Then, she and Mike smiled at each other like that was the funniest thing in the world. It became obvious later that they had planned for Layla and me to be together. They thought we’d both learn a lesson by having to work together again. But, they hadn’t planned on what would happen to us. Of course, at the time, I didn’t know what was about to happen to us either, so I thought, “Fine, this whole trip is about survival. Watch me survive.”

We loaded our canoes onto the racks that are pulled by the van. Then we all got in the minivan. Each of us had our own paddle, life jacket, fishing gear and small pack.