Read Online I Have a Bad Feeling About This by Jeff Strand - Free Book Online

the plane and its useful components are long gone.”
    â€œAm I injured?”
    â€œDo you want to be?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œThat’s smart.”
    â€œOkay, so if I was trying to use natural resources to build a shelter, I guess I’d start with…wood?”
    â€œYes. Wood is a fine place to start.”
    â€œI’d get a bunch of wood. Branches, those are a good source of wood. Maybe a log that somebody else left there. Leaves too. They’re probably already on the branches, so you’d just have to remember not to start taking them off. If it started raining, you’d want to have leaves because water doesn’t go through leaves. I don’t think you’d need rocks. Would you need rocks?”
    â€œProbably not.”
    â€œYeah, that’s what I was thinking. If you wanted to make a path to your shelter, maybe you’d use rocks, but that would be something for the second or third day. You wouldn’t start with that.”
    â€œNo. You wouldn’t.”
    â€œBones. If you found some bones, they could help. You could use them to prop up the structure. Not bird bones, but if it was something big that had bones, you could use them sort of the way you’d use the wood, except that it would be stronger. You couldn’t cut it as easily, so you’d keep them in their original shape. Like if you found ribs, you’d keep them shaped like ribs. You wouldn’t break them or anything. Or maybe you would. I guess if you broke them into tiny pieces, you could use them to make a path to your shelter, but like I already said, that wouldn’t be a priority. And you’d need to make sure that everybody in your party had good shoes because you wouldn’t want to walk on broken bones without good shoes.”
    â€œOf course not.”
    â€œA tarp. Not a naturally occurring plastic tarp but something in nature that you could use as a tarp. I guess that’s what the leaves would’ve been for. I don’t know what else you would use. Sunlight? I don’t know.”
    â€œAre you finished?” Max asked.
    â€œYes, sir. I do want to clarify that I wouldn’t start looking for bones first thing. I would use the branches and leaves first. It would be more that if I found some bones while I was looking for the other stuff, I would try to put them to practical use, not that I would instantly start digging for bones as soon as the plane crashed.”
    â€œGood to know.”
    â€œThat’s basically my answer.”
    â€œI got it.”
    â€œIf it’s not the answer you wanted, I can change it.”
    â€œNo, I think we’re okay, Stu.” Max stood there for a few moments, looking sad, but then he composed himself. “For this shelter-building exercise, you will be divided into two teams.”
    What Max said next was like a roaring chainsaw of pure fear in everybody’s heart, except maybe Erik’s.
    WILDERNESS SURVIVAL TIP!
    If you’re sinking in quicksand, it is very important not to shout, “Help! I’m sinking in quicksand!” Because if your friends think there’s quicksand around, no way are they going to be dumb enough to try to pull you out and risk getting stuck themselves. Instead, you should shout, “Help! This natural hot springs is so comfortable that I feel guilty enjoying it all by myself!”

Chapter Ten
    Schoolyard pick.
    There was nothing more cruel. Nothing more evil.
    By his calculations, Henry was picked last for sports approximately forty-five percent of the time. The only reason the percentage wasn’t higher was that Randy sometimes got picked after him.
    When a new kid named Frank had moved to his school from Seattle, Henry had been secretly thrilled because Frank had an artificial leg. Unfortunately for Henry, Frank turned out to not only be the fastest runner in the class but a bully who liked to kick weaker kids with his artificial leg.
    With only five