Once upon a time, in southern California, there lived a young 11-year-old ghost named Derek whose family, the Picklewings, lived in Disneyland. They were a happy family of ghosts, and they worked in the Tower of Terror every day. Their job was to be spooky and to sweep the floors, too. One day, while Derek was sweeping the elevator, he got a phone call from the fire department.

"Hello?" said Derek.

"Hi there, young man. Are you sitting down? We have bad news for you."

"I'm just floating like a ghost."

"We're sorry to say this, but your family got lost near the hot dog stands, and we're still looking for them, but no luck so far. We're hoping to pick you up in five minutes in our firetruck. You can stay with us tonight in the fire station."

"Okay," said Derek, "My family is sure to turn up in the morning. They often get a little turned around."

Derek's sleepover at the fire station went well; he even got to slide down the fire pole. After the pancake breakfast, though, the news came that no one had found his family. 

"Sorry, buddy, but we can't keep you here at the fire station. We're going to need to send you to Yosemite Dude's Camp at least until we find your family. But don't worry, you'll have a blast there. I hear there's rock climbing, hiking, and s'mores. Plus, anyone is welcome, even penguins and bears."

"Okay," Derek sighed. "I'll be brave."

So off he headed, all by himself. He took his private jet on a quick little flight to Yosemite, where the waterfalls roar and the rock walls make you fee like a tiny ant.

Derek got checked in to his cabin right away. He was told there would be 3 roommates already there. "Hopefully, I'll make some new best friends today!" he thought.

"Hi! I'm Grumpy Bear!" "And I'm Young Wizard Jenkins, but you can call me Jenks!" "And I'm Jerby!" said the new roommates, excitedly. "Welcome!"

"Hi there," murmured Derek shyly. "My name is Derek. Nice to meet you."

"You seem a bit sad," said Grumpy Bear. "What's wrong?"

"Well, my family got lost by the hot dog stands. I really hope the fire fighters find them."

"I'm sure they will!" said Jerby. "Fire figthers are the best! One year, when the controlled burn fires here got a little out of hand, our fire fighters saved my life. I was stuck up in a ponderosa pine and they rescued me with frog magnets."

"Frog magnets?" questioned Derek.

"Yeah, they're these little discs you can buy at K-Mart that when you charge them in the moonlight, they have super-pull force on frogs," said Jerby, matter-of-factly.

"Wow! Never heard of those."

"But they repel toads, so don't even try that," Jerby warned.

"Thanks for the tip. I won't!" promised Derek.

Out of nowhere, a blasting trumpet call blared through the air. "What's that all about?" asked Derek. "Oh, that's the Lunch Horn," said Jenks. "It blasts every day at 12:03 to tell us to go on our lunch walk We should get going."

The four campers set off on their lunch walk, headed down Toad-Warts Path, all the way to Thanksgiving River. "Wait, where's the food, then?" asked Derek.

"Just you wait!" said Jerby. "At 12:25 every day, burgers fall from the sky."

"Yeah! They're double-doubles from In-N-Out! You can tell by the flavor. They're legit!" added Grumpy Bear.

"Awesome!" said Derek. "I like this place already!  ...But what if we don't catch all of them?"

"Oh don't worry, the fish will eat them," assured Jenks.

"The fish??"

"Yeah, trout love onions and burgers!" said Jerby, just before chomping in to his burger.

"So, what do you guys normally do after lunch?" asked Derek

"It's free-time. So I say we continue our search," said Jenks.

"What search is that exactly?"

"We're looking for Bigfoot; he's in trouble with the Camp Director. Problem is, he's very good at hiding," said Grumpy Bear.

"Oh shoot. What did he do to get into trouble? I heard he was a really good student and singer."

"Well for sure, he's a great singer. He sang tenor for Handel's Messiah with the Salt Lake Symphony last November. However, as soon as he comes to summer camp, he gets a little handsy with the rats," continued Grumpy Bear.

"What?"

"You know, he steals them from their homes. He trains them to speak Dutch. And even worse, he makes them work at Costco on Saturdays!"

"What a trouble-maker."