After a long smooth ride, they finally arrived at the camp. The camp was spot on, well organized with lots of game and fun things around. There was entertainments and refreshments enough for everyone. It was more of a beautiful park than a camp. There were lots of tents, some built in a fancy Barbie way and others like that of the Vikings, all built for different purposes. There were these two specially built ones, there were bigger than the other tents. On them was written; The story land and Dance with me, respectively. The camp was many tents, beautifully built. When the students walked out of the bus, they were amazed by the views and beauty of the camp. Most of them shouted in joy while others looked around in amazement. On beholding the sight of the camp, Fedrick was no different from other students. He was amazed as he looked around in amazement with his mouth 👄 slightly opened and his eyes almost falling out. Suddenly there was a hard tap on his shoulder. It was Cat alongside Fiona, Anna and Favour.

“Hey man, isn’t this amazing!” Cat said to him.

“Bro, this is beautiful.” Fedrick responded.

“This is really gonna be a lot of fun and a little bit crazy night!” Anna said.

“Well, see you boys later. Come on girls, let’s go have fun!” Favour said excitedly.

“And where are you girls going?” Cat asked.

“Well… a girl gat to do a girl thing, ain’t gonna do that with you boys flocking around us.” Favour answered, grabbed Fiona’s hand 🖐 and walked away as Anna followed suit.”

“See you guys later! Have lots of fun!!” Anna shouted.

“You girls be careful! and no boys!!” Cat shouted. On turning back to Fedrick, he caught him staring at him in a funny and weird way, like someone who had just caught a suspect. He had this weird smile on his face.

“What man, why are you looking at me that way.” He asked.

“Are you being jealous?” Fedrick asked him.

“I don’t understand….”

“Well, you just said to Favour “No boys!” you’re already being jealous.” Fedrick responded, making funny gestures with his hands.

“Who? Me, jealous? For what? Why would I be jealous?”

“Are you really expecting me to answer that?”

“Moreover, I didn’t tell favour no boys, I said “you girls be careful and no boys.” I was actually referring to all of them.”

“Really, and you expect me to believe that?”

“Well, believe what ever you want to. Why the hell I’m I even explaining myself to you.” Cat said as he hurriedly walked away.

“I’m going to look around, when you are done teasing me, you can come join me.”

“Wait up bro! There is a lot I’ve got to tell you!” Fedrick said and ran after him.

After a while, there was a loud voice from the big megaphone 📣;

“Gather around students!” It was the voice of the Principal. He spoke from a loud 🔊 megaphone, standing on a small podium.

“Hello students and welcome to this year’s camping program, specially setup for you all and for our Wild Cats Team. We are here to have fun and enjoy ourselves. As you can see, there are a lot of things here you can do, lots of entertainment, games and refreshment. There are lots of other things you can do or eat, so long as you have the money to do buy them.” He said making a funny hand gesture, as all the students laughed.

“You can choose to play any game you want, there are a lot of them around. You can also see a lot of tents around, all for different purposes. Today’s camping is meant to be an all-night, but for those who gets tired and sleepy, we made some tents 🎪 at the back of the big story land tent over there (he pointed at the direction.) for them to use for their rest.”

“Finally, introducing the two most important tents here in our camp, are the Story land and Dance with me tents, as indicated on them. The story land is a special tent for those who love stories or storytelling. You can go there to listen or tell stories. Then, the Dance with me tent is a tent for an after party 🎉 for all students. It’s the closing ceremony for our camping programme. You will get to meet new people, have fun and dance with anyone you want.” There was shouts and noise of joy as the principal announced the After party 🎈.

“Until the party, have fun, enjoy yourselves and stay away from trouble. Any directions or help you need, do not hesitate to ask your teachers. They are here to help you.” He concluded and walked down from the podium as all the students clapped in joy.

“This is really going to be fun, I can’t wait for the after party.” Cat said.

“Yeah, we are going to be having a lot of fun.” Fedrick responded.

“I haven’t seen your Arc Angel 😇 around or her friends, Mr. Missing rip or did they not come for camping.”

“Yeah, that was what I’ve been trying to tell you since. I talked to her.”

“What? As in you asked her out?!!”

“No oo dump head. I actually got to sit with her in the bus, she was my seat mate in the bus.”

“And what happened?” Cat asked excitedly.

“In fact, she talked to me first and guess what.”

“You know I’m not good at guessing, just tell me.”

“She knows my name!”

“What?! How comes!!”

“She said she is a fan of the Wild Cats and of myself. She also asked we be friends at least for today.”

“Really?!”

“Yes Man, I was so surprised and uncomfortable around her. I couldn’t stop staring.”

“Then, what are you still doing here?” Cat asked Fedrick, grabbing his shoulder.

“Sorry, what do you mean?”

“You are supposed to be with her and spending quality time with her now.”

“Yeah, like how you are spending quality time with Favour now, right?” Fedrick jokingly asked as he laughed out.

“Not now man, I’m being serious”

“Yeah, sorry bro.”

“So, did you get her phone number?”

“No, I didn’t even think of that.”

“Oh man, how can you be soo dumb? Why didn’t you ask her for her number?!”

“I couldn’t even look her on the face or even say a word to her, so how was I supposed to ask for her number?”

“You just lost a very nice opportunity. You must go look for her, spend time with her and get her number. There is no way you both are being friends only for the day.”

“What?! No oo man, how do I find her in this crowed place and what if she is with her friends.”

“I don’t care where you go to find her, but you must find her. And if she is with her friends, ask them to excuse you.”

“You must be joking bro.” Fedrick said in disbelief 🤨, but on looking at Cat’s face he could see he wasn’t joking.

“What? Are you being serious now man?” He asked as Cat nodded his head in response.

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“Go now and don’t return until you find her.” Cat said as he pushed Fedrick on.

Fedrick went around looking for Danielle, “Where does he expect me to find her. This is really stressing me.” Fedrick said to himself grabbing the back of his neck to show he was stressed.

He searched for a while, although he was anxious and uncomfortable, he still wanted to find her soo much. After searching for a while with no progress, he gave up the search and turned back to trace his steps back to Cat;

“I’m going to kill….” Immediately he turned, he caught a glance of a beautiful shapely figure, it was imp-thin, she was wasp-waisted and had glossy skin. Behold it was Danielle entering into the story land tent and she was alone. Immediately he could feel the butterflies 🦋 in his belly. He ran into the story land towards her and when he got in, it was a bit crowded in there too. He had to look around for her for a while before he could find her. She was seated down alone holding a cup of popcorn on her hand which she ate slowly as she listened to the story teller. He took a deep breath and walked up to her;

“Hi”. Fedrick greeted as he got her attention.

“Hey, it’s you again. What are you doing here?” She asked as she looked at him. Her eyes 👀 stared directly into Fedrick’s. Her eyes were soo beautiful and her smiles captivating.

“I actually followed you here.”

“You did? Why?”

“Well, can I seat with you?”

“Oh, forgive my manners. Please sit.” She offered him a seat.

“You seem to be alone. You aren’t with your friends?”

“Yeah, they are around somewhere having fun. You know, I’m quite the boring 💤 one who loves listening to stories. They think it’s weird and boring, so, they are off having fun.” Danielle answered and let out a light smile.

“I don’t think you having the love for reading or listening to stories makes you boring. I think you are a fun person.”

“Really? But you barely know me, so how can you tell that I’m a fun person?”

“Well, we sat together in the bus, so….”

“But, we didn’t speak much on the bus. In fact, you couldn’t even look me in the eyes. You just stared at me through your phone’s screen all through.” She said as she laughed out loud.

“Oh, you saw that?” Fedrick asked as he scratched his head, showing he was embarrassed.

“I’m really sorry about that. You must have felt uncomfortable with me staring at you.” He apologized.

“No need to apologise, I’m already used to people staring at me.” Suddenly, a voice from the small stage drew their attention;

“Hello students, welcome to the story land.” It was the voice of the story teller.

“Our first story for today is that of the Fairy Dog….”

THE FAIRY DOG STORY.

There was once a little boy called Ricky, he lived with his mother and father in a lovely cottage at the edge of the woods. Usually, he was a happy little boy, who laughed and played all day in the sunshine, but just lately he had been very sad and unhappy because his little beautiful dog had run away and got lost. Ricky had looked everywhere for her in the house, in the neighbourhood, in the garden, in the summer house and in the garage, but she was nowhere to be found.

“She may have run into the woods,” Said his Mother. “Go and see if you can find her there, Ricky.” So off Ricky went to the woods where Primroses and celandines were flowering, and where the silver pussy shone pale and soft in the warm spring sun.

He searched for a long while, but his dog was nowhere to be found and Ricky cried with disappointment. He had so loved playing with her. He was sure he would never find another dog that was as beautiful and pretty as she was.

Suddenly, he stopped still and listened. Was that a bark that he heard? Surely it was!

The noise came again harshly, very low and noisy, not exactly like a bark, but Ricky couldn’t think of what else it could be. He began looking about to see where the noise came from. It sounded as though it came from somewhere low down. Yes, it came from the middle of a prickly gorse bush! Surely his poor little doggy couldn’t be in there.

“Doggy! Doggy!” He called out, peeping into the bush.

A little high voice barked out; “Oh, help me, please. I’m caught in the prickles.”

Ricky was so surprised to hear the tiny voice that he could hardly speak.

“Who are you?” He asked at last.

“I’m a pixie-piper.” Said the little voice.

“The wind blew me right off my feet and landed me here, and I can’t seem to free myself! Will you help me?”

“A pixie!” Ricky said excitedly. “Yes, I’ll help you! I’ve never seen a pixie before! But, oh my! It’s rather prickly!”

He put his hand right into the gorse bush and pressed back the branches. There, in the middle was a tiny pixie, dressed in red and yellow. Carefully, Ricky lifted him out of the bush and sat him down on the ground.

“Oh, thank you!” Cried the pixie.

“You are kind to help me but look at your poor hands. They are covered in scratches and scrapes. And why do you look so unhappy 😒?”

“I’m upset because I’ve lost my dog.” Ricky said sadly and told the little pixie all about it.

“Dear, Dear, that’s very sad!” Said the Pixie-piper. “But don’t worry yourself, I’ll help you. I think I know where your dog may be. The fairies love dogs. If they’ve found yours, they’ll have changed her into a fairy dog. She won’t be very Far away. But we will have to use some pixie magic to find her. Have you ever seen a fairy dog?”

“No, but I have read of them. Wouldn’t be bad to see one now,” Said Ricky, excitedly. “Where are they kept?”

“There is plenty over there!” Laughed the pixie-piper, pointing to a big dog willow.

Ricky looked, but he could only see a bush with soft, silvery buds growing all over it.

The pixie took up his pipe, and softly he began to play a lovely tune, as sweet as that of a love song, Looking at the pussy-willow bush all through.

“Ricky looked too, and he saw a wonderful sight.” Continued the Story teller.

It was so wonderful that he could hardly believe his eyes! For the silver puppy-willow buds had changed into tiny, furry puppies 🐶, and one by one they all scrambled down the branches to the ground and ran up to the piper.

They danced and frisked round him, whacking their little tails, for all the world like real puppies. The piper stopped playing on his piper.

“Now,” He said to Ricky, “You have to find your puppy. Which one is she?” Quick can you see her? You must find her before they all go back to the tree and turn into puppy-willows again!”

Ricky ran after them and picked up a little silvery puppy 🐶, small enough to fit into a nutshell! He had found his puppy! Then he watched the others climb up the branches and one by one turned into soft, silvery buds again!

They piper blew his pipe once more and Ricky’s puppy grew bigger and bigger with ever turn, until it was just the right size.

“There you are!” Said the pixie to Ricky.

“Don’t tell anyone it’s a fairy puppy. They won’t believe you. Thank you for helping me and I am glad I’ve been able to help you in return. Goodbye” He vanished and left Ricky alone with his fairy puppy.

“Ricky ran home as fast as he could as it was getting dark. And that is the end.” The story teller concluded, and everyone clapped for him.

“That was a lovely story, I really enjoyed it.” Fedrick said to Danielle, excitedly.

“I did too, it was an interesting story.” Danielle responded.

“Yeah, it was.” He said as he looked at her, lost into her smile.

“Will you like to stay for another story?” she asked.

“Yeah, if you want me to stay.”

They stay for a while enjoying the stories of the story tellers and after some time, they left the story land. Together they had lots of fun, played games, ate snacks, talked and got to know more about each other.

“I told you, you weren’t a boring person. I’m having lots of fun with you.” Fedrick said to her.

“Really?”

“Yeah!”

“Yourself, isn’t the shy, grumpy all sportsman I thought you would be. You are really fun to be with too.” She said, letting out a light beautiful smile.

“Well, thank you.”

For a while, they were both silent, looking into each other’s faces.

“You really are beautiful, blessed with a mood lifting smile.” Fedrick complimented.

“Wow, thank…. You!”

Again, a loud voice from the megaphone cried out;

“Hello students, it’s 11:00pm and it’s time for the party. Please move to the ‘dance with me tent`.”

“Will you like to dance with me?” Danielle asked.

“What?! Who would say No! to an opportunity to dance with an Angel?” Fedrick responded as they both laughed and joined the others in the tent.

They both walked into the dance tent side by side. It was very bright and beautiful inside, decorated with coloured bulbs, beautiful shinny ribbons and balloons. In it was a small stage built for the DJ, there he stood with his instrument and played beautiful songs. He played a beautiful song, “Too Young” by Sabrina Carpenter.

“Shall we dance?” Fedrick asked with his hand stretched out.

She smiled and nodded as he took her hand and twirled her into his arm.

They fell into steps, letting the rhythm control their movement. Her beautiful emerald eyes glistened, and a smile spread across her beautiful face. Fedrick could feel the uncontrollable feelings that surge through his body, and his fingers tingled in delight.

As they danced in steps, moving to the beautiful sweet rhythm of the song, she stepped on his foot.

“Oh, I’m sorry, are you hurt?”

“No, not really.”

“I’m not much of a dancer, so, I might not be to familiar with the steps.”

“Your dance is as beautiful as your smile, even if you don’t always feel like it.” He said to her, and she smiled.

She moved closer to his chest, wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his chest. They danced to the beautiful music until, it’s end.

“See, I told you, you were a good dancer and you proved me right.” Fedrick said as they both laughed.

“Well, I guess I became better with you as my dance partner.”

Fedrick quietly stared into her beautiful face, with every moment they spent together, he could feel his feeling and affection for her grow stronger.

“Now, I feel uncomfortable.” She said to him.

“Oh, sorry I’m staring too much.”

“I need to go find my friends now, I have been away from them for too long and I didn’t see them around at the party.”

“It was nice having you around Fedrick, I really enjoyed my time with you.”

“Me too.” Fedrick responded.

Danielle turned away to leave, but immediately, she felt a grip on her hand. It was so soft, but firm. Her heart skipped, and she could feel her feet sweat as well as her palm.

“Will you like to hang out with me some time. Say, maybe a dinner or something?” He asked.

Danielle stood still for some seconds staring into Fedrick’s face. Suddenly she smiled and about to speak when a feminine voice called out to her.

“Danielle! There you are. We have been looking for you, where have you been?” It was Michelle, one of her friends and member of The Four Angels.

“See you later Fedrick.” She said and ran to her friends.

“Who was that?” Michelle asked.

“Shh! Be quiet. Let’s go, I will tell you about him when we get to the tent.” Danielle responded as they walked out of sight.

Fedrick retreated, tracing his way back to Cat who he told all about his sweet and beautiful tales with Danielle to. It was really a day’s camping worth it.