Inktober 2022

« How on earth did you convince me to come here again? » Jonathan sighed, a hand rubbing at his throbbing temple as he hesitantly kneeled on the tent’s floor beside his ‘bed’ for the night.

« I mean, what’s wrong? It’s a great night for camping! » His best friend Paul smiled at him, snuggling comically into his sleeping bag. « The weather and temperature are fine, it’s barely crowded and you have me, a seasoned camper, with you! »

Jonathan exhaled deeply once more and kept grumbling some complaints, but got into his sleeping bag as well. Once they had both made themselves comfortable (enough), Paul close the little light they had on and the tent fell dark. The two friends then talked for some more while playing some random electronic games that don’t require much reception, planning out their activities for the next day and their trip back. After just about 10 minutes though, they placed their phones to the side and tried to actually sleep.

Paul seemed relaxed enough since he was even wearing an eyepatch, but Jonathan wasn’t relaxed at all. Once there were no more sounds from inside the tent, he became hyper-aware of those coming from outside. There was some occasional wind, perhaps an owl in the distance and he could hear every little rustle the tent made from the breeze. Their tent actually had a little window of sorts, from where Jonathan could see the dark trees outside and the remains of the fire they used to make s’mores.

Turning his gaze away from the opening, he tried to plug his ears and close his eyes, but he just became more worried. If he did that, he wouldn’t be able to realize or react if something was happening, although it was extremely unlikely if not nearly impossible. After another good while of sleepless tossing and turning, Jonathan finally managed to fall asleep thanks to his heaping mental and physical exhaustion.

However, quite suddenly, he was rudely awoken to faint, but persistent sounds. Even with his sleep muddled brain, he could tell that not much time had passed, but also that there was definitely something outside. At the thought, Jonathan immediately bolted up and tried to listen for the sounds more closely, patting around his sleeping bag for the light or his phone. There was the sound of rustling leaves first, then what sounded like steps slowly coming closer and closer to their tent. With the moon at its highest, Jonathan could faintly see a tall shadow cast itself onto the thin yellow fabric.

Jonathan didn’t even dare breathe as something butted onto the tent, the tent rustling as something round ran itself along the side right next to where he sat. He frantically shook Paul, who groggily tried to ignore him. As the thing outside pushed more insistently on the fence, it touched Jonathan’s shoulder through the fabric and he instinctively turned on the flashlight, aimed at what just touched him.

For a split second, Jonathan managed to get a clear view of what had woken him. Right behind the little ‘window’ was a nose, round, dark and not too big, and a pair of black eyes on a long snout; a deer.