Peter unloaded the sleeping bags from the 4 Runner as Tom and Wolf attempted to set up the tent. The scenery around them was beautiful. The birds were chirping, and every once in a while, the sound of a small animal scurrying around could be heard. The mountains surrounding them reached up towards the sky with their majestic heights and snow white caps. The valleys were lush and green with the first signs of Spring. "I'm telling you, Tom, it says pole 7 matches with pole 8 which is also connected to part 3," Wolf said, exasperated, as he read the instructions that came with the family sized tent. "You're kidding me! What kind of logic is that?" Tom exclaimed as he randomly picked up poles from the pile by his feet. He looked at the sticker at the end of the pole and frowned. He dropped the pole with a clank and picked up another one. Peter turned to his twin. "It really wasn't necessary to get a tent this big, you know. I'm sure we could have made do with a pup tent." "Why bother? It'll be more comfortable in this bigger one," Wolf replied, squinting at the directions again. He held the piece of paper in front of him and turned it, as if looking at it from a different angle would help. "Hey, will one of you hand me the hammer?" Tom called. Wolf and Peter turned to look at him. Tom had unfolded the tent. The poles were laying flat out in a shape similar to the picture on the box, waiting to be tied to the tent. Wolf slapped himself in the forehead. "I knew I forgot something." "You forgot the hammer?" Tom asked incredously, rolling a tent stake between his hands. "All right, is there anything we can use to substitute, then?" Wolf asked, looking around at the supplies scattered around them. "I'm a Shaolin Cop, not MacGyver," Peter muttered. Wolf spotted something promising further down the the valley. He knelt down and took his swiss army knife out of his pocket. Quickly opening it, he used it to pry a rock from the valley's grip. He raised the rock in victory to his fellow campers as he jogged back to them. Tom hammered the stakes in while Peter and Wolf collected more rocks to build a fire ring. "All right you two, I'm going to need some help propping these poles up." Wolf and Peter held the poles as Tom tied them to the tent. After the final knot was tied, the three of them surveyed their new home. "Not bad, Tom. How'd you do it?" Peter inquired. Tom's face took on a reminisicing look as he told them the story. "Tom?" Katherine Ryan called up the stairs. "What?" a teenaged Tom shouted back. He tightened another guitar string as he waited for his mother's reply. Running his fingers lightly through the strings, he tested their pitch. "Are you ready to go? The Millers are coming any minute." "I don't want to go! I hate camping!" Tom called back. It was the third day of summer vacation. He had big plans. He and Jimmy had plans to practice their football throws all summer, so they could try out for the high school football team. "You've never been camping! How do you know you'll hate it?" Tom could hear his mother coming up the stairs. He looked up as his mom opened the door. "Please, Tom, you haven't even given it a chance yet. Besides, the Millers have a daughter about your age. Maybe you can hang out together." "A girl?" Tom groaned. Great, now besides having to remember to pack the Clearisil, he'd have to worry about a girl looking at his gangly body when he went swimming. No way. He'd planned on starting some body building this summer. "Angie's a sweetheart, you'll like her. And before you know it, the week will be over." As an added incentive, she threw in, "When we get back, I'll even extend your curfew til midnight for the summer. Just for the summer mind you; it'll be back to normal when school starts up again." "Really?" Tom got off of his bed. "But only if I can bring my guitar with me. I was working on a new song." "All right, all right, just get packing," his mom replied. Tom pointed to a duffle bag that was in the far corner. "Already done." "Why you!" Katherine playfully placed her squirming son in a headlock. Tom laughed and pretended that he couldn't get out of the hold. "Anyway, our family tent was sort of like this one." Tom waved his hand at the tent. "I just followed my instincts and looked at the picture. After all..." Tom shrugged, "That's what my dad did that time." "So what happened to Angie?" Peter asked, slinging an arm around Tom's shoulder. "Angie," Tom replied, dreamily, "Amazingly enough, we had a lot in common. She would take out her harmonica at night, and we would jam by the fireside. She spent the summer with me and Jimmy tossing footballs." "And where is she now?" Wolf asked, repeating his twin's inquiry. "She's an instructor at one of those Project Adventure courses. You know, one of those courses that your boss sends you to, to learn teamwork and how to deal with stress?" Wolf threw a sleeping bag at each of them. "Dump these in the tent. We're going to have to get a move on it. The sun's starting to set." "And what a beautiful sight it is," Peter remarked. "Hey, guys?" Tom's voice came from inside the tent, where he was opening the screen windows. "What?" Peter asked. "You didn't by chance invite anybody in black pajamas with swords, did you?" Tom got out of the tent and joined the twins as they stood back to back, watching the men in black surround them.