A campfire, a scream, a lie that gets bigger and bigger

A Campfire, A Scream, A Lie that gets bigger and bigger

It was dusk, and the sun was lazily setting below the horizon, staining the sky with red and orange. My friends and I watched the sunset, chattering and laughing. Once the sun had finally sunk below the horizon, and the stars were settling in, we lit the campfire and gathered around. 

It was time for our camping tradition- ghost stories. Then, an idea struck me. “What if we hold a ghost stories contest instead of telling ghost stories like we always do?” I asked. The rules were simple- whoever could tell the best scary story would get extra s’mores as a reward. “I am so going to win this,” I bragged to my friends. “ I’m not scared of anything.” Deep down, I knew this wasn't true. I am 13 years old and scared of everything- Unlike the rest of my family, I’m not what you would call brave.

After the contest, we all drifted off to sleep except for me. I felt slightly guilty, but there was no way I was going to tell my friends that, though. I sure didn’t want my buddies to know that I was an honest-to-goodness scaredy cat. I stayed awake all night. My eyelids wouldn’t cooperate. But just when I was about to fall asleep, I was jolted awake by an ear-piercing shriek. One-quarter of my mind told me to check what was happening, but the rest told me to stay put, and try not to get eaten by whatever was out there. 

Another scream, “I’m probably going to stay here, in my safe, cozy tent.” I thought. The next day, my friends and I went exploring, and while we were, we found something new. ‘FREE ZIPLINE RIDES, the sign said. “Come on!” one of my friends said. “ Didn’t you say you weren’t scared of anything?” What could I do? I placed my sweating palms and WOOSH! I shot along the rod, screaming. Once I got to solid ground, I sighed with relief. “ Never again,” I thought. My buddies pushed me to do things that I didn’t want to do, but how can I say no?

The screams kept on coming in the night, and soon I couldn’t take it anymore. I told my friends. But sadly, they laughed and dismissed it as one of my attempts to scare them. This night, the sreams continued, louder than any other night. It felt too real to be my imagination, but was it my imagination? I heard guilt can do strange things to your sleep cycle. I had to tell my friends the truth.

The three day camping trip was over. While we were returning home, I finally told my friends that I had lied. “ Well, we kind of knew that all along,” one friend answered after I confessed. “We’ve known each other since first grade, we wouldn’t actually fall for that. We were just tugging at your leg!” I slapped my forehead. “ I should have known!” I answered, laughing. That night, I heard nothing and, in what felt like forever, I finally had a sound sleep. Maybe the screams were a figment of my imagination, after all.