Vermont Paradise

Excerpt

Vermont Paradise
Natalie Monteiro © 2026
All Rights Reserved

Chapter One

The Arrival

I threw my backpack into the backseat of our blue Subaru Outback and closed the door. I really wanted to slam it, but I had recently taken it upon myself to be less passive-aggressive. Regardless, I shouldn’t show my cards. Mom had practically begged us to be on our best behavior. For Dad’s sake, she had said. It was his idea to go on this family camping trip. Our first one ever. I didn’t know what inspired this idea of his. All I knew was that he thought it would be a good idea to teach us kids about the outdoors. In case we ever got lost in the wilderness or in case there was total collapse of society. The latter seemed to be his greatest fear.

“All set?” my mom asked as she approached the Subaru.

“Yes, my bag is all packed,” I responded.

“Do you know if Tanya is ready?”

Tanya. My lovely older sister. She was the main reason I was dreading this family trip. I tried my best to keep my composure.

“Probably not. You know how she is. Waiting until the last minute to get ready just like Dad.”

“Ugh, I know,” Mom said with a huff. “Your father is still in the shower.”

We were supposed to be on the road by 8:00 a.m., but here we were at 8:20 a.m., still waiting for them. Getting up early was not an issue for me. If anything, I woke up too early. Like today. Five-thirty a.m. was a bit too much, even for me. I knew it was because I had too much on my mind… I just wanted to get this camping trip over with already.

I gave my mom a half smile before passing her by to go back inside. I wanted to say goodbye to my cat, Remy, while I still could. I bet he would enjoy the house all to himself. If anything, he would enjoy being free from Maggie, our four-year-old Australian Shepherd who still had the energy of a puppy. Which, unfortunately for Remy, meant that she wanted to play with him whenever the rest of us were too busy.

It was one of my favorite things about Maggie. How much she loved to play. We could do it for hours. Fetch with her favorite tennis ball or playing with my old, beat-up soccer ball. She even knew how to play hide and seek! But for her, she didn’t really care what we did, so long as we were doing it together. That was why I made sure she was included in this family trip. But truthfully, it was just as much for her sake as it was for mine.

That the one good thing about camping, at least. It was dog friendly.

I opened the kitchen cupboard, hoping to find Remy there. It wasn’t his typical hiding spot, but it definitely wasn’t his most unusual. He was usually to be found under my parents’ bed, but with all the extra commotion this morning, I figured he wanted somewhere quieter.

I was right. There he was, curled up in a tight ball, staring up at me with his bright-green eyes. He gave me a look of “please just let me sleep some more.” Not this time. If only he could understand that he could go back to sleeping in a few minutes, once all of us had left.

He let out a soft meow as I scooped him up and plopped us onto the black pleather couch. I held him tight against my chest, and he nuzzled in, making himself more comfortable. I stroked the long dirty-brown fur on his back, and I could feel him relaxing more deeply. Soon, he closed his eyes as if ready to return to sleep.

If only he knew how lucky he is, not having to endure the family trip that lies ahead.

“Morning, sis!” Tanya screeched from over my shoulder. My entire body jumped in surprise as my heart rate increased. Remy too was disturbed. His eyes jolted open, and he looked direly afraid. I didn’t know if it was from Tanya’s yell or my reaction to it. Either way, it didn’t matter. I was just lucky that he didn’t run away.

“Ready for some family bonding?” she asked with an overly sarcastic tone. It took every bone in my body to not get upset with her. She knew that I startled easily, and I knew that she got pleasure from seeing it happen. I couldn’t fault her for it this time. I could only wonder how I had missed her coming down the stairs.

“Yeah, I’m ready for it if you are,” I said, trying to gauge just how bad of a mood she was in. Out of all the vacations we could have gone on, at least we could agree that this would be very low on the list. Though I knew she wouldn’t handle camping as well as I would.

She mocked me under her breath. “I’m ready if you are,” she muttered to herself in a voice that made me sound stupid. “You think you’re so clever, don’t you?”

I stared at her without an answer. Was she really starting this already?

“God, you’re so annoying. I can’t believe I’m going to be stuck with you in a car, for, what, like four hours?”

“Like three and a half,” I corrected, wanting to add a splash of fuel to the fire.

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “Close enough.”

I stared at her in make-believe confusion. “Oh, I thought you’d be delighted. It’s less time than you were expecting to spend with me in the car.”

She stared back at me with a dirty grin on her face. “No one likes a know-it-all, Mar. And that’s only one reason why people don’t like you.”

I instinctively clenched my hand into a fist. I usually tried to ignore comments like these from her, but I was getting sick of being her punching bag. Camping would be bad enough on its own. I didn’t need her comments on top of it.

“Aw, what a real shame Tommy didn’t want to come with us. I can’t imagine why. You’re such a charmer. Hey, well, since he’s not coming, why don’t you take all that makeup off? Or are you too insecure to even let your family see what you really look like?”

Remy wasn’t having it. I could only assume he felt the tension. He jumped off my lap and ran up the stairs, probably to hide elsewhere. Anywhere far from here. It made my skin boil hotter. Tanya had ruined my goodbye with him.

She gave me a smirk. “Okay, one: you know Tommy couldn’t take the time off work. And two: you sound like a jealous bitch. It’s not my fault you’re incapable of obtaining a meaningful, long-term relationship. One that’s filled with connection. One that’s filled with love.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m sure he really loves you. I totally haven’t noticed him flirting with anyone else. Never.”

“That’s it!” She lunged in my direction with her arms at full stretch.

“Girls!” Mom yelled, swinging the front door open and accidentally slamming it into the wall. She stared at where it had hit, clearly upset that it had happened. She turned to give us an angry look of “see what you made me do?”

Tanya’s eyes were locked on mine as she slowly took a step backward. She maintained a glare at me while doing so, making me believe that she really was about to beat the shit out of me. What retaliation had Mom just saved me from?

“It is too early for this much animosity! Please!” Mom seemed unsatisfied that our ongoing tension hadn’t miraculously disappeared into thin air.

“She started it!” Tanya yelled, breaking our deadlock. I felt like I had teleported back to when we were kids. Her five and me four.

“I don’t want to hear it! We have been over this already! I need you two to get along for the sake of your father. This vacation is very important to him.”

I let out a heavy sigh, knowing she was right. “Yes, Mom. It won’t happen again,” I agreed, really hoping that this would be the last of our fighting. But knowing Tanya, Mom’s interference had merely delayed her retaliation, and she didn’t even have a chance to respond.

It was as if Dad had heard his name and was arriving on cue. He bounced down the stairs with a big bag of God knows what in either hand. “All right, all right, all right!” he hummed. “Who’s ready for some camping?” He expressed it in such a way that made the only appropriate answer to be one agreeing with him wholeheartedly.

“Me!” Tanya said, convincingly, taking the words right out of my mouth. It was officially time to put on the good girl show for Dad.

“Me too, Dad!” I said, sounding equally excited.

Mom looked like a wave of relief had been taken off her shoulders. She had nipped our fighting in the bud before Dad could even become aware of it. It was lucky for her, and it was lucky for us. There was no reason to make Dad upset.

“Great! Let’s pack up the car,” he said.

“I already threw my stuff in there,” I explained, alluding to the fact that I had been ready for a while now.

“Okay, well then, you can help me load these bags into the car, and Tanya, you can help your mother fill the cooler.”

I was pretty sure that Mom had already filled it, but I wasn’t going to correct him, and apparently, she didn’t want to either. She just gave him a smile.

I stepped outside. The cool air of the summer morning hit my face. I could already feel the heat from the sun beaming down on top of my head, which meant regardless of the brisk morning air, today was going to be a hot one.

Dad opened the trunk to the Subaru, looking displeased as he noticed the various items that were already loaded in there. He pulled them all out and placed them onto the pavement. I knew too well what he was doing. He needed to load everything in a specific way, making the most space possible. I stood there, watching him, letting him do his thing.

“I’m leaving space here for the cooler,” Dad said, letting me be privy to the inner workings of his mind. He started putting everything back inside, leaving the left side of the trunk open. “Normally, I’d want to put that in first, since it’s so big, but I guess we are going a little wild today.” He paused for a moment, turning to look at me with an amused grin. “Wild! Ha!”

Oh, Dad.

“Good one,” I said with a soft chuckle, mainly because of his reaction to the pun and not the pun itself. Off to the wilderness we went.

Mom and Tanya came out the front door of the house. They each had a handle to the cooler in one hand as they walked carefully toward us. Dad rushed over to meet them. He swiftly took it into his possession, carried it the rest of the way to the car, and slid it into its rightful spot.

“Great,” he said, satisfied. “Now to get the last-minute items.”

“I’ll open up the garage,” Mom said, as if she also knew Dad’s process. I let them handle the rest as I went back inside to retrieve Maggie.

“Mags!” I hollered, entering the house, but she was already patiently waiting at the door for me. Her eyes were wide, and she panted. She started doing circles around me. She hated being alone. Even if it was for a second.

“Do you want to go for a car ride?” I asked, and she stopped in her tracks. This devolved into her running around me even faster than before. She threw in some kind of silly-looking bunny hops. I let out a wholesome laugh at her utter cuteness.

“Okay, good girl! Sit,” I commanded. Her listening skills were great, just like I had trained them to be. I connected her turquoise collar to its matching leash. Together, we did a final walk around the house making sure that I had packed up everything Maggie would need. Her water bowl, her container of food, the bag of treats, and her blanket. They were nowhere to be found, which meant that I had successfully packed them all into the car.

I eyed her bin of toys, opting to bring one more with us. I hadn’t wanted to get it dirty, but I changed my mind. She’d be happy to have her favorite stuffed pickle available to chew during the car ride, so I picked up the soft green blob, and she excitedly mouthed it out of my hand. I smiled down at her, letting her carry it the rest of the way.

“Does anyone need anything else from inside?” I hollered to my family as I opened the front door once more. With overwhelming nos from the family, I locked the door behind me and joined the rest of them at the rear of the car.

They had made fast work. The trunk was now stuffed, with the cooler barely visible behind all the additional items around it. From what I could tell at a glance, they had added in the tents, a propane stove, and camping chairs. With how full the trunk was, it looked like we were going on a two-week trip, but luckily for me, we’d only be gone for the next five days.

With everything all set, we hopped into the car. Dad as the driver, Mom as the copilot, me sitting behind Dad, and Tanya seated behind Mom. Then, of course, there was Maggie, who was half on my lap and half on the middle seat. She shoved Pickle in my face, making me do nothing but smile.

I said a mental goodbye to Remy, and the house at large, as the garage door closed and we began to drive away.

*****

I woke up to the sound of Maggie whining. She loves the ride part of car rides but always becomes impatient whenever the car stops moving for more than a few seconds. I knew that was the case this time as I became reacquainted with my surroundings. I realized that we were parked at a gas station, and Dad was not in the Subaru.

“It is okay, Maggie. You’re doing great,” I said in her favorite good-girl voice, giving her head a rub.

“Mornin’, nerd,” Tanya said slyly.

I had no clue how long I had been out for. Last thing I remember was probably about an hour into the ride. Dad was singing along to “Black Betty” by Ram Jam while playing air guitar, and Mom was instructing him to keep both hands on the steering wheel. He sometimes liked to use his knees to drive, and Mom made her disapproval of that very well known.

“Are we almost there?” I groggily asked the car in general, realizing my nap must have been a pretty long one.

“We are about an hour out,” said Mom. “We just crossed the Vermont border.”

Darn, I had missed the warm welcome from the GPS. But I quickly noticed that I had missed something even more important: the scenic views on the drive here. Who knew gas stations could be this beautiful? The rolling mountains surrounded either side of the car. I could feel them calling to me. For the first time, I started to wonder if camping wouldn’t be that bad after all.

Maggie began to whine again. “Shh, it’s okay, girl,” I said as I gave her some more good-girl pets. I dragged my palm down her spine, tracing her black-and-white fur.

Tanya’s eyes were glued to her phone, probably scrolling through social media, while Mom stared out the windshield, waiting for Dad to return or just taking a moment to admire the views. I could only assume that Dad had gone inside to pay with cash. Anything to save a couple of dollars.

I let out a big yawn and reached down for the cupholder in the leg space of the middle seat where Maggie sat patiently. I grabbed my Dunkin’s iced coffee, oat milk with no sugar. We had taken a brief pit stop for some breakfast. Normally, we didn’t stop at drive-throughs, with my parents opting to save money by cooking and making coffee at home. But this was vacation, and my dad was a sucker for their Boston Cream donuts with a hot black coffee. Even if it was the middle of August.

I took a sip of my drink and was sorely disappointed by the taste of watered-down coffee. I should have asked for it with less ice, but I drank it, nonetheless. It was still coffee. I wasn’t about to waste it.

Dad returned to the car, opened the driver’s side door, and pulled on the lever that opened the fuel tank hatch. I heard it click open. “Glad to see you’re back with us, Maria. T-minus one hour and five minutes!” he exclaimed before closing the door again. I gave him a soft smile in response.

Maggie curled back up in a ball against me, placing her head on my lap, while we all waited for Dad. I couldn’t believe she was actually settling down.

Soon enough, the tank was filled, and Dad was in the car again. We drove back onto I-91 and took the first exit off the highway. “That was the last stop before rural town,” Dad explained as we quickly became surrounded by trees. He wasn’t kidding.

Now we were on Route 2. A wide winding road that we traveled on for quite some time. Views of the mountains become more intimate. I could see the individual trees covering each mountain, the large boulders occasionally jutting from the landscape, and now, we were so close to the mountains that it was difficult to see the peaks out of the backseat windows.

“It’s so beautiful here,” Mom said in awe. Dad reached out a hand over the center console to hold hers, showing that he completely agreed.

Tanya, however, seemed to be totally oblivious to our surroundings. She had barely even said a word to us. Her nose was still glued to her phone, but this time, she was typing away with a smile. She must be texting Tommy. Yuck. I don’t know what she sees in that man-child.

Sure, he was physically attractive. The chiseled face. The picture-perfect smile. The blue eyes and dirty-blond hair that sat above his muscular, athletic body. But did any of that matter when he was emotionally constipated, had a penis for a brain, and had chronically shown himself to be disloyal? I thought she would have broken up with him by now. Found someone more deserving of her; someone who wasn’t a total asshole to me. But here we were, more than two years later, and Tanya was still trying to make it work with this guy.

I often wondered if she displaced her anger from him onto me, and if that was the only reason she’d been able to make things last for this long.

We were on Route 2 for what felt like hours, although, obviously, that couldn’t be the case with how smoothly we were sailing. It was the windy road. The absence of any cars driving by us. The complete immersion into the wilderness that really made this part of the drive feel like it went on forever.

The views of the mountains had been beautiful, but now we were inside them, all I could see was the closeups of trees, which really wasn’t all that exciting. Especially when they all looked the same. Pine. Maple. Or was that oak?

At least Dad continued to play classic rock that I sang along to in my head as I petted my beautiful, sleeping Aussie.

There. Finally. I saw something other than trees.

We approached a large, elliptical sign just in front of a turn in the road. The intricacies of the sign, now, were becoming clear. Behind its big, black words were wooden planks painted a faded yellow. The Subaru slowed, and the turn signal clicked on.

“Your destination is on the right,” the GPS announced.

It sure was. Bear Mountain Campground, as the sign read. I wasn’t a fan of its run-down appearance, let alone the name of the place. I could only hope it didn’t mean there were lots of bears around here.

Who was I kidding? Out here, deep in the wilderness…

There most certainly were.

We took the turn, and the dirt road abruptly switched to gravel. The tires churned against it, making for a bumpy ride. Maggie was now alert, standing over me to look out the window. There still wasn’t much to see beside the trees, but soon, we reached a parking lot that led to a large building in its middle. The Visitors’ Center, another much smaller but still faded sign announced. There were only a few cars in the parking lot, and so we were able to get a front-row parking spot.

“Looks like we made it, girls!” Dad put the car in park.

“Why are we stopping here?” I asked, confused.

Tanya put her phone down. “OMG, are we indoor camping? Did you book us a suite in this lodge?” she asked excitedly.

Was that even a thing?

Dad let out a laugh, “No, sweetheart. We have to sign in and get our parking pass.”

Tanya’s smile faded as quickly as it had come.

“I’ll be right back,” Dad announced before exiting the car.

“What are we even going to do out here?” Tanya moaned once Dad was far enough away to be out of potential hearing distance. It was a fair question. The intricacies of the trip had largely been kept a secret. The only thing we knew was that, for whatever reason, Dad had really wanted to come here.

“Your father has a few things planned for us, hun. It should be a good mixture of hiking, outdoor activities, and just relaxing.”

Is that really it? That’s why we had come all this way?

“Oh!” Mom said excitedly. “And I did bring a deck of cards!”

Tanya scoffed, “That is our source of entertainment? Walking around and playing Go Fish? I’m so glad I brought my portable battery charger.” She turned to give me the stink eye.

As for me, I was so glad that I brought two new books to read.

Dad appeared outside my window as if from nowhere and opened my door.

“Maria,” he said, poking his head in. “Come inside and help me bring the firewood into the car.” I couldn’t help but feel that there was no room left in the Subaru to fit even a few scraps of wood. But without a word, I followed him inside the Visitors’ Center.

It was a large, singular room with vast double-story windows. Rays of light beamed in, illuminating the wooden walls. Its stone accents really completed the rustic vibe. So did the wooden columns running from floor to ceiling throughout the space. There was a large fireplace in the center of the room with comfortable-looking leather couches surrounding it. I didn’t smell any of the smoke, but the flames roared and twirled around the inside of its metallic chamber.

The center was warm and inviting. It was not as run-down as I had thought. Never judge a place by its signage, I supposed, which reminded me that this would be a great place to read my book on a rainy day. Especially since there were not many people here, aside from the staff behind the well-crafted check-in desks.

“Over here,” Dad hollered, snapping me out of my daze. I finally stepped away from the entrance where I had unknowingly been blocking the front doors.

As Dad instructed, I grabbed one bundle of wood. It was wrapped in tight plastic that kept all the sticks together, and it was heavier than I expected. It wasn’t a problem for Dad. Under each arm, he held a bundle that was squeezed against the side of his body.

We headed for the exit.

“You already paid?” I asked him.

“Sure did. Thanks again, Nancy!” he hollered as an older woman with red hair waved to us from behind the counter.

“No problem, Steve!” she yelled back with a smile. I wondered how on earth they had become so quickly acquainted.

Dad swung around the Subaru to Mom and Tanya’s side. Opening Mom’s door first, he placed a bundle of wood on her lap, then did the same to Tanya. I knew that there was no room in the trunk for these new additions, so without any questions asked, I did the same thing. I opened my car door and placed the wood on my lap as I sat down. Maggie, more excited by the big sticks than by my return, sniffed them intensely.

“None for you,” I said, as if she could understand. She continued sniffing the bundle and eventually placed her front paw on top of it as she looked straight into my soul. It was her way of letting me know that she wanted it, and that was another one of my favorite things about Maggie. She was super communicative.

I smiled at her, letting her keep her paw there.

“For you, my dear,” Dad said, removing a piece of paper from his pocket and handing it to Mom. She awkwardly reached around her woodpile to grab the paper and opened it up.

“Okay, we are site two hundred and twelve,” she announced, turning the paper in various directions. “It doesn’t appear to be too far away—take a left out of here,” she instructed, and Dad did as he was told, bringing us back onto the bumpy road.

We passed various forks in the road with signage that indicated relevant campsite numbers. The first fork was for sites one to seventy-five. The next, for sites seventy-six to one hundred. We passed them, and many others, until we reached a road that encompassed sites two hundred and one to two hundred and fifty.

We took the turn, with the first campsite becoming visible. I could not believe how much camping gear these people had. Massive tents that appeared to be double-deckers; a canopy with screened netting around their picnic area; intricate wires that hung around their trees, some with clothes left to dry.

I soon realized that this one site was not an abnormality. We approached the next one, also with massive tents, with multiple hammocks tied to trees, and a huge doggy play pen. Site after site we passed was full of lavish gear from well-seasoned campers. The amount of money these people must have put down baffled me. They must come here like every weekend to make it worth it.

One campsite looked so comfortable that I started to believe they must live here at least part of the time. Plus, they had a collage of outdoor sporting goods scattered across their site. Dirt bikes, a canoe, a paddleboard, and multiple kayaks. Never would I have thought that here, of all places, we’d stick out like a sore thumb. Our only camping gear, at least that I knew of, was the tents and four ordinary camping chairs, and the propane stove I saw in the trunk.

I didn’t realize camping was an expensive hobby.

We approached an empty site ahead. It was the same size as all the others we had passed, and it had the same basic amenities that the others did: a picnic table and a firepit. It was better than nothing.

A short sign jutted from the ground. Site 212. Dad pulled up against the edge of the site, blocking the sign, and putting the car in park. “Home sweet home!” he exclaimed.

Yeah, something like that.

We opened our doors practically in synchrony, eager to get out of the car as soon as possible. It was a long ride. I grabbed Maggie’s leash and scooted us around the woodpile. I think she was more excited than Dad himself to be here. As we stood next to the car, she started pacing around me, sniffing frantically. I was barely able to stretch out my arms and back before she pulled me to a nearby rock. Apparently, this was the perfect spot to relieve herself.

It was then that I realized our entire campsite was covered in these tiny rocks. Smaller than the gravel from the road, but certainly much bigger than a grain of sand. They did not look comfortable, by any stretch of the imagination, to sleep on. They didn’t even look like they were natural to the area. Why would these people intentionally cover the site in rocks?

Dad let a deep breath out and took a long, exaggerated inhalation. “Ah, I can already feel my blood pressure dropping,” he said, sounding relieved.

“I can already feel my hair frizzing,” Tanya replied, sounding horrified.

As for me, I could already feel my back hurting, from these damn rocks.

“Don’t worry, honey, you’ll still look beautiful. You always look gorgeous, just like your mom.”

But Mom was not around to hear Dad’s compliment. Her head was buried in the trunk, getting straight to work. The camping chairs were now on the ground to either side of her, as she continued removing other items from the car.

“Someone’s on a mission,” I said, standing behind her while Mags continued to frantically smell our new territory.

“The sooner our place is set up, the sooner I can relax,” she replied without making eye contact, unable to take a second away from unloading our belongings.

Clearly, her blood pressure hadn’t dropped yet.

“How can I help?” I asked, mentally preparing myself for whatever she’d throw at me.

She pulled a tent out of our pile of stuff and handed it to me. “Here, give this to your father and have him start setting it up.”

That sounded easy enough to me, but before I could respond, she was already heading for the firepit with two camping chairs hanging off either shoulder. I looked to Mags for the social interaction I’d just been denied. “Ready, girl? Back we go!” She was excited as ever.

Dad and Tanya stood in front of the Subaru, pausing their conversation as they watched me walking toward them. Dad looked at me skeptically, like he already knew what was coming next based on the item in my hand.

“A present for you,” I said, handing him the tent and bringing a close to his enjoyment of the fresh air.

“Aw, camp chores already?” Dad whined, sounding like a disappointed child. But quickly, he snapped out of it. Evidently, it had been a joke. “Thanks, kiddo,” he said before turning back to Tanya. “You and me, kid? Let’s do this.”

“Sure, Dad,” she said with only a hint of sarcasm. “I’m at your service.”

Relieved that Tanya was recruited for the job and not me, I headed to the rear of the car to see what else Mom needed help with, but my relief quickly washed away. “This one’s for you and me,” Mom said, holding another tent in her hand and seeming thrilled about it.

I never did consider myself to be a lucky person.

“All right.” I tried to contain my nonexistent excitement. I looked down at Maggie, deciding with reluctance that she’d prevent me from helping Mom effectively. I looped her leash around a nearby tree. “Be good,” I told her, giving her a quick pat on the head.

Mom and I scoured the site, looking for the most level area to place the tent. Dad and Tanya had already taken the best spot. An area that was sheltered on either side by two trees, offering plenty of shade and more privacy from the road.

We settled on a spot that was on the opposite end of the campsite and began clearing away any large rocks and sticks. I threw the sticks to Maggie, who happily chased them, and tossed the rocks off to the side. Next, we laid down a blue tarp and a mismatched orange tent on top. Mom lined them together nicely while I put together the tent’s poles, as she called them. They snapped in place pretty easily, and I handed them to her as I completed them. She slid them into pockets that ran across the tent, until all of them were secured.

“Great,” she said, sliding the last pole in place. “Now let’s make this thing stand.”

It was like magic. All we had to do was secure the poles that ran from each corner of the tent into the ground. The tension made the poles bend and the fabric rise in the air. I stared in amazement at what we had just accomplished.

“And here I was, thinking I was going to be rusty,” Mom said with a small chuckle. “We did a great job!”

“You don’t say,” I said, still amazed. “I didn’t know that you knew how to do this.”

“Your father and I have done our fair share of camping. I still remember our first time. We got into quite a tiff about how to set the tent up.” She stared into the distance, as if remembering the fight fondly. “They make tents much easier to put together these days.”

“I bet they do,” I said, unable to relate to either topic as she was still stuck in a daze.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” she shrieked before surveying the ground and reaching for a small bag. “We have to put these in.” She removed metal-looking daggers, and we got back to work. We fitted the daggers within the tent’s loops and shoved them into the soil. It did not take long before we got them all in. Now the tent was secure to the ground.

I looked around the campsite, admiring it for what it was. Both tents were now up, and the camping chairs were arranged nicely around the fire pit. With all that work behind us, I started to feel a sense of calm. A sense of peace in our seclusion. The other campers were hardly visible. All that was left was the trees, our car, and the road. Our Subaru did a good job of providing us with even more privacy from anyone passing by.

I guessed for now, I could call this home.

“Where’s the other tent?” Tanya asked as she rummaged through the trunk of the car.

“What other tent?” Mom questioned, looking at her in confusion.

“You know, the other tent. There’s one for you and Dad, one for Maria and the dog, and one for me.”

“Honey,” Mom said slowly, as if choosing her next words with care, “we don’t have another tent.”

“What!” Tanya spat in disbelief.

“Well, you see, hun,” she said, pointing to the bigger tent, the one that Tanya and Dad had set up. “That’s a four-person tent. There will be plenty of room in there for you, Maria, and Maggie. And the other tent”—she pointed to the one that she and I had set up together—“is a three-person tent for your father and me.”

Tanya eyed her with skepticism.

“I promise you, hun, we will all have plenty of room. We sized up each tent on purpose.”

“I don’t care about having extra space, Mom,” Tanya practically screamed. “I care about having my own space!” She looked like she was on the verge of having a full-fledged meltdown, but somehow, she managed to keep it in. “What, are we like five years old again? We really have to share a tent?”

Mom stared at her, completely unamused by the response. I didn’t see the issue with sharing a tent. It was only for a few days. She really can’t get over herself, can she?

“The only other option is to share a tent with your father and me,” Mom said bluntly.

“I’ll just sleep in the car then.”

Now it looked like Mom was going to lose her cool, but I chimed in before she could.

“C’mon, Tanya. What’s the problem? Are you afraid I got cooties or something?” I meant it as a lighthearted joke, but with the look of pure dissatisfaction on her face I knew that her answer was a resounding yes.

“You’re not sleeping in the car,” Mom said, sternly.

“This isn’t fair! Please, just let me sleep in the back seat.”

“We are trying to give you girls an authentic camping experience, Tanya. Drop this now. For your father.”

“Fine!” Tanya scowled, and I was surprised to hear her admit defeat. “But Maggie is sleeping between us.” She turned to look at me with anger that was still fuming off her.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” I retorted, feeling that to be especially true after the huge deal she was making out of this whole thing.

Somehow, again, Dad had missed the debacle. He walked over to us holding something in his hands that I didn’t recognize.

“Whatcha got over there?” I asked, eager to change the subject and pretend like nothing had happened.

“Birch bark. Man must make fire!” he cheered in a deep caveman voice.

That answered that?

“Why don’t you girls start setting up your tent? Grab a sleeping bag, an air mattress, and whatever else you brought.” Mom turned to look at Dad with an uncomfortably flirtatious smile. “I must help my man make fire!” she screeched.

Yuck.

I saw Dad give her a frisky smile in return before I stuck my head into the Subaru, trying not to hear their next words or see their next move. It wasn’t often we got subjected to this, and I wanted to keep it that way. So, I lingered in the car, stalling for as long as possible. Then, I grabbed my backpack and swung it over my shoulder before going to the back and grabbing a sleeping bag and air mattress. I could only hope that they would prevent me from feeling those tiny rocks on the ground.

“I’ll be back for you soon, Mags!” I hollered as I passed her by on the way to our tent. Tanya and her three bags had already beaten me there. She clearly wanted first dibs on the area.

“Why did you bring so much stuff?” I asked, afraid there wouldn’t be enough room for the rest of us in here.

“It’s called being a girl. Maybe you should try it some time.”

I chose to ignore her insult.

“No, really.” I tried again. “Why do you have so many bags?”

“Well, if you must know,” she said sounding unamused. “This one has all my bathroom products, that one has my clothes, and the other has everything else I could possibly need.” Whatever that meant.

“Ah,” I said, scooting around her and her bags to get to my side of the tent. Tanya had claimed the side by the door. It didn’t bother me much, being secluded to the inside.

I threw off my backpack and started getting my sleeping space set up. I removed the air mattress from its bag and blew to inflate it.

“Ew, you’re using your mouth?”

I stopped mid blow to deal with her nonsense.

“Do you have another suggestion?”

“No, it’s just that— Do you know whose mouth has been on that thing?”

“Probably just Mom’s or Dad’s?” I said, not understanding what the big deal was.

“Exactly. Ew. But whatever, weirdo. You do you.”

God, why does she have to be this annoying?

I went back to my tasks at hand, finishing up inflating the mattress and placing the sleeping bag on top. I lay down to test out the setup. Not as bad as I had thought. I didn’t feel the rocks beneath me, though I did notice that the ground didn’t feel as level as it had looked. It felt like I was falling to the left.

It’s only for four nights, I reminded myself as I took a deep breath.

I went back out to the car to grab Maggie’s blanket and my pillow. When I returned to the tent, Tanya had done the unthinkable. She’d lined up her bags between our sleeping bags, creating a layer of protection. Not only was that completely pathetic of her, but she totally stole Maggie’s spot!

Whatever. Mags and I could just snuggle. I put her blanket by the foot of my sleeping bag without saying a word to Tanya and headed out as quickly as I could.

Maggie stared me down as I approached her, wagging her tail and doing a happy dance. I untied her from the tree, and the dancing only continued.

“Oh, what a good girl!” I exclaimed as my heart melted with joy. Her cuteness was out of this world, as always, but I could tell she had extra pent-up energy from the car ride.

“Okay, well, we are going to go for a walk,” I announced to the family, eager to give Maggie what she deserved. Eager to catch a quick break from everyone else.

“Don’t go yet!” Mom said from a camping chair as the flames of the fire roared from behind her. The smoke was dissipating into the air.

“Yeah, Maria,” Dad chimed in. “We are going to make lunch in a few minutes. We just need the fire to burn a little more to get some coals to cook on.”

Mom’s voice filled my ears before I could even get a word in. “What are you in the mood for? Burgers?”

I couldn’t pass up a good veggie burger. I knew she was trying to entice me.

“Yeah, Mom. That sounds good.”

“Good. Now come join us,” she said, tapping the seat of the vacant chair beside her.

I looked down at Mags, who was wide-eyed and seemingly happy.

“We’ll go later,” I promised.

Tanya eventually joined the rest of us around the fire. We sat for a bit, enjoying the ambiance of the flames before helping Mom cut the toppings for the burgers. Tomato, lettuce, and onion. Meanwhile, Dad grilled them up. When all was said and done, it was a phenomenal burger. The smokiness of the fire had infused perfectly into the spiciness of the black bean patty. Plus, I hadn’t realized how hungry I was.

“So, what’s the plan for the rest of the day?” Tanya asked after we finished eating. We had just been staring into the fire in complete silence.

Dad looked at his watch. “Well, it’s three o’clock now. We have another five hours or so of daylight.”

“That gives us plenty of time to wander around here,” I said, pushing my agenda of going on a walk with Maggie.

“We could. We could stay here,” Dad agreed. “Or we could hike Mount Pickata. It’s pretty close by, and we’d have just enough time to hike it.” And by the way he said it, I knew he was hoping for the latter.

“What about kayaking?” Tanya asked. “Is that an option?”

I turned to look at Tanya in sheer surprise. She actually wanted to do something here?

“We could certainly do that,” Dad offered. “We’d just have to rent them out at the Visitors’ Center, though another option would be to rent out mountain bikes. They have a good trail system here.”

Tanya glanced at me as my eyes met hers. It was one of those rare times that we were actually thinking the same thing. We used to love riding bikes together when we were kids. With all the neighborhood children. Back when I would have considered the two of us to be friends.

“That sounds pretty cool,” Tanya said, trying to sound nonchalant.

“Yeah?” Dad asked before looking at me for the final say.

“Let’s do it.”