Camp Not So Fun

Chapter 6

guys! this story was like #90 on what's hot list! now it's #200 something but that's okay. PLEASE VOTE/COMMENT and maybe get it back up? :D

also, this chapter is kinda boring. but after this, EVERYTHING starts happening all at once and then it'll be awesome madness :D. so please stick to it! :)

and finally - Camp Kearney is a real camp that i went to twice in gr 6 then gr 8. it's so awesome. If you live in Ontario then you probably went there too :D

ENJOY!

Chapter Six

“Do you guys get it?” I asked for the third time.

I was standing in front of the group of kids who were talking excitedly amongst one another. Some were going over the rules, and others talking about which “team” they want to be on. At least this was better than the first time I explained the game—they just stared at me blankly.

“Alright! Remember if you have any more questions, I’ll just be standing at the edge of the forest. Don’t go past anywhere marked off with rope—those places are out of bounds and you’ll get lost. Understood?” I said sternly.

Everybody mumbled a yes or an okay, and I smiled.

“Let’s get started,” I said enthusiastically.

I handed out all the life rings and sent them into the woods. After a few minutes, I followed them and sat on a log in the clearing a few feet into the woods.

The log shifted a bit and I turned to see Jackson sitting down beside me. He set a try of juice boxes and crackers onto the ground.

“Hey,” I said.

Picking up a juice box, Jackson pulled off the straw. “Hey.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to play?” I asked.

“Nah. Hunting animals isn’t really my thing,” he said.

“It’s called predator and prey,” I laughed.

He rolled his eyes and sucked on the straw. “Potato, po-tah-toe.”

A moment of comfortable silence passed by and then Jackson put the already empty box on the ground. 

He turned to me and studied me curiously. “Where did you learn this game anyways?”

“What you do mean?”

“I don’t mean this offensively,” he said slowly, “but you don’t seem like the outdoorsy type.”

“I’m not the outdoorsy type, don’t worry,” I smiled. “My mother would never let me.”

“Then how did you learn this?”

“Well back in grade school, we had these yearly trips to Camp Kearney and we got to do a bunch of things,” I explained.

I really missed Camp Kearney. It was probably the best part of my childhood. Knowing that I could go there every year was something that kept my spirits, either to ski/skate in the winter or swim and canoe in the summer.

“I guess that was one of the reasons I wanted to come here,” I continued, feeling a bit down now. “I thought this would be more or less like that.”

Jackson put a hand on my leg and smiled apologetically. “This must really suck for you.”

“It does,” I admitted.

“What were the good things about Camp Kearney? Maybe we could change this place more like it,” he suggested with a boyish grin.

I have to admit, that smile melted my heart. It kinda made me feel like that this whole camp thing was all worthwhile. These kids, judging by their files, didn’t have much and it made me feel really good that I could actually help them.