Free Cool Campers by Mike Knudson Page B

a new muffin for the road.
    We spent almost the entire morning in the lake. Fortunately, I was able to take my swim test again, and I passed. There were huge tubes to play on and a big rope that you could swing on before dropping into the water.
    Toad stayed and swam with us too. He had this crazy swimsuit that was like a tank top and swimming trunks all in one. No one could swing higher than Toad on the rope. He swung really high and yelled “Yahoo!” as he flew through the air.
    â€œIt’s Superbug to the rescue!” BB screamed, as he swung out over the water. He even did one flip after he let go of the rope. Graham tried a flip too, but he landed on his sunburned back.
    By the time lunch came, we were starving. They were serving chili and cornbread. Our patrol decided to eat outside on the grass under a big tree.
    Graham had a grin on his face. “You guys know what chili does to you, don’t you?” he said.
    â€œDo I ever,” Tiny said. “You guys are in for a smelly time tonight.” The look on Tiny’s face made me a little scared to sleep in the cabin with him.
    After lunch we spent the afternoon in arts and crafts making dream catchers, weaving string across these wooden hoops in whatever design we wanted. They’re supposed to catch bad dreams.
    â€œWith this, I’m going to have sweet dreams of Kelly every night,” Graham announced.
    â€œAnd I’m going to dream of catching every bug on the planet,” BB said.
    Tiny shivered. “Not me! That would be a nightmare. I hope my dream catcher stops all of those bug dreams from getting into my brain.”
    Carl said he wanted to have dreams about living in a huge chocolate house that he could just pick at and eat all day long. That made sense to me, since he seemed to like picking things.
    As dinnertime rolled around I was getting nervous. In the food line, I said to Graham, “Do you really think I should eat all that gross stuff?”
    â€œTrust me, Raymond. Sometimes you have to do things you don’t like if you want to be cool.”
    â€œI’m just getting a little nervous.”
    â€œJust imagine all those kids chanting your name. ‘Raymond, Raymond,’” he whispered in my ear. He was right. Eating a little bit of gross food would be worth having everyone like me.
    We loaded our trays and sat down. I didn’t eat very much for fear that I would throw up when I ate the mixture afterward.
    â€œNow, how should I announce you? I can’t call you Amazing Raymond. Mark already has amazing in his name. It needs to start with an R , like Raymond. How about Rainy Raymond?”
    â€œRainy Raymond?” I said. “That doesn’t even make sense.”
    â€œJust brainstorming. What are some other R words? Ripple , ring , run , robot , raging . That’s it: Raging Raymond.”
    â€œRaging Raymond,” I repeated. “I like it.”
    Just then, Mark’s friend announced, “The Amazing Mark is ready for his nightly show!”
    â€œDang,” Graham said. “I wanted to go first. Oh well, these kids can’t get enough of this stuff. We’ll do it right after.”
    Dinner had been tacos and more applesauce. Mark took his shell and loaded it with meat, mustard, applesauce, and salad dressing, and poured on some milk. I was gagging just watching Mark mix it up. The sick mixture was oozing out of the ends of the taco.
    A loud “ooh” filled the lodge as he bit into it. It was his best performance yet. As people started leaving, Graham jumped up on the bench.
    â€œDon’t leave, everyone. Round two is about to begin, featuring Raging Raymond and his Spoonful of Doom!” Unfortunately, no one seemed to care. A few people looked over at Graham as they left, but they didn’t stop.
    â€œDon’t you mean, ‘featuring Raymond the Dork’?” David yelled over from across the room.
    Graham rubbed his hand through