A Day Out

Rain was trickling down the window pane; the pitter-patter of the raindrops hitting the roof makes a soothing symphony that promises to lull the tired minds to a deep slumber. A boy sits at his desk in a room, staring blankly out of the window. The room is sparsely furnished, with just a cluttered bed at the corner of the room, a messy shelf filled with dusty books, a simple double door wardrobe and a small desk littered with notes and papers. The boy's dark brown eyes seemed a million years away as he sat at his desk, distracted by his train of thoughts. The orangey glow of the desk lamp makes his unruly hair looks almost light brown, a contrast from its usual dull brown. As he continues to be absorbed in his thoughts, he toyed with a piece of paper on the desk; an invitation to the yearly camping trip organized by the school.

He glanced at the clock on the wall and let out an audible sigh. It was nearing midnight. He was never the outdoor type, but this was his last year in school and his friends would not let him pass over this outing, like he did with every other outings ever organised by the school. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "There is no way I could get out of this one," he thought. With that, he finally went to bed.

The next morning, he was awaken by the annoying beep of the clock. He got up from his bed and grumbled all the way to the bathroom to wash up. As he got dressed and went downstairs, his father was already sitting at the dining table reading his morning papers. His father has pleasantly plump features with short salt and pepper hair and a rotund stomach that seems to plague every middle age man nowadays. The boy simply grabbed a piece of toast from the kitchen counter and headed out the door with his backpack. They never did talk much. When they finally reached the school ten minutes later, there were only a few students in sight. He took a look at his wrist watch and saw that he was thirty minutes early.

Just as he was walking through the school parking lot, a boy who is almost the same height as the boy called out to him.

"Wayne!" greeted Long, "you came! I thought you'd ditch us again."

Long has been friends with Wayne since 7th grade. He has grown from a tiny kid to a gawky lanky teen. With short black hair and brown eyes, they could almost be passed off as brothers. Wayne smiled as he joined the others who were waiting for the chartered bus to take them to the camping destination. There were two other kids in the group, a very tall kid who's closing on 6 foot and another kid that is about the same height as Wayne and Long.

"Hey Kit!" Long greeted the tall kid and Wayne high-fived Ken, the shorter one.

There were a few other groups of students who gathered at the hall as they waited for the bus to arrive. The morning sun shone brightly, casting a warm glow that is much welcomed after a cold and humid night. The dews on the grass twinkled as the refreshing breeze blew through the school field. The excited chatters of the students blended in with the rustling of tree leaves in the morning breeze. The bus driver blared the horn loudly, startling all conversations to a stop. The kids quickly grabbed their backpacks and clamored to get good seats on the bus. Wayne sighed with relief when he saw that the bus was an air-conditioned chartered coach that has soft reclinable seats unlike the ones on the school bus that squeaks every time you tried to move.

"At least the journey there will be comfortable," thought Wayne.

He fell asleep as soon as he snuggled up in his seat. Long however, was texting someone on his phone, and judging by the look on his face, it was a special someone as he could not stop smiling to himself every now and then. Kit and Ken on the other hand were soon engrossed in a game of cards on the other side of the aisle. Despite it being a huge ruckus on the bus, Wayne slept on, blissfully undisturbed by his fellow schoolmates' antics.

Three hours later, Wayne awoke from his slumber when the bus went over a particularly nasty bump which almost made him fell off his seat. Irritated that he was roused from his sleep, he grabbed his water bottle from the backpack and took a deep gulp. Most of his schoolmates had already fallen asleep, tired from the racket they had caused earlier on.

He rubbed his weary eyes and tried to smooth his hair, which jutted out at an odd angle as a result of his weird sleeping position. He tried to flatten his hair in vain, wetting it with the water from his water bottle; hoping it would look better by the time they reach their destination.

It was another hour before they'd finally reached their destination. By then, the bus was so quiet that you could almost hear a pin drop. Finally, the bus started to slow down and came to a halt. Everyone peered out the window and perked up as the National Park came into view. The National Park rangers greeted the excited kids and showed them around the main building where there is a reception waiting for them. As they walked towards the building, miles and miles of forests stretched out beyond the land. After the students had a quick lunch at the cafeteria in the building, the teachers took a head count and a few of the rangers handed out camping equipments such as tents, flint stones, swiss knives and also some food and water supplies.

Once they got their provisions, they were split into groups and led into the forest by the rangers.