To read part nineteen of day eight, click here.

The ninth day of my course started at two in the morning.

I woke up to lots of little wet things hitting my face. I was facing the outside of the tarp, and something was coming in from the outside. I sat up and realized that my whole side was soaked. It was raining pouring, the rain hitting the ground next to my face and catapulting things into my face. Bits of leaves and twigs, clumps of mud…

My sleeping bag had shielded most of my body, but unfortunately the zipper side was facing out of the tarp. I never zipped my sleeping bag up all the way – my claustrophobia wouldn’t let me. So the rain and chunks of things were hitting me where the sleeping bag didn’t guard me.

I felt around for my headlamp, turning it on the lowest setting. I found my rain gear inside my pack, and I spread my coat on top of me. All of that took about fifteen minutes, and I settled back down to try to fall asleep. I moved my sleeping stuff as far away from the opening as I could, right next to Tullia.

Fifteen minutes later, I was just beginning to calm down. All I could hear was the rain in the forest around me. I had been watching the boys tarp for any signs of movement – I wanted to know if they were getting wet too. There hadn’t been any movement, so I figured that if they were getting wet, they weren’t waking up!

There were sounds coming from the person on the other side of Tullia. I didn’t know who it was at first, but then I heard her voice.

“Oh my gosh, I’m soaked! I’m sleeping in a swimming pool here, a *BLEEEEEEEEP* swimming pool!! I’m all wet. Oh this is not good. This is so not good. Why me? Why did I come out here, in the cold, in the rain. Why??? Why am I sleeping in a *BLEEEEEEP* swimming pool? I should be at home, in my warm bed, with no water around me… “

There was more, but I got tired of writing it out. 😀

Katie came over to make sure the knots on the tarp were ok. I think she said something to _____, but I don’t remember. My brain doesn’t function well at 2:30 in the morning.

When Katie was done with all the other knots she came to my end of the tarp.

“Are you all right, Brett?”

“I’m fine. I’m soaked, but I’m fine.”

“That was a good idea, covering yourself with your rain jacket. Are you going to be able to fall back asleep? Tullia is letting _____ sleep with her in her sleeping bag, so she should be able to fall back asleep.”

“I should be fine. Thanks, Katie.”

She nodded and went back to her tarp. I looked out at the boys tarp – still no movement. I would have a great story to tell them in the morning!

Click here to read the next part of Day Nine.

*Everything here is from my own memory and may not be correct. Outward Bound is not responsible for anything I post here. Thanks too NCOBS for letting me use their photos.*