Blog Fodder

This posting is to complete an assignment on story elements. What you are about to read is real. It does not contain actors, but real persons. Persons who resemble the persons in this story, but who are not related, is strictly coincidence.

The Camping Trip (if you can call it that)

In 1995, five women went on a camping trip to Brown County. It was our third annual camping trip, and this year was going to be slightly different. Instead of sleeping in a camper and tent, we were treating ourselves to a rental house overlooking a forest full of color. Our usual camping trips involved bugs of various types and since we were going to shop in downtown Nashville, Indiana, we thought we would forgo the camper for the luxury of the house without bugs.

Saturday morning, we all head out to our relaxing weekend. We drive through some areas with colorful trees on our way to the house which sits back about a quarter mile off the main road. Seclusion at its best. With four bedrooms, each of us find the room of our choice with two people in one room. As we are searching the house, Linda, who is the prissiest of all the campers, screams. There is a mouse in the toilet. Debbie, who is the most experienced, fishes the mouse out and assures Linda that there are no more mice. And, we didn't see one the rest of the weekend.

After shopping most of the day, the campers return to the house to begin cooking dinner. Enter the problem! Michelle sees something move across the floor. All five women scream. It went under the swivel rocker. Someone had to see what it was. Debbie decided she would be the one to check on what it was. She tiptoed up to the rocker so she wouldn't scare whatever was under the chair. Why make it run any further, right? So, she tipped the chair up and more screaming begins. It is a snake! Not a big one, but any snake is big to a bunch of city girls.

Linda is the first to run out of the house, followed closely by all the other women. Linda locks herself in the car and swears she won't come out until the snake is taken care of. What to do...what to do. The only thing to do is to call a park ranger. However, Mr. Ranger doesn't think a snake is that important to come get as it is not in the park, nor is it a poisonous snake from our description. He said we'd have to get rid of it ourselves. How are we going to do that? We begin searching, minus Linda who is still in the car, for anything around the house that we can catch the snake in. We find a cinder block and a stick. Michelle decides she better protect Linda, so she stands guard by the side of the car. Dana doesn't want Michelle to be by herself, so she stands guard, too. Debbie and I are the only ones left to take care of the snake. I think we both got a hit of adrenalin knowing we would be the heroes of the day by saving the trip and catching the snake. We venture back into the house. First we need to make sure the snake hasn't moved from under the chair. Mr. Snake likes the dark, cool underside of the chair, so we find he's still there. I get on top of the chair with the cinder block in my hands. My job will be to drop the block on top of the snake either killing him or trapping him. Debbie's job is to coax Mr. Snake out from under the chair so I can do the dirty deed.

The stick is used to poke at Mr. Snake. He doesn't like that too much, so he pokes his head out from under the chair. This excites Mr. Snake enough to come further out. Debbie's second job begins as she directs me which way to turn in order to drop the block. I can't lean over the chair as it will tip. "A little to the left. Now a little bit more. Drop it!" Darn, Mr. Snake has figured out what we're up to and is craftier than the inexperienced campers. So, another round of coaxing out from under the chair. Mr. Snake is none to happy at this point. "Okay, turn a little to the right. Not too much. I think you're in good position now. Why don't you lift the block higher so maximum damage can be done?" Up goes the cinder block a little higher than before (which is not easy as it is heavy). Down goes the cinder block right on top of Mr. Snake, but not as good as we'd hoped. He didn't die, but he couldn't move. Now what?

Another call goes out to the park ranger who finally decides to send a lackey to the house just to pacify some pleading women. Meanwhile, Linda is still in the car, but her guards decide since the snake is trapped, they can investigate the scene. Mr. Junior Park Ranger shows up with a bag and a rake-like looking instrument. We point out Mr. Snake, who turns out to be a garter snake, and he just laughs.Okay, it is kind of funny, but we aren't going to laugh until Mr. Snake is outside. "Does anyone want to hold the bag while I lasso the snake?" Debbie and I have had our fun, so it's up to Michelle or Dana (Linda is STILL in the car). Michelle says she'll do it and dutifully holds the bag out for the capture. As you can imagine, Michelle will not be able to sleep that night and probably not for the next two weeks!

Mr. Snake is now caught and in the bag and is leaving the house and grounds with Mr. Junior Park Ranger since none of the women want him around anymore. The rest of the evening is spent having dinner and playing card games but each of us had to inspect everywhere we went before stepping into a room or getting into bed.

As the years have gone by, we have not forgotten this funny episode and now that we can laugh about it, we do, and so do many other people who hear the story! I think that might have been the last year the five women went on their annual camping trip, too!

Assignment: As I wrote the story, I could see each of the elements (character development, sequence of events, pace, conflict, point of view, resolution, etc.,) come alive. I paid special attention to the story to make sure each element was present. Without having to pay too much attention, the elements all fell into place. If I had left out one of the elements, the story would not either make sense or be complete.