Cool Campers by Mike Knudson

his hair, then exclaimed, “Wait, people! Tomorrow night you will see something really amazing. Raging Raymond is not going to eat a simple mixture of food. Instead he will eat . . . A WORM!” Suddenly everyone stopped and turned back.
    â€œThat’s right, Grizzlies—a worm straight from the Camp Grizzly dirt.” Graham motioned for me to stand up. Instead, I pulled him down.
    â€œSee you all tomorrow!” Graham shouted from his seat.
    â€œWhat are doing?” I cried. “Why did you promise everyone that I would eat a worm?” I put my head on the table and closed my eyes. There was no way I was ever going to eat a worm. As I sat there wondering how Graham could do this to me, his best friend, I heard the sound I had dreamed about.
    â€œRaymond, Raymond!” they were all chanting. I looked up and everyone was gathering around our table.
    I stood up and waved at everyone.
    â€œYes, tomorrow night I will eat a worm!”
    Mark came up to me and gave me a high five. “Dude, this will be awesome! The Amazing Mark eating Herron’s Heap and then Raging Raymond eating a worm for dessert. We are quite the team, dude.”
    â€œSee,” Graham said. “I knew it! We’re the talk of camp. How does it feel?”
    â€œIncredible,” I said. “It feels incredible.”
    After dinner we all gathered in front of the lodge by the flagpole. Each patrol yelled its cheer, trying to show they had the most spirit. And of course, we sang a few more songs. Afterward, Toad had to go to a staff meeting, so we had to have Roses, Thorns, and Buds without him. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to start a fire by ourselves. We all brought out our flashlights instead. As each Toad Claw stood up to speak, the rest of us pointed our flashlights at him, like a spotlight.
    Almost everyone’s bud was that they were looking forward to seeing me eat a worm the next night. It was so different from the last night, when everyone was mad about hearing us say dude all the time. Now everyone thought we were the greatest, and all it took was promising to eat a worm.
    Wait a minute, I thought. As I sat there listening to everyone sing my praises, I suddenly realized that I was really going to have to eat a worm !

12
    Let the Games Begin
    THE NEXT DAY was going to be either the best day of my life or the worst. Not only did I have the worm thing, but we would have to pay up if we lost our bet with David’s patrol. The rest of the Toad Claws were excited about the Olympics. They weren’t nearly as nervous as I was about losing and having to wear underpants for hats.
    That night I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to talk to one of my cabinmates, but Graham and Tiny had fallen asleep the second their heads hit the pillow, and BB was lying awake in bed but said he didn’t feel like talking. He seemed upset about something, but I didn’t know what.
    I must have finally fallen asleep, because all of a sudden the gong startled me awake. At breakfast, the whole dining hall was buzzing about the Olympics. Even the staff was excited. Fuzzy stood in front by the fireplace and asked, “Who thinks they’re going to win the Olympics?”
    Everyone screamed and cheered. Then Fuzzy explained how the Olympics would work. There would be six different events. Each team would choose two people to compete in each event. The events were running, swimming, a log toss, an archery shoot, a rope climb, and an obstacle course. He held up a big map of the camp that showed where each event would take place.
    â€œThis is going to be awesome,” Graham said. “The only thing better than seeing David’s underpants on the Grizzly statue will be seeing them on his head after he loses.”
    â€œDo you really think we can win?” I asked.
    â€œOf course I do,” Graham answered with confidence. “Just look at our team.”
    I looked over at BB, who was standing on his