Chapter 8: The Camping Trip of Hell
A nightmare sequence is about to follow.
Back in first grade, our prestigious school held a camping trip at Camp Laging Handa. Everything went well at first, until the night I bumped into those bullies again.
"Hey, it's our favorite punching bag!" greeted one of the bullies. "Would you like to join us?"
"First of all, why do you always taunt, harass, and humiliate me?" I screamed as they began surrounding me. "Do you bear a grudge? You better explain because I'm sick and tired of getting beat up."
They fell silent for a moment. Shortly afterwards, someone decided to speak on the bullies' behalf.
"As far as my group is concerned, we don't have a personal grudge against you. But honestly, you're ugly, fat and pathetic," he arrogantly announced. "Just look at you. Is this what a girl should look like? And not only that, beautiful girls are not nearsighted and require some eyeglasses to see good. You're not one of them."
One of the bullies' cohorts also mocked my excessive weight.
"How many pounds have you gained since birth? 100? So disgusting."
Upon hearing those negative words, I angrily shoved one of the bullies, then shouted at the top of my voice.
"Fat? Disgusting? Pathetic? Don't you dare call me either of them. I may be nearsighted but I still feel pretty deep inside. I was born this way and I'm proud of that. Also there are other helpless girls who are just as near-sighted, fat, pathetic or ugly so why are you only after me?"
"My bullies and I absolutely enjoy the thrill of it," they shouted. "Who cares about the other girls? All we want is only you, nothing else!!"
"If I were you, ignore me or else I'll call the principal!!" my warning to those annoying bullies.
But the bullies merely shrugged it off like it was nothing.
"We're not scared of the principal or the teacher at all," uttered another of the bullies."We all love to torment you regardless because that's what bullies do."
"Well, what are you waiting for? Take her," directed one of the bullies.
My face shriveled in fear, I hurriedly ran away, only to be tackled on the brittle grass. As the bullies surrounded and taunted me, I desperately screamed for help from classmates and teachers, but they were too far to hear.
By the time the harrowing ordeal ended, I suffered a black eye, endured some bruises on my face and had dirt littered all over my shirt. To make matters worse, the precious glasses I wore were destroyed by the bullies. So for the rest of camp, I was forced to live without the help of my spectacles.
Suddenly, I woke up from nightmare sequence and continued to call for help. Charissa heard those screams and immediately rushed to my aid.
"Christine, what is the matter?" Charissa asked anxiously as she held her palms on my cheeks. "Why were you screaming so loud?"
"Mom, I experienced a terrible dream. Someone assaulted me again and left my worn-out body for dead," I cried just as Charissa started to cradle my head on her chest.
"Christine, don't worry about it," Charissa advised me. "It is just a nightmare. Now go to sleep and forget about it."
Unfortunately, I couldn't sleep for the rest of the night. By sunrise, my eyes were bloodshot red and my face looked miserable. Nevertheless, I soldiered on and began to open the blog.
But 50 words in, my sore head suddenly banged into the keyboards and fell unconscious. Perhaps it was not a brilliant idea to write without any rest.
I still felt a little groggy upon waking up a few hours later. Good thing Charissa still had some cereal and fresh milk in the kitchen for breakfast. After some coffee and a bath, I continued writing my blog.
300 words later, my third entry was now complete. Somehow I still remembered most of the tragic events that took place on camp that night. At this point Michelle decided to message me on Facebook.
The following is a series of conversations between Michelle and me.
Michelle: "Christine, how are you? You are writing a new article?"
Christine: "Yes buddy. In fact I just published it. Check it out."
After reading diligently my most recent entry, Michelle continued our online conversation.
Michelle: "What can I say? It's extremely poignant and tragic at the same time. It's similar to the second one but only worse because in spite your best efforts to fight back they still found a way to disrespect you."
Christine: (types five loudly crying emoji)
Michelle: "Christine, what's wrong?"
Christine: "I wish your soul could've supported me. But why were you so far away when I dearly needed you most?"
Michelle: "I'm sorry Christine. We were on separate groups that night so I couldn't assist you from afar. But there was a conversation that I had with one of your groupmates who said he was able to carry you to the campsite and showed your bruises to the teacher."
Christine: "Sorry if I couldn't remember that horrific event because of my concussion. And I am sorry I forgot the name of the student who helped me walk towards camp. What I knew was that those bullies were kicked out after the trip for physical abuse. I was glad justice was served."
Michelle: "Well, I can set up a meeting with one of your groupmates. Are you willing to go with me?"
Christine: "Why not. It was long overdue."
Michelle: "Then I'll see you in a few days. I know you experienced an absolutely terrible day yesterday so try to get a peaceful sleep tonight."
Christine: "Thanks buddy. See you later."
Later that night I finally got a pleasant night's sleep. There were no further nightmares tonight, at least for now.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
ralphierce
ralphierce I need to get a good night's sleep like Christine's. This was the toughest chapter to write so far. I hope the next one will be much easier to write.
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