A WILDWOOD WELCOME

It was the second week of summer vacation, and Daniel, who’d just flopped down on the grass in his backyard, groaned.

“Justing one more!” Megabat urged. The little fruit bat perched on his friend’s forehead and leaned over to peer into his eyes. “Peeeeeze!”

“Oh, okay.” Daniel gave in. “But this is the last one.”

They were playing Would You Rather? It was a game the friends normally used for long, dull waits…like when Daniel’s parents stood in line at the bank. You had to say two choices, then each player decided which one was best…or least-bad.

“It’s being Birdgirl’s turn.” Megabat gazed at his beloved—a pretty-pretty pigeon who shared the backyard shed with him.

She scratched thoughtfully at the ground with one foot, like she was trying to come up with a good one, then bobbed her head when she had it. She pecked at something in the grass. “Coo-woo?” She pecked at something else. “Ooo coo-woo?”

Megabat translated. “Hers is saying, ‘Would yours rather snack on this tiny rock or this dryish bit of grass?’ ”

“Seriously?” Daniel rolled his eyes. “That’s the same question she asked last time!”

“Nonetrue! Last time hers ask-ded if yours would rather snack on a bit of poppy-corn floating in a puddle or swallowings a lump of dirt.”

Daniel sighed. “Well, all her questions are about eating stuff off the ground.”

It was true. Ground-food was Birdgirl’s favorite.

“This is getting kind of boring.” Daniel yawned.

Even Megabat couldn’t really disagree. The friends had been looking forward to summer holidays for ages, but it had only taken a few days for them to finish everything on the “Big List of Such-Fun Stuff to Do” that they’d made during the last week of school.

They’d started by re-watching all the Star Wars movies—twice—then moved on to drinking strawberry Jell-O through a straw; taking fashion photos of Priscilla, Daniel’s purebred cat; seeing how many letters of the alphabet they could burp before they ran out of breath; and finding out how refreshing it would be if they filled water balloons with lemonade. (“More stickier than roofreshing,” Megabat had concluded.)

Talia, their friend who lived next door, was at horseback riding camp all day, and now they were even bored of playing the game they played when they were bored. Things were looking glum.

Megabat sighed heavily, then began to make a pop-pop-pop sound with his lips. He’d taught himself this noise the week before. It made a satisfying smack and helped to pass the time.

“Would you stop that?” Daniel said after a minute, clearly annoyed.

“Oka-hay, fine!” Megabat rolled off Daniel’s forehead into the grass. “Perhapsing ours could read Diamond Foot,” the bat suggested. Diamond Foot was the world’s most valuable graphic novel superhero—and not just because his right foot was made of a flawless one-thousand-carat diamond. He wore a cool costume, stomped out bad guys wherever he found them and put his foot down firmly in the face of injustice.

He even had his own catchphrase: “A brilliant hero has zero fear-o!” Oh, the action! The adventure! The twinkly-twinkly toes! Megabat loved reading that book with Daniel.

“It’s a great story,” Daniel said, “but we’ve already read it. Sixteen hundred times. We should wait until the new one comes out at the end of the month.”

“That’s being zeons away!” Megabat whined.

Daniel didn’t pay any attention. He was busy staring at the clouds. “I wish something exciting would happen,” he said idly.

And, just then, something did happen—but whether it was exciting or terrible was a matter of opinion.

“There you are!” Daniel’s dad came out the back door. “I’ve got a special delivery for you.”

Quick as a flash, Megabat ducked under Daniel’s baseball cap, which had been left lying on the grass. He always had to stay out of sight when grown-ups were around. Some of them screamed or chased him with a broom.

Daniel’s dad crossed the grass, and Megabat peered out from under the cap to see the delivery: a big flat yellow envelope with writing on it.

“A letter?” Daniel sat up. “For me? I never get mail. Who’s it from?”

Daniel’s dad handed it over with a smile. “Open it and see.”

Daniel ripped the envelope open and pulled out a glossy folder. Megabat had to crane his neck a little to see. It had pictures of pointy trees on the front.

“Welcome to Camp Wildwood,” Daniel read. “Camp Wildwood?”

“Mom and I wanted to surprise you. So…surprise!” his father said. “It’s your welcome package. You’re going to sleepaway camp! At Camp Wildwood on the shores of beautiful Lake Pinecrest.”

Megabat could see that Daniel’s eyes had gone wide with panic.

“You know about Wildwood!” Daniel’s dad went on. “The camp I went to when I was your age.”

“The one with the outhouses? And the giant spiders?” Daniel’s lip trembled.

“Well, sure. There was the odd spider in the outhouses…but they’ve got indoor plumbing now. I met some of my best friends there. It’s also where I did my first archery lesson. And where I learned to skip stones and do a loon call.”

Daniel’s father cupped his hands around his mouth and flapped his fingers. It made an echoey whistle that rose and fell, rose and fell. The sound reminded Megabat of the bright-beaked birds in the jungles of Borneo where he’d been born.

“And remember the funny story about the underpants and the flagpole?” Daniel’s father smiled fondly.

Megabat thought that sounded like a great story.

Daniel crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t want to go.”

“How do you know? You haven’t tried it yet,” his father said reasonably.

“I won’t know anyone. And there’ll be bugs!”

Bugs! Megabat began to make a list in his head of his favorites. Ladybugs were a cheerful reddish color. Potato bugs curled into little balls when you poked them, and he loved the sproing of a good grasshopper. What other bugs might be at camp, he wondered.

“That’s what bug spray’s for,” Daniel’s dad said. “And you’ll make friends before you know it. You’ll see,” he promised. “Sleepaway camp is the adventure of a lifetime.”

“I HATE adventures!” Daniel yelled.

“Just take a look, okay?” Daniel’s dad pointed to the folder. “We’ll talk about it more later.”

As soon as Daniel’s dad went inside, Megabat climbed out from under the hat and came to perch on his friend’s shoulder. “Opening it!” he urged.

The first sheet had pictures of boats, marshmallows on sticks, and kids painting birdhouses. It said “Activities and Crafts.” Underneath was a paper marked “Your Cabin.” It showed two kids sitting on top of a double-decker bed. The last sheet said “Food.” There was a grown-up lady in a tall white hat and children gathered at long tables. Megabat liked that one best of all. “Ooooooh!” He drooled over a photo of a girl eating a big slice of melon.

Suddenly, Daniel threw the folder onto the grass and began to cry.

Megabat peered at his friend curiously for a moment, then he used his long tongue to lick away the tears. “Why is yours mad and sad?” he asked gently.

“I’m not mad and sad.” Daniel said, wrapping his arms around his knees. “I’m scared.”

“For why?”

“For camp. It’s going to be awful.”

Megabat didn’t understand. “But camp is being the adventure of a livingtime!”

Daniel wiped his cheeks with the back of his hand, leaving dirty smudges. “That’s just what parents say to trick you into going. I’ve seen camp on TV and read about it in books. I’ll have to sleep in a leaky old cabin. They’ll feed me gray slop for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And, worst of all, I’ll be all alone.” Daniel dissolved into shuddery sobs.

“No yours won’t.” Megabat spread his wings wide. “Because Megabat will alsowise be adventuring to Camp Wildwood on the shores of Lake PieCrust!”

“You will?”

“Undoubtedly!”

Megabat went almost everywhere with Daniel. Plus, surely the camp Daniel knew from TV and books was a different one altogether. As far as Megabat could tell, it sounded nothing like the pictures in the folder or the place Daniel’s father had described.

“Making craftses! Riding boatses! Catching bugses! Ours will be having such much fun,” the little bat promised. “Yours will see.” He licked one last tear, then put his wingtips on his hips and stuck out his chest in a super-pose, just like Diamond Foot. “Nonething is fearsome when Megabat’s nearsome!”