The Lost Scouts - Part 1

It was the first of April. John was packing his bag. Tomorrow is going to be a big day. Tomorrow, for the first time, he was going on a trip as a scout of his school to France for a month. This was going to be really amazing, because he had never travelled to foreign countries, and this was the first International Trip of the Scouts. John double checked his things; he did not want his big day ruined.

Mom called for dinner. John went down – today was going to be his last dinner with his family for a month. His mother laid down the dinner. ‘Good luck for tomorrow’ she said. His elder brother, Jim, asked ‘Packed your bag right?’

‘Yes,’ John replied, ‘You?’

‘Yes!’ Jim replied. Since John would not be home, his parents and Jim would go on a trip too.

The dinner was very tasty. After dinner, he went to sleep at 10:00. Tomorrow he’d have to get up early at 6. He had put up an alarm for 6 on his watch.

‘Wake up! Wake up!’ John heard someone shouting.

‘Whoa!’ He woke up with a start. It was Jim.

‘Am I late? Oh no! The bus comes at 7:30!

John turned his eyes to the bedside table where his wristwatch was kept in a box. He opened it. It was 4:32. His jaw dropped open.

‘For what reason on Earth have you awoken me at the crack of dawn!’ he hissed, as he closed his wristwatch box.

‘Come on! Get up. Your breakfast is downstairs. You’ve got to hurry! You’re late!’ said Jim. He probably couldn’t hear John’s last question.

‘What do you mean? It is 4:32! Are you insane!’ bellowed John, making sure he was heard.

Jim sighed. ‘The watch got stuck at 4:32 last night.’ He said.

‘What! Then what time is it now?’ he asked, horrified.

‘Nearly 7:00’ he sighed.

John rushed down. His parents were there in the dining table. He ate in top speed without speaking. Then he got ready. He had put on his Scout dress by 7:27. All was done well until he remembered –

‘My hat and watch!!! Jim, could you please bring them?’ asked John.

Jim brought him his watch and put it on his bag but said that his hat was missing. Then, mom’s phone rang. Mom answered it while John tried to remember where his hat was. Then, mom said, ‘John, you left your hat at Mrs. Betsy’s yesterday. Mrs. Betsy’s! You’ll need at least 8 minutes to get there.’

Thinking quickly, Jack called his Scout group leader, Mike, with his phone.

‘Hi, John! We’re on the way to your house. We are nearly there.’ said Mike

‘Nearly here?’ asked John, horrified.

‘Yes,’ said Mike brightly, ‘we will pick you up and then get back and get to the other lane to pick Emily and Edgar.’

‘Do one thing, go pick Emily and Edgar first and then come. You’ll need 8 minutes to come back after that, right?’ John said

‘Yes, but...’ Mike began

‘Please!’

‘OK.’ said Mike. Then he heard him telling the driver to pick up them. He declined the call.

Then he rushed to the garden, picked his cycle and cycled as fast as he could to Mrs. Betsy’s.

He would have reached there in three minutes with his cycle, but his cycle got punctured midway. An exasperated John carried the cycle to Mrs. Betsy’s. It took him 7 minutes or so. As he was about to leave, he got a call.

‘Where are you? We are in your house!’ hissed Mike through the phone.

‘Um... which route will you go by’ asked John, hoping it would be somewhere near Mrs. Betsy’s house.

‘The Skywalk bridge.’ hissed Mike

‘Yes!’ said John brightly, Mrs. Betsy’s house was just in front of the bridge. ‘I am in front of the bridge. Come pick me up. Ask my parents to give you my luggage.’ He said.

The bus arrived soon. It picked John. He waved Mrs. Betsy goodbye. He went and sat beside Edgar, his best friend. The bus took nearly half an hour to reach the station, from where they’d board the train.

As John entered the train with his Scout group, he thought that nothing could go wrong now. How very incorrect he was. 

A sneak peek of next part:

John touched the ground and panted without seeing anywhere. Then Mike gestured him to look forward with his face paper-white. Not understanding why he was so horrified, John looked up. He nearly froze with shock.

-- Atreyo 😀, 

8th December, 2020