The "Green Monster"

Since today is St. Patrick's Day, I thought it would be appropriate to share a deleted scene regarding the "Green Monster." As you are probably aware, the Green Monster is the name given to the massive left field wall in Fenway Park. It is also the name Brady and his cousins gave to the old, green, canvas tent that Uncle Darrell's family slept in on camping trips. As a kid, I was always a bit jealous of my cousins because their families got to camp out in campers while my family had to sleep in a tent. It wouldn't have been so bad if it was new and easy to put up. But the Green Monster was a relic from the 60's, and had a musty smell that grew stronger by the year. Worse yet, it took about six people to set it up, so my dad always had to recruit the help of cousins who were unlucky enough to be in the vecinity whenever it was time to put up the tent. It wasn't a quick job either. You were usually stuck there for 30 minutes while my dad tried to figure out which poles went where, or borrowed stakes to replace the once that had gotten lost or broken since the last camping trip. Actually, it wouldn't have been so bad if my cousins weren't sleeping in cozy campers while I was shivering in the tent and avoiding rain drips on nights the weather turned bad - which seemed to happen on an annual basis. Here is the clip:

By the time they arrived at the campground Wednesday evening, the sun was already starting to set. While his cousins got to spend the last hour of daylight exploring their new surroundings, Brady was forced to spend it helping his dad put up the “Green Monster” – a name Brady and his siblings had unaffectionately given the old, green canvas tent. It was a relic from the 60s, and had withstood the effects of rain and sun so many times that the faded material gave off a distinct musty odor.

Whenever the kids tried to convince Brady's dad to buy a motor home, or at least a camper, he would always retort that half the fun of camping was roughing it. One of the worst parts of “roughing it” was using the local restroom facilities. While Devin and Trey’s campers had small “restroom” facilities (a port-a-potty in a small compartment), Brady’s family used whatever facilities were available – or even made their own, if necessary.

Fortunately, this campground had outhouses. After a quick stop by the tent to pick up some toiletries, Brady's dad grabbed a flashlight and led the entire family to the pair of outhouses on the edge of the campground. There they took turns using the ghoulish toilets. Not only did they stunk to high heaven, they looked as if they hadn't been cleaned in at least a decade.

“I don’t wanna go in there?” declared Christina, plugging her nose.

“It’s not that bad,” said Mom, trying not to gag on the noxious fumes that flowed out whenever someone opened the door.

“I’ll wait,” Christina persisted.

“For six days?” asked Mom. “You couldn’t last six hours. No, I’m afraid we’re stuck using these.”

“But I’m gonna fall in!” wailed Christina as she walked inside, and peered down through the seat into the waste vault below.

“I’ll hold you,” Mom insisted, closing the door behind them.

For a moment, as he stood there in his shorts and T-shirt shivering in the cold, Brady wondered why he’d spent so much time looking forward to this trip. For some reason, whenever he and his cousins reminisced about the reunions, Brady always forgot the barbaric conditions he often endured. It was probably because his cousins didn’t have to suffer them.

After everyone was through, the family marched back to their tent, where they washed their hands in a large bowl filled with cold water. Then they brushed their teeth, using water from the family’s three-gallon water jug, spitting into the weeds at their feet.

“I’ll be thinking of you sleeping on that nice, hard ground as I’m enjoying the soft cushions in our nice, warm camper,” said Devin when he came over to say goodnight.

“Gee thanks,” muttered Brady as he covetously eyed his cousins’ campers.

After changing into his sweats, Brady climbed into his blue sleeping bag and tried to get comfortable. He had to readjust his half-inch thick foam pad a couple of times to get off a rock or root that had created an uncomfortable lump underneath his right shoulder blade. Eventually, he found a relatively flat plot of earth and drifted off to sleep.

Lake hike

In the early drafts of The Narrows Escape, the family went on a hike around the lake on the Saturday night of the family reunion. The purpose was to show the progress Trey was making walking on his ankle, as well as a little foreshadowing. However, I didn't feel that it moved the story along enough, and added it to my "DTB clips" file. Here is the clip:

After the horseshoe tournaments were over, Uncle Darrell asked if anyone wanted to take a hike around the lake before dinner. At first, several of the other parents – particularly Aunt Doris - declared that they wouldn’t let their kids go anywhere near the lake with bears on the loose. But after Uncle Darrell assured them that the bears were more scared of them than they were of the bears, they finally relented.

Devin was surprised when Trey announced that he was going to go too. “Are you taking your crutches?” Devin asked.

“No, I’m going to try to do it on my own,” Trey informed him. “If I can’t hike without them now, there’s no way I’ll be able to do the Narrows hike.”

“You’re still planning on going?” Brady asked in surprise.

“I’m going to try,” answered Trey. “I’ve been relying too much on my crutches.”

“Are you sure you’re ready for it? It’s going to be a long hike,” Uncle Marvin reminded him.

“I’ve been walking around camp a lot today, and it’s getting better,” Trey assured him.

Uncle Marvin looked doubtful. “Okay, but I’m taking the crutches along just in case.”

As they started out, Devin kept an eye on Trey to see how he did. Like Uncle Marvin, Devin had his doubts; but after the first couple of steps, Trey’s limp became almost invisible. Still, Trey couldn’t completely hide the grimace that would occasionally crease his face.

##

As they hiked, Trey could feel his father's eyes watching him like a hawk. He knew that he had to convince his dad that he was fine if he had any hope of making the Narrows hike. It took some effort, but eventually he was able to walk with only the slightest trace of a limp. He snuck a few peeks at his dad, and was pleased to note that even he seemed satisfied.

As they walked, they kept a sharp eye out for animals. Despite Uncle Darrell’s assertions, Trey was a little edgy about the possibility of running into another bear. Although he was walking fine enough, running would be a completely different story. But the only animals they saw were a couple of squirrels, a butterfly, and several birds.

Unfortunately, Devin and Brady started talking sports again. One of Trey’s main motivations for coming on the hike was to spend some time with his cousins. They had been having all the fun without him. But even now that he was with them, he was feeling left out again.

Luckily, the conversation ended when they arrived at the dam. It wasn’t that big, but several fishermen were fishing from it anyway.

“By the way, did any of you kids catch any fish this morning?” asked Uncle Darrell as he watched the fishermen cast and reel in their lines.

With all the excitement that morning, Trey had almost completely forgotten about the fishing contest. “I did,” he announced.

“Me too!” chimed in Brady.

When no one else answered in the affirmative, Uncle Darrell found out the particulars, and pronounced them the winners of the two awards – Brady for the most fish, and Trey for the biggest.

“Hey, we still have time tonight before the contest ends,” countered Devin.

“You’re not going fishing tonight,” Aunt Jen retorted. “Not after this morning.”

Devin tried to convince her that it would be safe, but to no avail.

“It’s too bad,” said Shane, as they headed back towards camp.

“Why’s that?” asked Devin curiously.

“Cause I would have gotten another award if I’d had another chance to catch some fish,” Shane replied.

“Only in your dreams,” jeered Devin. “I could out-fish you anytime.”

“Then how come you never have?” retorted Shane.

“At least I don’t get scared off by bears!”

“Only because you’ve never seen one,” pointed out Shane. He turned away, and put some distance between himself and the younger boys.

“He’s such a jerk!” Devin hissed, only loud enough for his cousins to hear.

“Sometimes,” agreed Trey.

“No, he’s always this way,” argued Devin. Trey didn’t agree. He’d seen how well Shane treated his sisters, and the younger cousins. He only saw this side of Shane when he was competing with Devin, trying to establish his superiority. When neither he nor Brady replied, Devin added, “Sometimes I wish I didn’t have a brother.”

“You don’t mean that,” said Trey. He’d give almost anything to have a brother.

“Yes I do,” declared Devin.

“You’d feel bad if something happened to him,” said Trey.

“No I wouldn’t,” Devin said firmly.

Nothing Trey could say was going to change Devin’s mind. He just hoped Devin wouldn’t be forced to eat his words some day.