In a sandy clearing in the middle of the woods a man was shouting instructions.
“We’re going to finish today with a barbecue, but first, this afternoon’s challenge is to build a den with your tent-mates. You have three hours. Use whatever you find in the woods, bring it back here and we’ll build our dens together.” He paused. “First team to complete their den gets a prize. And you’ll also get points for style, original thinking, how weatherproof it is … you get the idea!”
Olly certainly got the idea, even though he couldn’t believe his ears. He nudged Jack.
“We’re going to spend the afternoon making dens?” he asked. Just in case he had misheard.
“Yup,” Jack replied.
“Why are we making dens when we’ve got tents?”
“Because it’s fun,” Jack said.
Olly rolled his eyes. This whole Camp thing was just one pointless activity after another.
Jack, Olly and Omar set off into the woods and before long they came to a clearing where there were piles of logs, branches and sticks just perfect for den-making. A lot of the other kids had had the same idea. There was plenty of laughing and friendly bickering as they all tried to be the first ones to get the really good pieces of wood.
Olly was half-heartedly tugging at a branch when an ear-splitting shriek made him jump so fast he thought he pulled a muscle. A girl the other side of the log pile was staring at something in front of her.
“Could you scream a bit louder?” he asked sarcastically.
She scowled and pointed.
“There’s a massive spider!”
Olly peered over. The spider was about an inch across, which he didn’t think was massive at all.
“I just have a problem with creepy-crawlies,” she added apologetically.
She looked miserable and Olly was sorry for being sarcastic. But he didn’t get a chance to say anything else because just then –
“Olly! Stop gassing and get over here!” Omar shouted impatiently.
It took Olly less than twenty seconds to get to where Jack and Omar were, but Omar glared at him like he had held them up for hours.
He showed Olly the bits of wood he and Jack had pulled together.
“These are the right length and strength,” he said. “We’ll use these for the basic structure.”
Olly groaned to himself. It would be like putting the tent up all over again. But harder, because these branches weren’t designed to go together.
“And then we can find smaller ones with lots of leaves,” Jack agreed, “and use them to make a roof and walls to keep the rain and wind out …”
“Yeah, but first we need to get these back to the meeting place,” said Omar. “First team gets a prize, remember? Let’s go!”
They each had two large branches to carry. Jack wrapped his arms around both and carried them across his chest. Omar stuck one over each shoulder and kept them steady with his hands. They both set off.
Olly tried it Jack’s way first, but the wood felt too heavy. And the ends kept getting in the way. So he tried it Omar’s way. His shoulders weren’t used to that kind of weight, and the wood kept rolling off.
Eventually he tried to drag his pieces on the ground. That stopped his shoulders aching, but it actually turned out to be hardest of all. The ends kept getting tangled in the undergrowth and the wood was yanked out of his hands.
“Come on, Olly!” Omar called from up ahead. “We’ll run out of time!” So stop shouting and start building, Olly thought with gritted teeth. Eventually Olly reluctantly decided that Jack’s way was best, even though it made his arms ache. He caught up with the other two at the meeting place and dropped the logs.
“Okay, now we need the small stuff,” Omar said, hurrying off again. “Another couple of hours and we’ll be done!”
As Jack and Omar headed back into the woods, Olly’s heart sank. A couple more hours of making this stupid den. What was the point?
He stopped suddenly as the thought struck him.
That’s right. What was the point?
Answer: there wasn’t one.
Omar and Jack could obviously do it without him. So why didn’t he just leave them to it?
And so Olly went slower and slower, and the others got further and further ahead of him. Then he swung off to the right and started to pick up his pace. The trees grew closer together. Where there weren’t trees, there was tall bracken.
Soon he couldn’t see anyone else, just hear voices. A couple of times he heard a scream, so he guessed the girl from the woodpile had seen another spider. Result! Olly thought. Now he could spend the afternoon in the tent listening to music.
It wouldn’t be as good as being at home watching TV, but it was better than this. Are you lost?” said a girl’s voice right behind him. “You’re on your own.”
Olly almost jumped out of his skin. He hadn’t heard her come up.
“Uh … I’m just going this way,” he said, pointing through the woods. It was true. He was going to where the tents were.
“You don’t look like you’re enjoying Camp,” she said. It was like she could read his mind, and Olly couldn’t think of a good answer. “I think you need this.”
She held something out and Olly took it. It was a compass. There was nothing special about it. It had a transparent plastic dial, with a needle that always swung slowly to point north. Why did he need a compass? He could find his way on his own.
But when he looked up the girl was already walking off. So he slipped the compass into his pocket anyway and continued to head back to the tent.