Bradford's Belt Dilemma

           Bradford looked under his bunk for the fifth time.  It still was not there.  Where in the world could his belt be?  He had looked everywhere.  In an hour he had to run a race in the Camp Celebration and his only clean pair of shorts needed the belt to stay up.  Where could it be?

            He sat down on his bunk to think.  Where had he last seen his belt?  Did he have it when he was swimming earlier at the pool?  He couldn’t remember, but maybe he did.  He ran to the pool and began to walk over every inch of the area around it.  His belt was not there.  What was he going to do?

            He went back to his cabin and looked at his other shorts to see if any of them were clean enough to wear.  Unfortunately, he had had a lot of fun at camp.  All of his shorts were filthy.  Then he came across a piece of rope lying on the floor.  He wrapped it around his waist.  It was long enough.  This would just have to do.  He couldn’t go without a belt at all so he thread the rope through his belt loops and tied the best knot he could muster.  Hopefully this would be okay.

            He made his way to the field where the Camp Celebration was to be held.  His event the 1000-yard race would be last so he sat down in the stands to watch the other races.  His friend, Logan, won the 50-yard dash.  Bradford jumped up and down cheering his friend on to victory.  The next race was the 100-yard dash, and his friend, Noah, was in this one.  Again, Bradford cheered for his friend, but Noah slipped and fell.  He came in next to last.  Bradford would have to cheer him up after everything was over.  The relay race was next, which was the race before Bradford’s.  He made his way down onto the track to get ready.  So far his rope belt was holding, but it seemed looser than when he started.

            While the relay race was under way, Bradford did his stretches to prepare for his race.  He would have to complete nine laps around the track.  He pulled the knot in his rope belt as tight as he could, and then made his way to the sidelines to watch the finish of the relay race.  He didn’t have any friends in this race so he really didn’t care who won.  The red team had a massive lead going into the final lap, but the last runner for the blue team was fast as lightning.  Bradford jumped up and down with excitement despite himself as the blue team pulled ahead of the red team at the very last moment winning the race.

            Now it was his turn.  Bradford took his position on the starting line.  When the buzzer sounded he took off at a good steady pace.  This was a long race so he needed to pace himself.  Bradford’s strategy was to stay in the middle of the pack until the last lap.  Then he would pour on the speed hoping the lead runner would be tired out from setting too fast a pace.

            The first four laps went by without much incident.  Bradford kept himself squarely in the middle of the pack.  On the fifth lap, Bradford began to notice that his shorts seemed to be hanging lower than they had been.  By the seventh lap, Bradford had to pull his shorts up every so often.  On the eighth lap, Bradford had to pull his shorts up every few feet.  When he hit the last lap, he wanted to pour on the speed, but by this time his rope belt came completely loose.  Bradford had to use both hands to keep his shorts from falling down around his ankles.  He ran as fast as he possibly could while holding up his shorts, but it was awkward.  He came in fifth place.

            When the race was over, Bradford collapsed in the grass.  He wanted to cry but didn’t.  His friend, Noah, came over and sat down next to him in the grass.  For a while, neither of them said a word.  Then Noah began to giggle.  Bradford looked at him and giggled, too.  For the next half hour the friends talked about how silly Bradford had looked trying to run holding up his pants, and what bad luck Noah had had in his race.  This would be a Camp Celebration to remember. 

Tyler's Picnic Catastrophe

            Tyler walked into the kitchen and found his mom putting food and drink in quart mason jars.  She only did that for one reason.  They must be going on a picnic.

            “What are you doing?” asked Tyler trying to see what was in the mason jars.

            “What does it look like I’m doing?” asked his mom with a slight grin.

            “Are we going on a picnic?” asked Tyler starting to jump with excitement.

            “Yes, we are,” said his mom.  “Now go get ready, and then help your dad with the bicycles.”

            Tyler took off to his room to find his socks and shoes.  Once he had those on correctly, he headed out the door to find his dad.  He found him by the SUV loading the bicycles on the bicycle rack.  Tyler quickly ran to get his bike and handed it to his dad.

            “Oh boy!” exclaimed Tyler.  “A picnic and bikes!  Where are we going?”

            “We’re going to the state park where we always go,” said his dad as he loaded Tyler’s bike on the rack.

            Just then, Tyler’s mom came through the front door with the fully loaded picnic basket.  “Anyone ready to go on a picnic,” she called as she headed for the SUV.

            “ME!!!” shouted Tyler as he climbed into the back seat and strapped himself into the seatbelt.

            The ride to the state park only took 30 minutes, but for Tyler it seemed to take forever.  By the time they pulled up to the picnic area, he was really hungry.  As soon as his dad parked the car, Tyler shot out of the SUV and started surveying his surroundings.  He knew it would take his mom a few minutes to get everything ready.  Before long, he heard his mom call, and he headed back to the table where his mom had set out their lunch

            What Tyler loved most about his family’s picnics was that they never had the traditional sandwiches and chips.  Today his mom had packed spaghetti and meatballs, bread, and sweet iced tea in her mason jars.  For dessert she had banana pudding –Tyler’s absolute favorite.

            As Tyler settled in to devour his spaghetti and meatballs, a bee landed on the edge of his plate.  He shooed it away, but soon it was joined by several more.  Before long there were so many bees buzzing around his plate, Tyler had to abandon his lunch and run away from the table.  He was soon followed by both of his parents.

            “Oh my!” exclaimed Tyler’s mom.  “The bees aren’t going to let us eat.”

            “Why don’t we just eat in the SUV?” suggested Tyler’s dad.

            “Good idea,” said his mom.

            Tyler’s parents gathered the food shooing the bees away as much as they could.  Finally, the three of them settled into the SUV and continued their meal with the bees angrily buzzing outside the windows.  When everyone finished dessert, they started unloading the bicycles for a nice ride through the park. 

            The angry bees had put a damper on Tyler’s mood, but now with the prospect of a bike ride, his mood perked right back up.  For a while, Tyler rode along lost in the thrill of feeling the wind rush against his skin.  Then they approached a hill, and Tyler stood up on his pedals, determined not to be outdone by his parents.  About halfway up the hill, his foot slipped on the pedal.  The pedal went sideways and Tyler’s foot became entangled with the pedal.  This made the bike jerk sending Tyler sprawling to the ground.  His scraped his knee and elbow bad enough to make them bleed.  His parents came back to where he lay, and his dad picked him up carrying him back to the SUV.  While his mom bandaged his knee and elbow, his father gathered all the bikes and loaded them back on the SUV.  They decided they had had enough fun for one afternoon and headed back home.

            Poor Tyler was so upset that his wonderful picnic had turned out so disastrous, that he cried quietly most of the way home.  When they made it back home, Tyler limped into the house, changed into his pajamas, and plopped on the couch.

            His mother came to him with a bowl of popcorn.  She put on his favorite movie, and snuggled with him making sure to be careful of his wounds.  Before long, Tyler’s mood perked up again.  This might not be a picnic, but this was another good thing he loved about his family.