Member
Quinten Antrican
Quinten had insisted on taking one of the family's 3 cars so that they would not have to worry about picking him up when the summer ended, but reluctantly he sat in the passenger seat as the eldest, his sister Jennifer, drove him. It was a rather quiet drive, with neither deciding to try and have a conversation after Quinten's awkward departure. As he stared out the window, he vividly recalled his parents reactions... or rather, a lack thereof. "Alright, I'll see you guys at the end of summer." He told them, to which he was met with silence. Having rolled his eyes now at the situation, he supposed it would be best if he was away from home. At least the silence was something that was supposed to happen in the forest, seeing as he would practically be alone. When they finally arrived and Quinten opened the trunk to get his bag and backpack, his sister couldn't help but reassure him. "You know, they really do love us, even if they don't show it all the time." She said, though he could detect her lack of confidence in that. "I'm pretty sure they don't show it at all, but I'll take your word for it." He told her, to which she simply chuckled and scratched the top of his head playfully, proceeding to hug him before getting back into the car and driving away.
Turning to face the lodge, Quinten was wearing hiking boots, along with tan shorts and a simple green T-Shirt. Clutching his camo backpack in one hand, his other on his suitcase, he soon entered the Park Ranger’s Office. Though, he was slightly ashamed that he was not paying attention to what Oliver was saying, lost in his own thoughts and believing it would be rude to start paying attention in the middle of his explanations. So when he was asked if he got all of it, it snapped Quinten back into reality to where he gave a simple nod and hastily replied “Yeah, yeah I got it.”
The trail to his watchtower wasn’t that bad in his mind, somewhat glad that if he needed to hurry along it in a jog or run it would remind him of cross country back at school. While he never really liked long distance, he supposed he could be thankful now that his tower seemed pretty far. Though, he could do without crossing the creek every time, at least glad that they had a foot bridge so that he wouldn’t have to get wet. But when he noticed the stairs that lead up to the tower where he’d be staying, he couldn’t help but let out a disappointed sigh along with an “Awww…”. Sure, he wasn’t in bad shape by any means, but it still meant lugging his luggage up along with a backpack what would feel like uphill now.
It felt like forever until he reached the box, sweating and tired as he opened the door and quickly put down his stuff nearby. He listened intently this time as Oliver pointed out the various things he’d need to know were where. As it looked like Oliver was leaving, he gave Quinten some binoculars, telling him there were rule books under his cot if something may happen, along with how he shouldn’t be out at night and without his radio. It gave Quinten mild suspicion, but he assumed it must be the wildlife that may go active at night and be aggressive. Guess that meant no late night bathroom runs, but at least he was more of an early bird than a night owl and didn’t feel he’d need to worry.
Waiting until Oliver was out of sight, Quinten started to ponder what he should do next. He pulled out of his backpack his sketchbook, along with several pencils, each with varying degrees of eraser left, and started to picture all the possibilities of what he could do. It was certainly bigger than he expected, and it would probably be more comfortable than his own home too. No one to yell at him, just a beautiful scenery waiting to be put onto paper, and several rule books just dying to be read. He made sure to make a mental note to read them soon, just so that he’d be prepared if something did go wrong. Though, that thought shifted when he wondered if he could use the binoculars to maybe spot something to sketch instead.
So he was a bit startled when the radio suddenly began to work, hearing the voice of a girl who he assumed was of similar age broadcasting from it. She asked a simple question, if anyone was out here, and so he decided he would at least make first contact.
“Oh hey. My name’s Quinten, what about you?” He tried to start off on a good foot with this stranger, seeing as they, they being the other teenagers, would most likely be the only other people he’d be able to talk to this entire summer. So, he was hoping he’d make a good first impression on all of them, but deep down he felt like he would screw it up somehow. Maybe introducing himself right off the bat wasn’t the best idea, but it was too late now.
