The night never ends

The simple idea of a midnight canoe had turned into quite the ordeal. With Judy carrying half of Gander Mountain with her, the mysterious light flashes, and the "hand" on Judy's shoulder, this ordinary outing was proving to be a bit exciting, if nothing else. The 4 happy campers were eagerly making their way back down the trail to the more secure confines of their spacious 1 foot wide and 6 foot long canoes. The moods had lightened up a bit already just knowing that the sooner they were in the canoes the sooner they would be back to the cozy cabin with door locks and chains. Shauna led the way back to the lake with Judy breathing down her neck and giving her the occasional "flat tire". She'd giggle, apologize, then the whole line would have to stop so Shauna could pull her shoe back on. Kim had confiscated the headlight and was using it to check out every twig snap and woods noise just to be on the safe side. Doris was on guard duty in the rear and carried a nice sized stick as a reinforcement gesture for the 2 cowards in the bunch whose bloodline, by the way, is very long when it comes to being short on bravery.
Shauna's keen sense of direction brought them to the very clearing whence they came. It was still very dark and the clouds had temporarily covered the moon making it even darker.
"What the..." Shauna stopped dead in her tracks. "Give me the light!" she demanded, waving her hand impatiently. Judy clutched onto Kims hand and they both zipped around behind Doris. No one knew what was happening, including Shauna. Doris, who was now behind Shauna, raised her maple weapon and was poised for whatever may come to harm them. She could handle a 1,000 pound untrained stud horse with a lead rope and a bit of ingenuity, she was confident she could handle anything the woods had to offer! Shauna scanned the edge of the lake with the ever-dimming headlight. "Hey!" questioned Kim, "where's our canoe? Where's YOUR canoe? Where are the canoes!!???"