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Follow the leader

Follow me, or not

I thought I was the leader, being older and more educated on all paths leading back to our family trailer at Pinery provincial park. One day we went for a hike. The route lead through Burley camp to Riverside camp over a few dunes to a path that went by the amphitheater to our destination, the store. The store had the only thing our camp didn't have, candy. 

Weathering the storm 

On the way the clouds grew dark like our expectations to make it back from the store without getting poured on. It was before cell phones, so we couldn't call dad to rescue us. I was going back to camp. I had a short cut, but my brothers didn't want anything to do with it. My brother’s (not heeding my advice) took another route. I made back to the trailer before them and then the storm approached. The weather and my father. "Where are your brothers" He said. "They wouldn't follow me" I said. Suddenly, the rain started pouring down like the lecture. The verbal thunder I received in the car matched the lightening crashing down just outside the car. Dad was not happy. 

The search party

Off to the only place rain-soaked kids could go, the camp store. Twiddle dee and dumb were seen hiding under the overhang, arms folded, teeth chattering and knee's a knocking. I thought "if they would have only followed me, they wouldn't have gotten soaked" My father didn't say boo to them. It was all my fault because I abandoned them. Hey! I knew where was going and had to get going quickly especially, with potential of lightning crashing down beside me. The fear of the tongue lashing didn't outnumber the fear of electrocution. I took my chances. We made it back to camp they dried off and I went to sit on a curb outside the washroom not to sulk but to pick up girls. But that was another story, and my brother was the leader in that story.



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