Hi, my name is Matthew Doyle. I'm 15-years-old, and in 9th Grade (going on 10th). I'm currently homeschooled and learn a lot from it. I live with my Mom, Dad, two dogs, and two cats. I don't have any brothers or sisters. Last week, me and Dad went on a pilgrimage to help me mature. We went a week surviving in the wild. On the first day, we built our shelter out of PVC poles and a tarp. It took us almost eight hours to build the thing. At one point, we thought we we're about finished, but the shelter cracked and fell to the ground. The whole idea of us possibly not being able to have a shelter kind of ticked me off. It took us almost almost four hours to rebuild it. It felt GREAT to have a place to sleep at night. The camp is a nice-looking camp that has a tent, a fire ring, a tree that says our initials, an outhouse, and a table. The camp smelled smokey because of the fire and looked beautiful. That night when the shelter was ready, me, Dad, and my dog, Rooster slept in the shelter. It felt really nice to get some sleep, the shelter was warm and comfortable and it was much better than a storebought tent. The next morning, I drank tea and read The Bible out loud to Dad. The tea tasted minty and fresh. I got really sad when I started missing Mom. I would think about her every few minutes and get teary-eyed. I took a walk with Rooster and my other dog, Shawnee tagged along and followed me. We walked on the trail that leads to the creek. The trail is a beautiful place to walk with trees everywhere. Sometimes, you'll even see birds and squirrels. Shawnee is an old dog and she has trouble walking. It is very sad to look at her because of how she looks and acts. So she just sat down the majority of the time. That night Mom texted me and told me it was going to storm really bad. The forecast mentioned 40 mile winds, hail the size of golf balls, and really bad rain showers. I was incredibly scared that we wouldn't make it, but we made it to Papaw's cabin and stayed there for the night. I was extremely freaked out, "What if our shelter's gone?" I thought to myself. But sure enough, when we got back, the shelter and outhouse were completely fine. I was definently relieved to see that. The next few days we spent taking walks, reading, hunting food, and hanging out with Rooster. It felt good to get all of the work done. I also learned how to make fire and shoot guns. I roasted a fish over the fire like a hot dog and the fish tasted crunchy and salty. If your wondering how I made the fire, let
me tell you. I gathered some dryer lint and toilet paper. I got out flint and a knife.
I scratched the knife over the flint. The dryer lint and toilet paper caught on fire and I did it!
Also, when I shot the gun I hit a can on my first try. On Sunday, Mom visited us and we ate hot dogs and s'mores. I was VERY happy to see Mom considering how much I had missed her. We went home that evening. The trip was very fun and helped me mature in ways I hadn't before.
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