" I... I thought we were supposed to be camping...."

Fifteen year old Jay looked at six year old Mia and grinned. " We are!"

" But camping is supposed to have those leaves you make into a house. And we're supposed to wear ripped clothes!*

Jay stared at her. " Who sa.... Never mind. Mia, this is camping."

" Then where's the sticks?"

Jay sighed and rubbed his temples. " Wojira, listen. We're camping in a more.... Modern style."

" What about the sleeping bags?"

" We have them right here!" Jay said, patting a bag.

" No that's my bag. Our sleeping bags are rolling down the hill."

" Haha, very fu-" he cut himself off when he realized she was right.

The bags were rolling down the hill.. AND STRAIGHT FOR THE LAKE!

" Mia!" Jay yelped as he ran down the hill. " Help me!!"

Mia sighed. " Older siblings are soooo dramatic."

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" Well.... We managed.... To catch them...." Jay panted, leaning on one.

Mia crossed her arms. " You mean me. You were running around in circles screaming like it was the end of the world."

Jay sighed. " Fine. You. Happy?"

Mia grinned. " Very. Now, let's go. I want to scout for food."

" Oh, that's ni- wait what?!"

Mia grinned and held a survival book up. " There's a whole list of edible berries in here somewhere. Let's go!"

" Mia, we brought food!!"

Mia blinked. " But then this isn't camping."

Jay stared at her for a moment, then let out a deep sigh. " Fine. Let's go looking for your berries."

" Yippieeeeeeeeeee!" Mia yelled as she threw her arms around Jay. " Thank you!! You're the best brother ever!"

Jay smirked. " I'd better be."

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" Okay.... Those berries are edible. And those ones. And those ones. And the ones you're eating aren't edible."

Jay spit the berries out. " You could have told me before!"

Mia shrugged as she grinned. " Naaaaah. It's more fun to see you eat and then spit it out."

Jay gave her a look, and she just laughed.

" Okay, now let's go wash these in the river!" Mia said as she skipped through the trees.

" But rivers are unsanitary!!" Jay called.

Mia turned. " Really?"

Jay nodded seriously. " Mhm. Rivers are contaminated because of blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah."

Mia blinked. " I only understood the first part."

" The point is you could get sick because of it!!"

Mia sighed. " Then what are we supposed to wash these with?"

Jay grinned. " Easy."

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" Really. A well." Mia said flately.

" Well at least it's sanity!" Jay argued as he lowered the bucket.

Mia sighed. " You're lucky you're my brother, Elizabeth."

Jay smirked. " Yeah? Or what?"

" Or you woulda been history."

Jay threw his head back and laughed. " Oh Mia. You're funny."

( If only he knew.....)

Mia peeked inside the well. " Think we can fish?"

" Fish?"

" Mhm. In the shows, they show people fishing with sticks."

Jay almost choked. " Sti- Mia, have you been watching that Barbarian show again?*

" You mean Surviving in the Olden Days?"

" Yes."

Mia nodded her head. " This time, Dawn and her husband Gary, they accidentally went down a cliff! And they fell on a penguin!"

Jay stared at her. " What are they teaching you?!"

Mia shrugged. " How to survive. They also showed us how to make a knife."

" Thank you but I don't think we'll need a knife!" Jay yelped.

Mia rolled her eyes. " Oh Jay..... You're soooo old-school."

" Says the one who wanted to wear barbarian clothes." Jay muttered.

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" That went swell." Mia said brightly as she carried the bucket of berries to their campsite.

Jay, who was dripping from head to toe, mumbled, " yeah. Swell."

" Oh come on, Jay! Cheer up!*

Jay glared at her. " I fell into a river. How is that 'swell'?"

" At least we know how Beavers chomp wood!"

Jay raised a brow. " You realize I fell into a river because those creatures chewed the rope, right?"

" But at least we have some good photos!"

Jay narrowed his eyes. " Photos?"

Mia grinned. " Yeah!"

Jay sighed. " Considering you're six you're dangerous."

" And considering you're 13 and a ninja you sure don't know how to have fun."

Jay grinned mischievously. " You want fun, huh?"

Mia nodded eagerly.

" Okay. Let's try and make a tower with these rocks."

Mia grinned eagerly. " Yes! Finally!!"

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" Okay, time's -woah."

Mia grinned and pet her sculpture. " What do you think?"

Somehow, Mia had managed to haul a very large boulder.

And she had carved it into Jay.

Except Jay looked.... Muscular.

Very very muscular.

" O.... Kay..... Well, um.... That looks nice."

Mia grinned. " Thanks? Doesn't it look nice?"

" Uh huh.... Nice.... Right."

Jay tilted his head, staring at the sculpture that was supposed to resemble him. He couldn't decide if he was impressed or mildly offended. "So...you think I look like that?"

Mia nodded proudly. "Yep! Strong and powerful! Just like a hero."

Jay blinked. "Hero? Or bodybuilder? Because I don't think I've ever looked like that in my life."

Mia shrugged. "It's called artistic interpretation, Jay. You wouldn't understand."

Jay rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, I understand. I just hope nobody else from the monastery sees this. I'll never hear the end of it."

Mia smirked. "Maybe I'll carve another one for Kai! Then he'll be jealous."

Jay groaned. "Great, now you're starting sibling rivalries. Fantastic. Can we focus on dinner now?"

"Sure!" Mia chirped. "But only if you admit that I'm the best artist in the family."

Jay raised his hands in mock defeat. "Fine. You win. Best artist ever. Now, let's cook those berries."

Mia grinned, satisfied. "Deal! But you're washing the dishes later."

"Wait, what?" Jay frowned. "That's not how camping works!"

Mia grabbed the survival book and pointed to a random page. "Says right here, 'the eldest sibling does the dishes.'"

Jay stared at the page. "That's not even what it says!"

Mia grinned innocently. "Prove it."

Jay sighed, realizing there was no winning. "You're dangerous, Mia. Absolutely dangerous."

"And you're old-school, Jay. Absolutely old-school," Mia teased back.