It was an early morning in the fall, the sun not up yet, the birds singing songs to each other, and the moonshine beaming down on our car. Then there was me; Annabelle - Anna for short - sitting in the back seat of my dad’s 1949 Volkswagen, half asleep and glumly looking out into the dark morning. My mom, dad, and brother, James, were in the car as well, mom and dad murmuring in the front seat about how awesome they thought this trip was going to be, and James, asleep next to me, his head resting on my shoulder. 
I was not looking forward to this trip. Dad had told us two days before that we would be going on a fishing trip at this amazing campground with new cabins and a lake. I hated to fish. Mom and Dad both grew up close to a river where their parents took them fishing and they thought it was the coolest thing ever, and so did James. I, on the other hand, did not.
I didn’t get much sleep last night. I was too worried about what might happen on the river. What if I fell into the water? What if I drowned? What if someone - or something! - tries to 
break into our cabin or steal something from us? I looked down at the ring that was on my finger. A diamond ring my grandmother had given to me before she passed. She hoped that I could give it to my daughter and then my granddaughter when they were old enough to take care of it. It was the last thing I had of hers, other than the old photo books she had shown me when I was young.
Dad pulled onto a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. The bumps jolted James awake and he looked startled. We pulled into a small dirt-covered driveway in front of the cabin where we would be staying, and I noticed a small nest of something to the side of the cabin. We walked in and already I hated it. Mom told us where our room was and we headed in. Of course, Mom and Dad got the bigger room with the bigger bed. James and I had to share a room with two twin beds that looked like they had never been cleaned. Even though Dad said the cabin was brand new, it looked old and dated.
After we unpacked, Mom made us take a picture in front of our cabin so we could “remember this trip forever.” We posed in front of the cabin as my mom set up her Kodak 45 on a tree stump in front of the cabin.
 “Ready guys?” she asked. “3, 2, 1!” She ran back and stood in between Dad and me as the camera snapped a picture. It printed the photo out as we stood there, our arms touching one another. Mom ran to grab the picture and shut the camera off. 
As night approached after a long day of being out on the water, in a new rowboat the campground had just purchased, we were exhausted. I lay down in my uncomfortably small bed with a sigh, thinking about how I had to be here for another full day tomorrow. James fell asleep quickly but I stayed up because I kept hearing noises outside. I went to the window to check what might’ve fallen over or moved in the bushes. To my surprise, I see a raccoon standing up on its hind legs with something shiny in its mouth. I know what it is. I look down at my hand to see my diamond ring missing from my left hand. I gasp. James heard me.
“What happened?” he asked.
I responded, “Grammy’s ring is gone.”
He got up and joined me at the window to see the ring in the raccoon’s nest glowing with the moonlight. It must’ve fallen off on the way back from the dock this afternoon. But why did the raccoon have it? How did it pick it up? Why, why, why? Tears started to gather in my eyes and one rolled down my cheek. What am I going to do? I can’t go out there right now or I’ll get bitten by the raccoon, I thought. That was the last thing I had left of Grammy. Tears were streaming down my face. James hugged me. I didn’t know what to do. I wept harder at the thought of never getting the ring back. I thought about how it used to fit perfectly on my finger as I climbed into bed and tried to fall asleep.
The next morning, I dragged myself into the kitchen for breakfast. Mom and Dad were sitting at the kitchen counter and James was still asleep in the bed next to mine. 
Mom took one look at me and asked, “What’s wrong, honey?”
“This is going to sound weird,” I started, “but I was looking outside last night and a raccoon had grandma’s ring in its nest.” Mom looked confused so I started again.
“I think it might’ve fallen off on the way back from the dock yesterday, but I didn’t notice it was missing until last night.” I started to tear up again.
“It’s ok, we’re going to find it,” Mom said, “even if it takes a while.”
We spent the next day looking for the ring but had no luck finding it. When we were loading all of our belongings back into the car to drive back home a day later, I heard my parents talking. They said that they were thinking about buying the cabin. Seriously? I hated this place. I sat next to James, behind the driver's seat in the car. I started to think about my diamond ring and how I knew I was never going to see it again. 
A couple of weeks passed and Dad told us that we were going back to the cabin to fish again. I dreaded going back because of the awful experience I had last time, but then I thought it might be an opportunity I needed to find Grammy’s ring. 
We got to the campground a few weeks later to see the cabin had a banner over the front door with the word “WELCOME” in big letters.  
“What is this?” I said.
“We bought the cabin!” Mom said excitedly. My mouth dropped open. What? I can’t believe they went through with it and bought the cabin!
The first night passed and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. We had a fun time as a family telling jokes at dinner and making each other laugh. As I drifted off to sleep that night, I realized that I kind of liked the cabin and how it brought us together as a family. I got up to look out the window to see if the raccoon was still there with my ring. Sadness shot a sharp pain through my chest. Nope, not there. But I knew it would be found…someday.