cabin sounds really dirty.”

  I smiled at her, finally some common sense.

  Dad waved his hand. “I already looked into that! There’s nothing to worry about: these cabins have electricity and running water. The girl’s room even has bunk beds and there’s a full kitchen.”

  I saw Mom nod in agreement. Oh no. She was falling for it.

  I panicked. “Oh no! There’s no way I’m sharing a room with Sam!”

  “Hey!” Sam shot back.

  “Abby! Apologize to your sister!” Mom said.

  I muttered an apology.

  “Teeter Creek Lake has cabins with toilets, right?” Mom asked.

  Dad was beaming at this point, knowing he’d already won.

  “Of course! They even have televisions in all the bedrooms, a fridge in the kitchen, and a garage to park the car. They’ve even got a washing machine and a dryer. It’s like a home away from home.”

  “Then why don’t we save some money by staying home? Do they at least have internet?” I asked.

  “Who cares?” Sam said. “They have a lake! Can we get a boat?”

  “Sure can. The cabin we have has a dock with a small boat,” Dad said.

  “Great, so I can drown myself when I can’t get online.”

  “Abby!”

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  Later that evening I was in my room – same as always. I had my TV on, but I could still hear my parents talking cheerfully about going to the lake. Sometimes my sister’s piercing laugh interrupted them. I scrunched my eyes tight. Were they just pretending my feelings didn’t matter? I grabbed my cellphone and dialed Caroline.

  “Hey, Caroline, it’s me. Yeah, listen. I gotta tell you something, okay? I might be dead before school starts up. We’re not going to the beach this summer. We’re going to a lake.”

  “Shut up,” she said. “Your mom hates the outdoors.”

  “I know! Dad’s talked her into it! He’s got a cabin at Teeter Creek Lake,”

  Caroline gasped. “Oh no he didn’t! Tommy said there’s a bear out there!”

  What? That made me pause. “…a bear?”

  “Yeah, for real. Tommy said there’s a bear at Teeter Creek Lake. So what, though, Abby? I mean, think about it. Tommy’s just a stupid boy trying to scare a bunch of girls, and the lake is by the woods anyway! That’s not weird.”

  I thought about that for a second. It made sense.

  Before I could say anything, I heard a knock at my door. Sam pushed it open and stood in the hall.

  “Caroline, I’ll have to call you back later. My sister’s at the door.”

  I turned to Sam. “What do you want?”

  “Are you really not excited about going to the lake?” she asked.

  “Oh jeez! I knew you were going to bring that up!” I said.

  I threw myself onto my bed dramatically. I waited, but I didn’t hear her walk away like she usually did. I opened my eye to peek, but I saw her standing by my headboard looking down at me. Then I opened both my eyes, and Sam rolled hers.

  “We’ve never been camping before, or anything,” Sam said.

  “Our parents are so stupid sometimes, Sam! They must like sleeping with bugs or something. This cabin is a waste of our time, and I don’t see what they’re so happy about. They’re bringing the entire family down.”

  “You’re the only one who doesn’t want to go.”

  I groaned. “You’ll see what I mean when we get there! I’m not stupid.”

  “I saw a picture from the cabin’s webpage. Dad showed me and Mom. It looks pretty. We have a boat and we’ve never been fishing!” she started.

  “Yeah? So? I’ve never been and I don’t want to start.”

  She ignored my interruption.

  “Anyways, these guys on TV, they go fishing for like sword fish and sharks! How cool is that? We’ll get to go fishing too, Abby!”

  Sam threw her fist up like she was celebrating a game-winning goal. I scoffed.

  “There aren’t going to be any sharks in the lake. God, that’s so stupid. Mom and Dad are taking us to a hovel beside a mud puddle. The sooner you realize that the better!”

  She just crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

  Sometimes I can really hate Sam. It’s like my own little sister won’t listen to me! I think she just wants to suck up to Mom and Dad, like, all the time. And she even tries to make me feel bad about it.

  “You know, none of our friends are going to be out there,” she said.

  “Yeah, I’m going to be stuck with you,” I said.

  I crossed my arms and looked away. What? Was she just trying to make me angry or something? It was working.

  “That’s my point! It doesn’t have to suck, you know. I mean, I’d rather hang out with you than be stuck on a boat all day with our parents.”

  I looked over at her curiously. She continued.

  “That’d be lame, right? Maybe we could, I don’t know, pick wildflowers together or something? I just don’t wanna be out there by myself with them, Abby.”

  I wondered if she was onto something. After all, hanging out with Sam couldn’t possibly be as bad as being stuck on a boat with Mom and Dad. I mean, when the two of us were younger, I guess she wasn’t so bad. But, of course, we both got older. She got into sports somehow, and I’ve always been really pretty, so I get to sit with the popular kids.

  I remembered the time when we played at Grandma’s two years ago, and Sam found a toad in the front lawn. She tried to show me. She said I should feel it because it wasn’t slimy or anything. But I didn’t care, so she chased me around with it as the whole family laughed. Remembering that made me angry again.

  “I’d rather share my bed with squirrels,” I said.

  Suddenly one of my pillows hit my face and I heard Sam run out of my room giggling.

  “Who even said you could come in here?” I yelled.