Jack Griffin Retold

The Creek Meeting

Current time: April-22. Time: 8 pm.

My name is Jack Paul Griffin. I am fourteen today.

I live in a dusty town in the black hole of America where nothing ever happens. Where else but Indiana? That’s right, people actually live here.

The corn state, I’ve lived here my whole life but still have never traveled past three counties. I have been to Noblesville, but that’s only on Saturdays to shop.

My Father Paul Griffin, and my mom, Helen Griffin, run this house, the one that I live in. Me, my sister, and our dog Dug, we make all the challenges for them,

Whether it be a sibling squabble or a dog making messes or just plain and simple barking, whatever it is,

It is enough to cause chaos. I brag that it is my purpose in life to be a fourteen year old boy, yeah just imagine the fun for my parents, two teenagers and a dog.

I know crazy but not as crazy as it could be, if they knew, or if anyone knew.

Knew what? You ask, well I can tell you, if you want to hear, if you do. Keep reading.

You accepted! Great, now I can begin. It’s a secret, so you may not tell anyone. If you’re reading this then I probably got found out, or I let you read my journal, or this is a friend or family member snooping, if so cut it out.

Now my secret won’t make sense unless I tell it from the beginning, so let me take you back, oh about a month ago. I was still thirteen, it was March 23rd.

The year shall remain unknown just in case you are reading this while I am still around, I don’t want to get found.

You can understand that after all, people if they knew what I was, they would only want to kill me, not make friends.

Now it was the 23rd, a Saturday, my dad loves to go camping and he got this great idea to call together my uncle Phil, my cousin Mike, and my best friend Chris for a camping trip.

We have this spot just twenty minutes from where I live, and we have been there like a million times in the last two years, so we knew the owner of the land pretty well and last minute spots were no problem.

We set out around 10 am. And began setting up our camp.

My mom and sister would stay home while I and the other four guys would stay out from early Saturday to Monday morning.

My dad would drop me, Chris, and Mike off at school smelling of smoke and hopefully fried fish. We loved doing that.

While my dad and his brother set up camp, Mike, Chris and I went off to our usual spot by the creek.

Mike and Chris and I have been friends since birth, we were all near the same age. Mike is tall and skinny with black hair, he is fifteen and he loves to skate board.

While Chris is tall, but he has light brown hair, he is skinny, and he is always pale, he is like Mike in many ways, but he does not like to skate board as much as he likes to bike, he loves his mountain bike.

And me, I am short, I have sun bleached white hair. While Mike and Chris have brown eyes I have sea blue eyes, but they are always covered with glasses, my favorite pair yet, a light blue frame and of course clear glass.

Anyways, I told you all that just to get you an idea of what we looked like, it is easier to read a story if you know the characters.

At our spot by the creek we settled down on our tree trunks. This spot was our meeting spot where we could talk without grown ups or girls bothering us.

I loved this area, it has a bubbling brook, small darting minnows a few snakes and an occasional crane sitting on a nest.

Somehow or another, all our conversations that took place they were always about our lives back home and our number one complaints.

Chris began it because he was not family.

“I can’t stand Sue; honestly she is driving me up the walls!” Mike and I edged closer ready to hear some gossip. “Hey, Chris, what’s she doing now?” Mike asked as he scooted closer, chin in hands.

Chris laughed. “Well, she’s seventeen now, and all she does is sit in front of the laptop and type all day.” Mike agreed “Yeah, my older brother is the same way. He’s got no taste for anything else, all he does is play on his phone. He was offered to come with us but he told my dad it’s to boring.”

Chris and I shouted “No way!” then started to laugh, we both knew that Mikes brother (my other cousin) was a bum, going in and out of prison, living in my uncles house and had no job, yeah just your typical twenty year old.

But it shouldn’t be that way, my uncle has tried to reason with him, but it did only worse then good.

I had my turn complaining about my sister “Ginger is so crazy this year, she has gotten too attached to her laptop as well, and I swear she sleeps with it.” We all began to laugh; it was so much fun to laugh at our problems.

Soon we were all laughing and gossiping then suddenly Mike turned over to the adventurous side of things. “Hey guys, lets sleep out side tonight!” Chris and I readily agreed.

“Hey how will we convince our dads to let us?” Mike thought for a minute then we started discussing our plans. They went something like this.