that took curious customers on a tour of the Manchac Swamp He’d wanted to find a job that didn’t require getting greasy while working in a fast food restaurant At fifteen years old there weren’t many better options None of Josh’s friends from school bothered to apply to Bayou Boat Tours Some of them thought the swamp was haunted while others didn’t want to go anywhere anywhere near a place with that many alligators swimming around Since Josh didn’t believe in supernatural stuff and knew alligators weren’t looking to eat people he applied and landed the job the next day He just hoped working there wasn’t going to end up making for a boring summer So what should I do instead Josh asked Just sit and wait man Carter said turning his attention attention back to his phone Watch TV until the tour gets back Or I don’t know eat some chips or something Josh walked around the small gift shop looking once again at all of the stuff Bayou Boat Tours had for sale There were racks of T-shirts with the company logo on the breast pocket but more than a few of the shirts had alligators or frogs them instead There were stuffed gator toys for kids pint glasses and keychains HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA
Josh was convinced they sold about anything a tourist would want as a swampy souvenir The store itself was kind of small with wood paneling paneling The counter had a cash register on it along with some small snacks like gum gator jerky and breath mints Josh saw that a pack of the mints had fallen outside of the little display box and he went over and put it back All right you’re going to drive me nuts Carter said Are you one of those neat freaks or something What Josh asked No I mean I don’t think so You seem like the kind of person who has to have everything in order Carter said setting his phone down Not at all Josh said I just don’t want to get fired if the place is all messy and it looks like we’re not doing anything Don’t worry Carter said I’ve been working here since I was your age How old are you now Josh asked interrupting I’ll be nineteen at the end of the summer Carter announced as if proud of himself for having lived that long And it’s pretty laid back here Tom takes the tourists tourists out for a spin through the swamp they get all excited HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA
if they see an alligator or two they come back and buy stuff from the shop That’s pretty much all there is to it Easiest job ever man Josh nodded Carter wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t know from his first two days on the job Tom and his wife Cindy had shown him the ropes the day he started They even gave him a quick tour of the swamp in case one of the customers had any questions It seems pretty easy Josh said But don’t you get bored Carter shrugged I get paid whether I’m bored or not Yeah I just need something to do Josh admitted picking up a small dark-green stuffed gator with a big toothy grin on its face He set it back into the basket with the others Otherwise it’s going to be a long sum mer for me Carter nodded If I end up working with you all summer it’s going to be long for me too he said with a smile Josh wasn’t sure if Carter was serious First night working with the guy and he already felt like Carter didn’t like him He wondered if he should’ve taken that job at Burger Boys where his best friend Russel worked SWAMP OF LOST SOULS
