A Pink Flower

The family camping extravaganza had finally come and my thoughts on it were of sarcastic delight. I enjoy going and enjoying peace in nature, but that is pretty hard to do on a family trip. I was also just visiting for the weekend from college, and things always seem awkward when I haven't been around for awhile. Either way, the camping trip would go on, whether it be awkward or unenjoyable.

So in line for our first day was the great hiking experience in the mountains. And Mom, Dad, and my brother of 16 all started the trek with me. I brought in the tail of our line and preffered to take the role of the listener as they conversed and traveled. Unfortunately, when I listen I tend to take in all the sounds around me and I got distracted by the bush that seemed to be talking to me. I paused to communicate with him, but of course he turned out to only be speaking for the squirrel inside of him. When I gazed back to see my family, they were long gone, and I was left alone with the singing bush.

I wasn't too upset about getting lost, I'm just not the type of person to worry, I knew I'd find them eventually. So, why not have some fun instead. I love to pretend, I don't care how old I am there's nothing better than becoming an adventurer faced with daring feats, and intense and exciting action right before my eyes, and this is what I decided to do. I jumped off the dirt path, and the trek had begun.

Some of the trees were treacherously tall, and others shorter, not short compared to most trees, but short enough to provide limbs and leverage for an adventurer to make use of. There were plenty of bushes, and some were like the hedges you would possibly find in your very own front yard. Flowers were rare, weeds were plentiful. Finding a flower in this place would be as exciting as finding a single lump of gold in the midst of many rocks while pan mining a river, and this flower was indeed my quest.

If the rareness was not a difficulty enough for my quest, my rivalries made it complete. The many crows were not of the friendly sort, and there were many furry and scaly creatures that seeked to end my quest.

With all of this in mind, I started my perilous quest. I dove to the ground at the sight of a scheming squirrel, and I used the hedge-like bushes as a path for me to army crawl behind. As I was crawling I suddenly felt the stare of beady black eyes lasering through my head, and without even a glance back at the body connected to the eyes, I dashed for one of my friendlier, shorter trees. I monkeyed the bottom branches, and swung myself atop them, to peer down at my enemy's gaze. The racoon peered up at me defeatedly, and I grined a powerful and somewhat noble grin, at least for a girl. As I sit on the lowest limb, like a leopard lounging on a shady afternoon, I discovered my advantage at this location. I could see a small stream from this viewpoint, and if I climbed even higher, I could see much further. The trunk of the tree had many places where limbs had been broken off, and these served as percect grip-holds for me. Like the leopard, I scampered pacefully as high as I could and found a nice branch for standing purposes. I stood on this branch and grabbed a sturdy branch just above my head, and with the swing of a gymnast I was soon on top of that branch, the viewing post.

At the viewing post I could see a good portion of the mountain, well past the sweetly running stream I had seen earlier. There was much greenery everywhere, many trees, bushes, bramble and weeds, but flowers? I suddenly realized how difficult this quest would really be. Ahh, but perhaps not? A little ways past the stream, I saw what looked like the glow of something velveety and pink! This will be my next destination. I flop down the tree, and with my racoon foe preoccupied with boredom, I jet to the stream.

Just like all streams, this stream was equiped with the perfect rock path to the other side. So I mustered up my courage and equilibrium, and prepared to cross. The water was not running as sweetly and calmly as I had imagined up in the tree, and I hoped I would not have to discover how deep it was either. I started my way along the rocky path, and it turned out to not be so difficult. This was all quite simple, until of course, I discovered my malicious beaver pursuer. I start crossing more quickly, as I realized the beaver thinks I would make a lovely addition to the dam he is building a mile or so upstream. Finally, I hopped to a rock that was just too small for my feet to find rest in, and I slipped. I fall splashing into the running water, but only a knee deep into it. Relieved at my stance in the water, I turned in fury at the beaver, and I prepared to take on my persistant pursuer. My power and force scare the life out of the beaver, and he disappeared quite quickly. I parry myself to my destined shore line, and left the stream in the distance as I squish squashed towards my destination point.

Now I have not mentioned the carniverous crows yet, but they have been present this whole time, and they looked especially hungry to strike me now that I was almost at my destination point. I could even see the pink of the object I desired to have in my grasp, but the black of the crows told me that in order to have a hold of this object, I would have to be quick and evasive. So I took off. The scenary, the ground, the creatures all danced in my view and then out as I ran quickly, and oh, it was such a thrill! I leapt over the hedges, squeezed through tightly spaced bushes, swung over thorny bramble on hanging branches, and treked across the rocky terrain. I rolled under a particular portion of the trees where the branches hung too low, and there at the end of my turn was the prize, the goal, the object of my quest! It was indeed a beautiful flower, pink with a scatter plot of yellow in the middle, and it was not just one flower, but a bush of many of the same flower. But I knew the goal of my quest, and it would be stengy and unthoughtful of me to steal all of the flowers from their residing place in the forest, so I took but one select flower. At this, I valiently trotted back towards where I thought I left my family.

I didn't have a moment to start worrying on if I would find them, because the moment I got back to the path I saw them tracking their way towards me. "Where have you been!" my Mom exclaimed. "I got lost, I knew where I was though, I just took a different path back to the trail, no worries..." I said. With a somewhat annoyed sigh my mom nodded us on and we started heading back to camp, and not even a mention of my great find! But I guess it wouldn't be a great find to them anyway, just like my path through the forest compared to the path they took, I'm different. Me getting lost wasn't an accident either, no I didn't plan on getting lost or losing them, but it just happened, it's just who I am. I don't know if this should upset me or not, but I can't control who I am anyway, and besides that, I have a flower and they don't. Did I mention it was pink?