"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" The entire group cackled at the end of their friend's story.
It was meant to be time for scary stories, but the one that started this supposedly spooky time was the funniest story that Julien Cadieux had ever heard. It seemed to be the same for the rest of his group.
As the laughter died down, it turned out to be Julien's turn. He leaned forward towards the roaring campfire, set down his drink, and started on a well-known story.
"I'm assuming you all have heard this one, but I'm going to tell it anyway."
Hearing this, his friends, one other guy, and two girls, seemed to relax a little bit. Not that they didn't want a scary story, but easing into it seemed to be the better option.
Taking a deep breath, Julien started his story. "So, back in the 50's, there was a nice couple heading to a popular lovers lane to have some alone time... If you get what I'm saying." His friends nodded and smirked,
"When they arrived, they wanted to speak before anything too much, so they decided to discuss the recent city murders. The guy told the girl that he had heard the police confirmed the weapon the killer used. A rusty hook..." One of the girls had a look of recognition on her face, remembering the story. The other two didn't.
"After discussing this scary news, the guy and girl... You know, had some alone time, and after they were done, they had intended to have a late-night meal on the edge of the lovers' lane. The guy opens his car door to hear something hit the gravel road. Looking down, he yells at the girl to get back and stay in the car. A hook had been lodged into the door handle of his car..."
All his friends were intrigued but somewhat disappointed.
"Julien, you're usually so good with stories," the girl next to him started, "Why was this one so short and simple?"
"I'm sorry, April, you know I'm busy actually writing my book. I'm trying to save the good storytelling for that."
April put her head on Julien's shoulder and made him promise to save her some good stories.
Julien was renowned as a good storyteller. He loved books as a kid and still does in the current moment. Any form of story he could get into, he would and has. It's what led him to want to be a writer, but first, he had to get through college.
After Julien told his story, the two other group members, Charlie and Bella, told their stories. As expected, they weren't great. Instead of telling scary stories, they all told funny stories that they had heard or stories about their lives. Everything had been heard before, but it was still a funny experience nonetheless.
As they continued on with their fun night, drinking more and more, the woods they had set a small camp in got darker and quieter; all, except for their area, felt like a switch had been flipped, turning everything off.
Everyone got tired and decided it was enough for the night. They put out their campfire, making sure all embers were completely out, stumbling around while doing so, and hopped into their tents.
In his tent, all alone, Julien didn't get any sleep. He rarely could when alone; it scared him just enough to have trouble sleeping. He unzipped his tent and slowly walked to the tent to the right of him. It was April's.
"Hey... April!" Julien whispered, "You awake?"
As he said that, April's tent unzipped, and April beckoned him inside. There was an extra sleeping bag next to hers.
"You coward," April started, snickering a little, "You didn't try very hard to sleep, did you?"
Julien looked puzzled. Seeing this, April showed him her watch. It was only 2:55, they had all gone to bed maybe twenty minutes prior.
"Oh... Sorry, should I go ba-" Julien was interrupted before he could finish his sentence.
"No, love, you don't need to go. I knew this would happen."
Hearing this, Julien was happy but also somewhat demoralized. April did so much for him, and he felt like he was being a hassle.
"You know," April started, eyes closed, "I love when you come to me like that. It makes me feel wanted."
Julien's eyes rested on April, and he started blushing and tearing up. She always knew what to say to make him feel better, even if she didn't know he was sad.
"I love you, you know that."
April opened her eyes and kissed Julien's forehead. Her special way of saying yes.
Julien scooched in and held April, falling asleep soon after.
Julien's eyes opened widely, his head pounding. He turned in April's tent to look for April. She was sitting up, packing her bag, sensing Julien's consciousness, she turned her wrist to him. It was 12:46, Julien had slept through the entire morning.
"Rise and shine, you adorable hypersomniac, lunch is almost ready." April egged at Julien
Feeling like shit, Julien got up and walked out of the tent. Charlie had made a new fire and was cooking stew while Bella sat on a log near Charlie, almost drooling at the lamb meat Charlie was making for the stew.
"Hungry, Bella?" Julien shouted, waking her from her hungry stupor.
"Can you blame me? Look at the grub that Charlie is cooking up." Bella responded, the eagerness in her voice very apparent.
Julien meandered over to look at the meal. It did look really good. While looking at it, Julien's stomach grumbled.
Hearing this, Bella decided to take a shot at him.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who's starved, you look like you haven't eaten in years!"
Julien chuckled. He knew Bella couldn't help herself, but it didn't bother him; it was all in good fun. There had been a point where Julien didn't eat very much, but he was far past that at this point in time. Charlie had gotten him to work out, and because of that, they both had more lean builds.
While everyone was laughing, April finished packing her bag and exited the tent. Walking over and seeing the appetizing stew, Julien sensed that she also felt quite hungry.
"Turns out you're certainly not the only one, Bella. We're all starved!" Julien exclaimed
Charlie told everyone to calm down as lunch would soon be ready.
When it was ready and served, everyone, except Charlie, savagely scarfed down their food as if they hadn't eaten for weeks. It was truly a delightful meal; everything was perfect.
"Charlie, you've outdone yourself." April stated, more as a fact than an opinion.
"I'm honored you think as such." Charlie replied, clearly proud of himself.
Bella and Julien were too busy getting seconds to compliment Charlie's cooking verbally, but their actions spoke much louder than words.
After eating, they all packed up their things, having fun banter as they did so, and started hiking back to the car. They had only gone about 2 miles from their cars, so it wasn't much of a trek. They hiked back, taking in the nature and the nice weather before leaving and going back to being inside more of the time than not. Charlie led the group, with Bella close behind. April and Julien stayed behind a little bit to have some time to themselves without getting lost.
"It was nice of Charlie to invite us to this outing. It's so beautiful out here." April said with a common but noticeable glow in her eye.
Julien happily agreed, making sure to breathe in the nice air as he saw their cars in the distance.
They soon arrived at their cars, and each said their goodbyes for the time being. April and Julien got into the car and started to drive home, reminiscing on the trip while doing so.
When they got home, they rushed in and stretched out. Julien felt good to be back home. He walked up to his room and continued writing his book.
"If you need anything, I'll be watching TV. Just yell." April shouted to Julien
Julien shouted out in agreement before returning to his computer. He felt stuck at an impasse, not knowing what to write. To fix this, he looked out his window, but it didn't work. He squinted and noticed something, a creature he had never seen, scurrying on the road as if it belonged to it...