Storytelling Week 1: Vacation at the Lake

Jim had always had bad luck. While visiting his holiday home with his family, he had woken up too late to accompany them to the lake. Deciding to make an adventure out of it, Jim choose a different trail to reach the lake than he had ever taken before. The lake was a straight shot east of the holiday home, but Jim decided he would walk to the north east for a while, and then cut back south east to find his family at the lake. He figured he would arrive in time to enjoy a picnic lunch with his family. Little did he know, Jim would be delayed in ways he could never imagine.

Lake Tahoe, posted to Flickr by the_tahoe_guy. 

Before he left, Jim made himself some toast to eat while he walked. Unfortunately, he soon came upon a pack of angry birds perched on a spooky tree. The birds swooped into attack Jim, forcing him to flee. Jim dropped his toast in an effort to satiate the birds long enough for him to run away. His plan worked, and after running for a while longer, he slowed to a walking pace and continued to the north east.

About the time Jim decided to turn back south east towards the lake, he came upon swamp gas. The gas made it nearly impossible to see, and he no longer had any sense about what direction he was going. Hearing a sound in the woods, Jim turned around, fearing that the angry birds had caught up with him. He saw nothing, but when he turned back around, a man in an orange jumpsuit was standing in front of him. The man said "I just escaped from the county jail, and I was wondering...". Jim decided to run before the man could finish his sentence, but he tripped and hit his head on a rock, falling unconscious.

Waking up, Jim realized he was inside a wooden building. He could see sunlight through the rotting ceiling above him. Sitting up, Jim looked around while his eyes adjusted to the darkness. His eyes landed on an orange jumpsuit hanging on the wall in front of him. Jim realized he must have been dragged into the building by the escaped convict. Standing up. Jim decided to leave the area as carefully as possible, to avoid attracting any unwanted attention from the convict, or any friends the convict may have. About 100 yards from the house, Jim heard a scream for help. Deciding his consciousness couldn't leave a person in danger, he headed for the sound. In a clearing next to a bog, Jim saw a man he recognized as the convict, who had been mauled by a bear.

With his fear now overpowering his conscience, Jim turned tail ran as fast as he could. He ran for what felt like miles, and eventually came upon the lake shore, seeing his family cleaning up after their picnic on the beach 50 yards away. Running up to them, Jim attempted to explain what had happened to him. His whole family, confused by his stammering, decided everything he said was an excuse for waking up late and getting lost in the woods. Jim realized that he could never convince them of the truth, and sat down on the sand, resolving never to stray from the main path in the woods again.

Author's Note: This short story is based off of Tom Gauld's map from his book, Robots, Monsters, Etc. The map is presented below.  

Created by Tom Gauld, link

Bibliography 

Map of the Area Surrounding our Holiday Home, a cartoon by Tom Gauld from his book ROBOTS, MONSTERS Etc., 2006. Link to online source.