The ten words writing challenge.

I sighed and looked up at the *mountains* looming over me. Why had I agreed to this? I hate nature. I'd rather be at home playing my *Xbox*, but instead there I was, about to climb a mountain with my annoying cousin, Daniel. "James! Hurry up, man! You're taking forever just to climb a little mountain!" Daniel called from somewhere above me. I groaned and trudged further up the path, thinking of nothing in particular until -- BANG! I yelped and stumbled backwards. The noise has startled me. I strained my eyes to see Daniel, who was further away than I thought, pointing a *shotgun* at a flock of birds in the sky. "Daniel!" I yelled, running to his side and grabbing the gun from his hands. "Are you CRAZY? What are you DOING?" Daniel *laughed*. "Just having a little fun, bro. Chill." I took a deep breath and tried to "chill". "Look, don't kill innocent animals for no reason, okay? It's wrong." Daniel gave me a puzzled look. "I thought you hated nature." I blinked. "Well, I'm not crazy about it, I just don't think killing animals is right. What if I killed that dumb dog of yours? What would you say?" Daniel narrowed his eyes at me. "If you kill my *bulldog*, I'll kill you." "I'm not gonna touch that slobber machine! I'm just making a point!" Daniel rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he muttered, and continued to climb. I put the gun in my backpack and made sure to keep close. Hours passed without a single exchange between us. I must have angered him with my bulldog comment, but I was too exhausted to bring it up. Finally, Daniel said, "It's getting dark. Time to turn in." "Thank goodness," I grunted as Daniel pulled the folded-up tent from his bag and began to set it up. Even though I was two years older than the 17-year-old, he knew way more about camping than I did. In minutes, we had a perfect tent, two sleeping bags, and a campfire, which we began to roast hot dogs over. I decided to attempt conversation. "Uh... Did you pass that level on that video game you were talking about the other day?" Daniel didn't even look up. "No," he said. "I tried, though. I was hitting the monster with my battle ax but he wasn't dying, so I took out my *war hammer* and started..." Daniel droned on, but in all honesty, I had no interest in his video game. Once I had eaten my hot dog, I tried to listen, but I just couldn't. It was too boring. "...And then the psycho wizard cast some spell on me, and I died." Daniel looked up at me as if waiting for commentary. "Oh," was all I could manage. Daniel sighed and took a bite out of a *turkey* leg I didn't know he had brought. "Oh," he repeated, "Is that it?" I hesitated. "That's a terrible way to die," I said finally. "Death by psycho wizard." Daniel snorted. "Yeah," he agreed. He finished his turkey leg and tossed it in our garbage bag. "Maybe you could come visit me in *Ambridge* one day, and I'll teach you how to play." I shrugged. I had never been particularly fond of Pennsylvania. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. "Why did you ask me to come with you?" I asked. "I mean, like, to come here? I'm sure you could have asked anyone." Daniel hung his head. "I don't have a lot of friends," he admitted. "And you're my coolest cousin." I smiled a little. "You're my coolest cousin, too," I said. I actually didn't have many cousins, but it just felt like the right thing to say. Daniel looked up at me. "Really?" I nodded. "Really." Daniel's mood immediately brightened. "You wanna tell some scary stories before we die from lack of sleep?" I laughed. "Sure!" Daniel grinned. "Okay, so, one night, a hundred years ago, the *Grim Reaper* was walking through a town when..." Daniel and I exchanged stories for hours, and I realized, even though at first I thought he was an annoying little kid, Daniel was actually pretty cool. It was hard to imagine that a guy like this wouldn't have many friends, but I didn't bring it up again. By the end of the night, I could say two things: 1, I actually like nature, and 2, Daniel actually WAS my coolest cousin. * * *