9 Chapter 9

"Please dad, let us camp in the backyard? May has never slept in a tent."

A small kid was pleading with his dad. There was a young girl of the same age sitting on the couch a bit farther away.

"Ed, you know I have a night shift and your mother is the only one home. I can't have you two sleeping outside, you know I will be worried and your mother is not well"

"Please dad, it's just in the backyard. And Anna from next door will also be with us, she's older so she can take care of us"

The dad took a while to reconsider, "Alright, I'll have a chat with Anna's dad to make sure that's the case"

The kid jumped happily and ran back to the girl he had previously referred to as May.

"Did your dad say Yes?" May asked and Ed nodded happily in response.

"Let's start preparing then"

A while later a small tent was being erected in the yard, the two kids were working tirelessly while Ed's mother and father sat on the porch sipping tea.

The house was a mansion with a sprawling backyard. The yard ended with a tree line and the trees continued as far as the eye could see. There was a house on either side which were almost as a big as this one.

"I'm so happy we moved here, getting out of the city was the best thing ever",

the father spoke.

The mother simply threw him a smile and said, "Thanks Rick, I know its been hard on you, leaving the place you grew up in and your job and friends to come here for my sake. I'll get better soon and then we can go back to our life, as it was before"

Rick took a while before he spoke, " Nah I think I'm starting to like this place. The Doctor was right, we needed to get somewhere with better air. You got sick there and I don't want our little Eden to grow up in all that pollution. And where else can he enjoy a camp out back home. There are no backyards and the parks are infested with scum and pedlars."

The half erected tent slowly crumpled in front of them and two scared cries rang out. The mother let out a laugh, "Go help them set it up now, you're the one who said yes to this".

She slowly got up with the help of her husband. There were two translucent pipes going from her chest to a machine behind here. The machine seemed to be pumping air in and out of the woman.

Rick jogged up to the crumpled tent and dragged out the two disheveled kids. And got to work with setting up the tent for them.

Later on in a perfectly set up tent two kids sat with blankets and toys. The entry flap was opened and a teenager stepped in with a tray full of food.

"Alright kiddos this is your dinner, my mum put a lot of effort preparing this so make sure finish all of it, otherwise..", she put the tray down and cracked her knuckles.

Eden and May collectively gulped. Then sprang for the tray as they tried to quickly wolf it down. Anna laughed out loud as she saw the two kids eating like savages. 'So cute, its so much fun to terrorise them'. Soon the tray was wiped clean and the kids were lying immobile on their backs full of food.

"Alright so I took care of my end of the deal. When your father came to my house I told them I'll be staying with you the whole night and taking care of you two. So you know what you have to right?"

Ed sat up and nodded, "Yes, you were here the whole night and never left the tent".

Anna smiled and gave both the kids a kiss on their forehead. " I'll be back later in the night, now don't be startled and start shrieking at the top of your lungs." With that she stepped out into the darkness.

The kids spent an hour more playing with their toys then snuck into their sleeping bags and switched off the flashlights. They lay in the darkness quietly for a while until May spoke, " Ed, your mum and dad are really nice, I can't imagine how great it must be to live with them"

"Um, your parents died in a car crash right?", Eden as asked.

"Yeah, that's what grandma says, she said I miraculously survived it. But the cranky lady on the corner says my dad killed himself and my mother. The kids in school say that as well. That's why I don't play with them"

"The kids in school are stupid. They looked at me like I was an Alien on my first day and kept asking me stupid questions about the city. I'd rather hang out with you"

"This is my first sleepover. No one ever invited me before, my grandma was so happy when your mother called to ask"

Eden was quite for a bit, " We can have a lot more, who cares about the stupid kids, we'll have our fun", he exclaimed.

May just smiled at him in the darkness, and soon the both of them were fast asleep.

———

Late in the night Eden was woken up by sound of the tent flap moving. He was dazed for a bit with the surroundings but soon remembered where he was. ' I suppose Anna is back' he got up to take a look at her and froze.

In front of him was a huge maw full of sharp teeth. The jaw belonged to a huge grizzly bear, and it was drooling and dripping saliva. The bear opened it and a stench of decaying meat stuck in the bears teeth attacked Eden.

Eden was frozen in shock and couldn't move a single muscle. His eyes betraying the fear he felt. He could also feel something warm spreading between his legs. The bear opened its mouth wide and lunged at him.

Then he screamed.

——-

'Ah a familiar scene', I thought as the bear lunged towards me. But I'm not a weak 10 year old anymore. I gripped the spear and jumped to the side to avoid the attack.