Fan fic/old news article:
While going through some old files on my computer, I found this short story/fan fic/news article that I had written years ago and had long since forgotten. This was years before I began publishing my books, thus it could be considered something of a dry run, practise for when I would later begin my literary career.
First a bit of context; Growing up I was a fan of Gordon Korman (author of the “Bruno and Boots”/“MacDonald Hall” series). One of my favourite books of his was called I want to go home. The story is about an antisocial parody sue character named “Rudy Miller” who is a naturally gifted athlete but hates sports and thus is not very happy to be sent to a remote summer camp where he’s forced to spend his days playing sports and socializing with other boys his age (something I could relate to growing up, except for being a gifted athlete. I was never good a sports and only took gym in school because they made me, not by choice). While at camp Algonkian, he befriends another boy named “Mike Webster” who also hates camp and sports. Soon they start causing all manner of hilarious trouble for the camp counsellors, specifically their bunk counsellor “Chip”. Not long after, Rudy and Mike decide to take a boat and escape, only to repeatedly get caught and forced back to the island.
This was one of my favourite books growing up, and even as an adult I still enjoy it. Thus years ago, I decided to write a fictional news article about the events of the book as if I were a reporter for a local newspaper. Thus I’d like to share that original article with all of you now. If nothing else to show how much my writing has improved when comparing this to my own book series later.
Now for legal reasons, I should point out that I don’t own any of the characters or name listed below. Nor did I write this for profit, this was simply a fan fic of mine, similar to how a student would get such an assignment from their school teacher. Also just to reiterate, the characters, locations and events listed below are all fictional. Any similarities to real persons, places or events is purely coincidental and unintentional. Now with that out of the way, enjoy:
ALGONKIAN OR ALCATRAZ?
Summer camp may be more like prison camp, according to reports
Parents thinking of sending their boys to camp Algonkian island this summer may want to reconsider. Evidence has surfaced indicating that the remote summer camp for boys located in rural Northern Ontario may in fact be more like a Soviet gulag run by psychotic camp counsellors who routinely torture their campers for fun. A letter written by an anonymous camper detailing the horrors young boys are forced to endure while at camp has recently surfaced.
“The letter looks as if it was written while being chased by a bear.” our experts claim. In the letter, the author describes being forced to endure such things as sleeping in trees, eating food which is “spoiled and poisonous”, drinking contaminated water – causing a typhoid outbreak and being forced to haul garbage daily while fending off wild animals. But perhaps the most disturbing of all is the claim of the author’s counsellor, identified only as “Chip” being a “reformed axe-murderer on parole”. One who “yells a lot and keeps an axe under his mattress.”
While it’s not uncommon for boys to exaggerate the negative aspects of camp in the hope of their parents coming to take them home, this appears to be more than a simple case of home sick boys wanting to leave a camp they simply don’t like. Others have noticed disturbing trends in the behaviour of Algonkian counsellors. Last summer, campers from Algonkian island visited neighbouring camp Cedar Ridge for an inter-camp soccer game. According to witnesses, one Algonkian camper, identified only as “Webster” attempted to escape in the middle of a soccer game. When counsellors couldn’t find him, they attempted to “squeeze” the information out of another camper via threats of breaking his neck, stretching him on a rack and being fed to alligators. “I wouldn’t go to that Algonkain place,” said one Cedar Ridge camper, “they torture you there!”
Sadly this wasn’t an isolated incident. Shortly afterwards, Algonkian campers went to a dance being held at an all girls camp called Silver Lake. While at Silver Lake, the counsellors from Algonkian reportedly stopped the dance mid way through and proceeded to run into the woods in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. During which they engaged in such bizarre acts such as chasing squirrels up trees and starting fights with bears. One counsellor identified only as “Dave” got into an altercation with a skunk, it’s unclear which one started the incident, but upon returning to Silver Lake was denied entry by staff as they now feared for their safety. “They were like a bunch of crazy savages!” a Silver Lake counsellor was quoted saying.
It seems this “Chip” counsellor may be the ringleader of this psychotic group. An Algonkian camper, identified only as “Miller” spoke of many of Chip’s bizarre antics. Antics such as attacking a wooden cabin, smashing a wooden table (earning him the nickname “The phantom wood butcher”), throwing spaghetti at another camper, jumping into the lake repeatedly and even trying to water ski on his face.
The counsellors of Algonkian island have vehemently denied such accusations, insisting that the author of this letter is simply trying to “slander our camp’s good name”. Arthur Warden, director of the camp has not only insisted such accusations are untrue, but also denies that any camper could simply not love camp. “All cats love meat and all boys love camp.” he told reporters, “That’s the way it was in the days of my grandfather [camp founder Elias Warden] and that’s the way it is now.”
If this is indeed “the way” this camp was founded, it’s no wonder many boys have attempted to steal boats in a desperate attempt to flee this prison of an island. Residents of the nearby town of Snow Hill have reported, on multiple occasions, seeing boys taking boats and attempting to flee the island only to be chased down and forcibly dragged back. One resident – who did not want to be identified, out of fear – told us how he witnessed two boys, having recently escaped the island, being chased through the town by dozens of counsellors. “It was like something out of one of those action movies,” he told us, “you know the ones where someone is wrongfully accused of a crime and has the entire FBI on a manhunt for them. My wife and I were thinking of sending our boys to Algonkian next summer, but after this we may end up just taking them to Vegas instead.”
Sadly it seems campers aren’t the only ones the counsellors attempt to hold hostage on the island. Another man, who did not want to be identified, once ferried the boat that delivered supplies to the island, until one day when he had the misfortune of meeting this “Chip” counsellor. “I delivered my supplies to the island the way I always used to,” he told us, “one day after dropping my supplies off, I pulled away in my boat when I heard a voice screaming ‘STOP! STOP!’ I turned to see this counsellor jump into the water and start swimming after my boat. Then two more got into a motor boat, sailed out, forced me back to the island where they wouldn’t let me leave until [Chip] finished attacking a large box in my stern. After hearing what I heard about this place, I can see now why these kids would want to leave.” Ontario provincial police have promised to look into these events.