The Camping Trip

           It is incredible how one singular moment in time can affect the outcome of your entire life.

           Charles Nordstrom now stood in a courtroom surrounded by lawyers, jurors, reporters, onlookers, and of course, the judge. He stands trial for a homicide case from months ago.

           The year was 2017 and Charles was on a camping trip with his best friend, James at a remote location far from any town. They had always been adventurous boys and had been friends for most of their lives.

           Charles prepared the tent while James cleared an area for a fire pit. They wandered into the woods together in search of dry brush and fallen twigs to use as kindling. With hatchet in hand, James then began falling a small tree which would supply them with enough wood for the fire.

           As they sat around the blazing orange and red flames, Charles strummed on his guitar as the two bellowed out their favorite songs…occasionally off-key. Wolves howled along in the distance with the musical duo. Even the crickets seemed to want to get into the act as they chirped along in harmony.

           The trip was to last for three days, but by the third day, something happened that altered the course of the two of them forever.

           It was a crisp, autumn morning and the fallen leaves crunched under their feet as the two teens hiked through the woods in search of a new adventure. The birds whistled cheerfully in the trees above. A bluejay glided down from a high branch and swooped past the two friends as if it wanted to play.

           Chipmunks and squirrels scurried along the ground in search of the last few bits of food that they could store away for the winter. The tall birch trees stood like sentinels guarding the forest. Everything was so peaceful. This is why they loved camping out in the wilderness so much; they could escape the hustle and bustle of city life. No cellphones or electronics of any kind. All they used for guidance was a map and a compass along with the direction of the sun. All of the things that they remembered from their days in the Boy Scouts.

           Charles always told James that if he had a choice, he would live in the forest year-round. James enjoyed camping, but he also enjoyed the convenience of buying food from a store instead of hunting or fishing for it, though he didn’t want to tell Charles that.

           The boys hiked along the river’s edge until they reached a waterfall which plummeted down a thirty-foot drop to a churning mass of water and rocks below. James wanted to find another path, but Charles assured him that they could scale down the rocky ledge. Reluctantly, James went along with his friend’s idea. They fastened a rope around a nearby tree and Charles offered to go first to show James that it was safe.

           With the rope wrapped loosely around his back and the other end tied to his belt, Charles began his descent. He eased his way down at first, and then when he was about twenty feet down, he began to rappel along the rocky face, kicking his way out as he lowered himself quickly to the surface below.

           It was now time for James to go, so Charles undid the rope from his belt and James pulled it back up. He double-checked the knotted end that was tied to the tree, took a deep breath, and began to ease his way over the edge of the cliff, searching for a foothold below.

           Slowly he crept down, holding tightly to the rope with one hand as he gripped the protruding rocks with the other. This was a completely different experience from when he and Charles had climbed the rock wall at the local amusement park. He was terrified but too embarrassed to let Charles know how he felt.

           James was just fifteen feet from the ground now and his confidence started to return so he attempted to rappel the rest of the way. He kicked away from the cliffside and lowered himself down with both hands on the rope. As his feet connected once again with the rocky wall, one of the rocks loosened and fell to the ground, just missing Charles. James lost his footing and his right knee hit hard against the cliff. He let go of his grip from the rope and fell the remaining ten feet toward the ground below. Charles barely had time to react but managed to put himself between the ground and his friend, softening the impact for James. Unfortunately, it also left Charles bruised and sore.

           After regaining their composure, James untied the rope from his belt. That was when they realized that they had no way of releasing the other end of the rope from the tree. It would have to stay behind.

           The two boys hobbled along the path until they reached a clearing where they decided to rest before continuing. Charles pulled out two granola bars that he had packed away in his backpack. They snacked and sipped from their water bottles until they were refreshed, then started back on their journey back to civilization.

           It was now midday and they still had at least a two-hour trek back to the car. James now realized that his leg was bleeding from the impact against the cliff, so they wrapped it up with the sleeve of his shirt. The scent of blood could attract bears or wolves.

           The brush seemed to grow thicker now, which slowed down their hike greatly. Charles pulled a machete from his backpack and started chopping away at the branches along their path. It was then that they heard it. A low-pitched growl that seemed to shake the ground around them. Branches began to break and birds scattered from the trees. No more than twenty feet away appeared a large Grizzly bear, weighing close to 400 pounds. It charged at the teens, trampling everything in its path.

Charles began to run but James stood there in shock. Charles grabbed him by the hand and yanked his arm almost out of its socket. They ran as quickly as possible but the bear continued to close in.

Ahead of them was a steep hill and Charles remembered that bears have difficulty running downhill, so Charles guiding James toward it. Grabbing onto tree trunks to slow their pace slightly, the boys began to gain some ground between them and the bear.

The hill ended at the edge of the river. The current was too strong to cross, so they took a chance and tried to float downstream. Hopefully, the hungry Grizzly would lose the scent and search for his next meal elsewhere.

As they jumped into the frigid water, James was lucky enough to grab onto a branch that had been caught up in the current. It provided enough buoyancy to keep his head out of the water for the most part. Charles, however, struggled to stay afloat. His backpack now acting as a weight that kept submerging him beneath the water’s surface. He tried repeatedly to remove the pack from his back, but the latch would not release. Finally, he managed to remove the machete from the pack and cut the straps, releasing him from his 50-pound prison.

Still holding the machete, Charles swam as fast as possible to the shore. James saw his friend and let go of the branch so he could swim toward Charles as well. The water roared as the two teens swam with all of their might. James was nearing Charles as he saw his friend weaken and go under. He dove under to try and grab him, but when James reached out his arm and grasped onto the shoulder of Charles, his friend reacted out of panic, turned, and drove the machete through the chest of James. Charles immediately realized his mistake and removed the machete. James began to bleed out profusely and died within seconds. Charles tried pulling him to the shore, but he was unable to, so the lifeless body of James continued down the river. Charles watched solemnly until his friend was no longer in sight.

After making it to shore, Charles built a fire, stripped down, and hung up his clothes to dry. While he sat pondering the events of the day, Charles realized that if he returned to the city, he would likely be blamed for his friend’s death, so he decided to stay hidden in the woods for a while until things smoothed over.

A few weeks had passed, and a group of hikers was traveling along the riverside when they spotted something unusual along the bank. As they approached, the smell was horrendous so they had to step back. That was when they realized they had stumbled across a dead body. They returned to an area where they could get cellphone reception and called the authorities. Within the hour, the river was surrounded by police and park rangers.

The body was removed and brought back to the city for an autopsy and identification. It wasn’t long before a missing persons report identified the victim as James Sanderson, a seventeen-year-old male. Last seen leaving for a camping trip with his friend, Charles Nordstrom, an eighteen-year-old male, also missing.

The family of James was notified and the search then began for Charles. Hundreds of police officers, park rangers, and volunteers scoured the forest in search of Charles. On their fourth day, they found Charles at the mouth of a cave, shivering from the freezing temperatures. He was rushed back to the city and treated for severe hypothermia. When he was well enough, the police approached him for a statement.

Charles repeated the sequence of events for the police right up to the stabbing incident. His conscience left a guilty look upon his face, and the police started to doubt the accuracy of his story. He was held in custody pending further investigation.

On the day of his trial, Charles looked around the room and at the faces of his jury. He felt as if they had all made their decisions already. Although it wasn’t mandatory, Charles asked if he could give his statement in front of the jury.

He recalled every moment from the time they arrived, to the cliff incident, the Grizzly bear, and finally the stabbing. Murmurs started around the courtroom. The jury was asked to return to their chambers and come to a decision.

After approximately twenty minutes, the jury returned with a verdict. Because the evidence was circumstantial and inconclusive, they found Charles “not guilty”. He was a free man.

The first thing Charles did upon his release, was to visit the gravesite of his friend, James. As he kneeled by the headstone, Charles apologized to James for what happened and told him that he would never forget him. It was at that point that Charles felt a hand on his shoulder. He thought he was imagining things at first recalling the incident in the river, but then he heard a soft voice speaking his name.

As he turned his head, he saw the mother and father of James standing above him. His mother told Charles that they forgive him for what happened to their son. They understood that it was an accident. Charles stood up and was greeted with a tight embrace. He finally felt at peace with himself.

Two years had passed, and Charles had never returned to the forest. Instead, he found solace in the city, despite the noise and pollution. He now works at the city zoo feeding the animals, including the bears.