Disclaimer: You know the drill. I'm going to stop doing these unless I
have something important to say such as I acquired a new soul or I
encorperated something from another movie or song or some such. Okies.
have fun!
HEY YOU! MUNCHKINS THAT LIKE ME! hehe.. yes I love you Kristan. I got something for you all! NEWSIE SHAPED BROWNIES! 'Cuz I love brownies. ^_^ and I love Newsies. So what could be better? Let's see. Spot shaped ones for Yank. Snitch for Arty, Spot again for Kristan. Spot yet again for Cassie. and Maddie. God, I'm glad I made a lot of Spot. hehe. Chipper I've got some Race here for you and Shot. Boots for Storm. Christine, here's another shirtless Mush. Brownie? Who do you want? I don't know who you like. but I have multiple copies of each of them. Everyone else, if you leave a review, you get a cookie too! Luv ya alls!
Shoutouts!
Artemis: I don't care if we ate breakfast sticks for dinner that night! That's not the effing point! Besides. I like steak/chicken salad. :-P Mush is a ham, and you are a pain in the ass. Always. I don't know what you did. You can go stand in the rain and wait for it to wash off your face for all I care. Thanks for the hot chocolate! You remembered! I love you Arty!
Maddie: If I lived closer to you, I'd let you borrow it. As I don't. sorry! Blink is sweet, and he only gets sweeter. Maybe he gets hornier too. but I wouldn't write about that. XDWatch out now. you were right about the storm. Hehe ^_^ PB is psycho, it wouldn't be fun without a psycho staff member, and you are in a barn unit so that I could use the barn staff in the story too. hehe. yay for singing!
Cassie: It had to rain. It needed to rain. Because it rains at camp. Tha's what it does. Artemis really did that at precamp. It was quite amusing. Hope ya like the rest!
Kristan: I have plans for you, don't worry. ^_~ but they don't have anything to do with Race or Spot, sadly. I figured out a way to make you a very, very happy girl though. *snicker* You'll have to wait and find out!
Chipper: Hmmmmm. I've gotten a lot of requests for singing boys. maybe that should be my next venture. Newsies: The Singing Telegram Years. lol I'm glad you found the interview with Race. I was soooo proud of that. *eek*
Yank: Are you and Chip friends then or sisters? Just wondering. Here's a special sprinkle covered sugar cookie from Cathy. Artemis says they're the best. I like Race and Spot together, but I don't know what's going on with them right now. ^_^ I know that it will end up being interesting though! Enjoy your cookie!
Shot: I don't know what's going on with Race and Spot yet. I don't think they will break up. But I don't make promises. ^_~ I'm trying to get my uncle to let me come stay with him for a week in May and go into NYC every day that week. maybe if I talk him into it we could get together sometime. Only if you live in the area though. cuz school will be out by then. hehe
Brownie: Yes, Storm made us all duct tape wallets this summer, and she has voulenteered to make them for all of the Newsies in my story as well. ^_^ Duct tape rocks. There is a scholarship available if you go to the prom with your date and both of you are dressed in duct tape. It is quite interesting.
Shelly: I'll email you the information. ^_^ hope you like the rest of the story!
Robin: Review by clicking the Go button on the lower left hand corner. Sorry it took so long to get this on the site, but SOMEONE wouldn't stop talking to me. Kk, lata dayz!
Chapter 20: Death Storm, 2003
The rain did not stop after dinner. Gryffin, Taylor, Itey and Blink rotated through the evening activities, which went without much drama. Blink and Itey would randomly yell out each other's names, causing the campers to go scurrying after said Newsie. This amused both Taylor and Gryffin until two of the littlest girls grabbed the boys in an inappropriate place. That game ended quickly.
When they finally got back to Trail's End, the rain showed no sign of stopping. The grass was wet and muddy. Gryffin and Taylor had their yellow duckie boots on**, and they had swiped a few pairs for the boys who lived in their unit as well. Gryffin decided that it would be easier just to send the girls to bed a half hour early since they could not play SPUD as they had originally intended.
"Hey Gryff," Taylor called from her position next to Itey as the campers dispersed to their tents. "Would you mind if Itey and I cut out early? We want to go. um."
"Don't hurt yourself trying to think of an excuse there. Get out of here, I don't need you." Gryffin playfully shooed the two out of the unit. She watched their backs disappear down the path for a moment. They looked cute together.
"So now we'se all alone," Blink commented, smiling at Gryffin and taking a step toward her.
"Woah, first, loverboy, I'm getting out of the rain." Gryffin put her hands up as she spoke and headed off to the unit shelter where they usually sat taps. Sky and Skittery would be there soon, but there was no need for all of them to be in the unit shelter. Gryffin was sure that Sky and Skittery would have no problem leaving. She turned back, teasingly to Blink. "You can come if you want."
Blink grinned. He thought that he was being shot down again, though he could not figure out why. He shook the water out of his hair as he followed Gryffin up the stairs.
Once inside, Gryffin took off her shoes and sat on one of the tables by the door. They should really keep their shoes on, but the girls actually sounded as if they were going to sleep for once. The rain seemed to be slowing down some, and they were lucky enough not to have any homesick campers in this unit. The girls were mostly all older, being in Blazing Saddles, they had been to camp for at least two years. Blink took off his hat and let it fall onto the bench. Both of the councilors were soaked. It always took longer to walk from one place to another in the rain, especially with complaining campers. At the moment, Gryffin did not mind at all. Aside from the fact that she was cold, the wet did not bother her. And frankly, Blink looked incredibly hot with wet hair.
"So do yas really forgive me?" he asked bluntly. He never was much of one for being subtle. She did not mind. neither was she.
"Yes," Gryffin said in almost a whisper as she placed one hand on the back of his neck and pulled herself to him for a kiss. His lips massaged hers for a moment, the sweet ecstasy of power emanating from the passion they felt for each other. Gryffin felt her soul relieved in the moment. She had always had a habit of having irrational fears, and recently she had taken to worrying about her motive for liking Blink. She was not sure if it was just lust or the feeling that everybody else in camp would soon be paired off and she did not want to be left behind. The kiss made her stop wondering. No lust could possibly send her on the emotional high that she was on at the moment. She could not possibly care for someone this much if it was simply lust for their body. No. this was more.
Gryffin pulled away and lay back on the table. Blink lay next to her and propped up her head with his arm. His other hand found her stomach and left it there. She snuggled into his warm embrace and turned her head to kiss him again.
A half an hour later, a loud clap of thunder shook the building. Gryffin sat bolt upright and began to throw on her shoes. Almost immediately, the wind picked up. The rain pounded on the sides of the buildings.
"SHIT!" she yelled, throwing on the poncho that she knew would be useless and throwing another one to Blink. "Go tell the girls not to worry, to roll up their sleeping bags and their pillows and their flashlights, put on their shoes and ponchos and wait in their tents for us to come get them. Tell them to start lashing their tents from the inside if they know how to after they are ready and before we come to get them."
Blink remembered enough from their short crash lesson during the bus ride here that he knew what she was talking about. They both walked outside. Gryffin started with the three tents on the right near the unit house while Blink went to the camper tents near the flushie building. The first tent by the horse path was not being used. there were only twenty girls in the unit and only five tents in use. Gryffin ran through all of this information in her head as she opened the tent to tell the girls what she had told Blink. Before she got a word out, the campers started all talking at once. One girl, Shannon, sat quietly sobbing on her bed.
"Girls, please calm down. It is just a storm, and because of it we are going to go inside and have a sleepover tonight. You need to stop screaming and yelling at each other and do as I say. Get your things. only get the things I told you except for a stuffed animal or a book and be ready when I come back. Do you understand?"
The campers nodded their general assent.
"Shannon?"
The girl was being completely unresponsive.
"Shannon? Honey, you need to get up. You need to put your shoes on so that you can go inside and sleep in the unit shelter tonight." The girl still refused to move. She did not even seem to acknowledge Gryffin's words. Gryffin sighed. Shannon was probably the youngest girl there, being nine. She looked around the tent. "Luppee," she called to the tallest camper there. "As soon as you are done with your stuff, try to roll her sleeping bag and throw her animals or whatever inside with a flashlight. See if you can get her raincoat on her too. Just throw her shoes in her sleeping bag too. make sure they're not muddy ones though okay hon?"
The older camper nodded and set about her tasks. Gryffin went to the next tent. She saw Blink come out of his second tent. Good thing that he was not having problems too.
When Gryffin got to the second tent the campers there already had their bags rolled and were lashing up their tent. Maddie looked up and grinned at Gryffin. Being as Maddie had been here for longer than many of the staff members, she knew full well that they would be sleeping inside.
"Thank you Maddie," Gryffin said in a sing song voice, as she went back out to tie up the other tents while the rest of the campers got ready. Blink came over to help her.
"Da goirls in da foirst tent ovah dere are real scared, but dey's gonna be okay. Da second tent didn't seem ta mind. Dey jus' got up an' started doin' what I told them. Da thoird tent was split half an' half."
"Okay, I'll finish this then, go and get the girls from that first tent and get them inside." Blink left across the unit. A dark hand appeared on Gryffin's shoulder. She screamed and dropped the rope she was tying.
"Chill out Gryff," Sky said. Skittery removed his hand from the girl's shoulder as if afraid she might scream again.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
"Don't worry about it. Listen, Skitts, go to tent number two and take the girls inside then go get tent number four. Sky go get the girls in three, they're scared right now. Okay?" Gryffin was barely done speaking before they were gone. She looked to make sure that none of the tents had major problems with leaks at the moment and went back inside the fifth tent.
"Are you girls ready?" she asked. Three of them nodded. They had rolled Shannon's sleeping bag and pillow. They sat next to her on her bed. Shannon still had her knees pulled up under her chin, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Come on Shannon, can you put on your shoes and walk inside for me?"
The little girl gave no response. Gryff let out an exasperated sigh.
"Okay, whoever has a spare hand, grab her stuff. Are those back flaps lashed?" The girls nodded and picked up the pillow and sleeping bag. "Good. I'm going to pick her up and carry her. I need someone to hold a flashlight so that I can see where I'm going okay?"
Gryffin pulled the small girl into her arms. She felt incredibly light as Gryffin carried her around the giant puddle that collected before the steps to the unit shelter. The wind whipped at their faces. Gryffin saw the flaps of the staff tents flapping madly in the wind. Skittery and Blink were working on tying them down now, but they were having a hard time. The girls were spread out on the floor, some chatting and some whimpering while others had already curled back up into their sleeping bags and were trying to go back to sleep.
Gryffin never was very good at calming down campers, because she always felt that their fears were unjustified. She had never been afraid of such things as spiders or storms. Try as she might, she could not understand their concern. She sighed and sat down on the bench with Shannon on her lap. She stroked the girl's hair and rocked her gently back and forth. If the girl would not even talk, then there was not much that they could do for her since they did not even know for sure what was wrong. Sky quieted the rest of the campers and went through the sphiel about sleeping inside and the rules for the night: come get one of us if you need to go to the bathroom and nobody better get out of their sleeping bags until the bell rings thirty times in the morning. She also told them that they had nothing to worry about; this was just a safety measure. The unit shelter would hold them and keep out the rain and the wind.
Blink and Skittery tumbled in out of the rain. PB was with them. She had been asleep in her tent the whole time. The newcomers had ripped the sheets and sleeping bags off of a few of the staff beds and brought them into the shelter.
"You'se guys' beds are all soaked," Skittery informed them. "Yours was da last tent dat we got ta tie off. Sorry."
Gryffin and Sky both waved it off. They had been through this too many times last summer. They were quite used to sleeping without blankets or pillows because of storms. It was never comfortable, but it was one thing that had to be done. The boys dropped the blankets on top of the tables that were pushed against the left hand wall. Gryffin looked down at the camper in her arms. Thankfully, the girl had gone to sleep.
After laying Shannon down in her sleeping bag and instructing Luppee to keep an eye on her friend, Gryffin laid down on the benches in the corner. The girls were quiet for once in their lives. Skittery, Sky and PB were playing some sort of card game. Blink walked over to Gryffin and picked up her head, sitting on the bench in its place.
"God, Gryffin," he said, feeling her neck at the same place his hand had just left it. "You're freezin'!" The girl just nodded. She was well aware of the fact that she was cold, but she did not say anything because there was nothing to be done about it. According to Skittery, her clothes were soaking in her tent right now. "Here," Blink continued as he went through the pillowcase at his side. "Here's a long shoirt. Go ovah dere an' put it on. You're gonna catch a cold an' get sick."
Gryffin felt the soft flannel fabric pressed into her hands. She did not move. Instead, she looked around at all of the other staff members. PB had not been out in the rain. She had lashed her own tent from the inside, and by the time she was woken up that was the only thing left to do. Sky had her hoodie on, which had been left in the unit shelter since pre camp. Skittery had a drier shirt on, and Blink was airing out his over shirt already. It was thin, and would be dry soon. When she had decided that the rest of the staff were already more comfortable than she was, she stood up and worked her way through the camper sleeping bags to the farthest corner of the room where a table stood on end.
Once concealed, she pulled off her sopping t-shirt and pulled on his ratty, old, and wonderfully dry flannel shirt. It smelled like boy. It was very comforting. Gryffin's stress level started dropping already. The rain still pounded outside. The wind seemed to be calming down some, but the thunder and lightening still ripped through the night. She came out from behind the table and walked straight into the open door.
"Damn," she said to herself, low enough that the campers did not hear her. The open door had just reminded her that Happy said somebody must sleep next to the door so that the campers do not go out it in the night. It was a pain to walk through the campers all the way over to the door. But it had to be done, because rules just freaking rock.
"Hey guys, can I have one of those little blankets? I'm going to go sleep by that door so that none of the campers wander out and fall into the Connie. Because we all know how horrible it would be if we LOST one of them." Gryffin rolled her eyes. She was tired, miserable, and did not want to be in here with all of these little girls now that she thought she knew what she wanted with Blink.
"I tried dis line before an' it worked. I thought maybe it'd work again. Do yas maybe want some company?"
"Sure. I'd love some," Gryffin replied. "Hey Peebs, wanna come sleep with me?"
"Okay hon," PB said without even looking up from her hand.
"Hey!" Blink exclaimed indignantly.
"I'm only joking. I do want you to come with me."
The wind picked up again outside as they made their way to the other side of the room. The power went out when they were half way there. All Gryffin could see was the faint glow of the kerosene lantern that was sitting at the main door. She felt Blink's hand on her shoulder as she tired to pick a path through the still sleeping campers. Once they got to sleep, they were hard to wake up. The storm was incredibly bad outside now, but the girls were either asleep or quiet. Gryffin could hear branches breaking outside in the wind. The air whistled through the trees. She was glad that they were not sleeping outside tonight. It would be incredibly hard to keep the tent flaps down against this gale.
Gryffin and Blink curled up on the last empty table in the place. The blanket covered both of them. Despite the storm, as Gryffin laid in the dark, she felt safer and more comfortable than she had in a very long time. She was sure to make Blink know how she felt before she went to sleep.
End Twenty
** duckie boots are these wonderful, waterproof rubber booties that pull on over your shoes and keep your feet dry as long as the water remains below the first hem line. They reach up to your knees when the yellow parachute material is fully extended so that your pants can stay a bit drier as well.
A/N: Okay, for some reason you all have me hooked on this fluffy stuffs now. I'm going to have to quit that, and soon. I always thought it would be the most romantic thing to fall asleep in your guy's arms, but not having DONE anything first. To honestly just sleep together. Anyway. Hope ya liked. Ummmmm... damn, there was somethin' else I was supposed to tell you. Oh yeah. things will get back to normal in the morning. Well, as normal as camp can be. Fluffy stuff only happens at night in my mind. ^_^ Okaies. TTYL!
HEY YOU! MUNCHKINS THAT LIKE ME! hehe.. yes I love you Kristan. I got something for you all! NEWSIE SHAPED BROWNIES! 'Cuz I love brownies. ^_^ and I love Newsies. So what could be better? Let's see. Spot shaped ones for Yank. Snitch for Arty, Spot again for Kristan. Spot yet again for Cassie. and Maddie. God, I'm glad I made a lot of Spot. hehe. Chipper I've got some Race here for you and Shot. Boots for Storm. Christine, here's another shirtless Mush. Brownie? Who do you want? I don't know who you like. but I have multiple copies of each of them. Everyone else, if you leave a review, you get a cookie too! Luv ya alls!
Shoutouts!
Artemis: I don't care if we ate breakfast sticks for dinner that night! That's not the effing point! Besides. I like steak/chicken salad. :-P Mush is a ham, and you are a pain in the ass. Always. I don't know what you did. You can go stand in the rain and wait for it to wash off your face for all I care. Thanks for the hot chocolate! You remembered! I love you Arty!
Maddie: If I lived closer to you, I'd let you borrow it. As I don't. sorry! Blink is sweet, and he only gets sweeter. Maybe he gets hornier too. but I wouldn't write about that. XDWatch out now. you were right about the storm. Hehe ^_^ PB is psycho, it wouldn't be fun without a psycho staff member, and you are in a barn unit so that I could use the barn staff in the story too. hehe. yay for singing!
Cassie: It had to rain. It needed to rain. Because it rains at camp. Tha's what it does. Artemis really did that at precamp. It was quite amusing. Hope ya like the rest!
Kristan: I have plans for you, don't worry. ^_~ but they don't have anything to do with Race or Spot, sadly. I figured out a way to make you a very, very happy girl though. *snicker* You'll have to wait and find out!
Chipper: Hmmmmm. I've gotten a lot of requests for singing boys. maybe that should be my next venture. Newsies: The Singing Telegram Years. lol I'm glad you found the interview with Race. I was soooo proud of that. *eek*
Yank: Are you and Chip friends then or sisters? Just wondering. Here's a special sprinkle covered sugar cookie from Cathy. Artemis says they're the best. I like Race and Spot together, but I don't know what's going on with them right now. ^_^ I know that it will end up being interesting though! Enjoy your cookie!
Shot: I don't know what's going on with Race and Spot yet. I don't think they will break up. But I don't make promises. ^_~ I'm trying to get my uncle to let me come stay with him for a week in May and go into NYC every day that week. maybe if I talk him into it we could get together sometime. Only if you live in the area though. cuz school will be out by then. hehe
Brownie: Yes, Storm made us all duct tape wallets this summer, and she has voulenteered to make them for all of the Newsies in my story as well. ^_^ Duct tape rocks. There is a scholarship available if you go to the prom with your date and both of you are dressed in duct tape. It is quite interesting.
Shelly: I'll email you the information. ^_^ hope you like the rest of the story!
Robin: Review by clicking the Go button on the lower left hand corner. Sorry it took so long to get this on the site, but SOMEONE wouldn't stop talking to me. Kk, lata dayz!
Chapter 20: Death Storm, 2003
The rain did not stop after dinner. Gryffin, Taylor, Itey and Blink rotated through the evening activities, which went without much drama. Blink and Itey would randomly yell out each other's names, causing the campers to go scurrying after said Newsie. This amused both Taylor and Gryffin until two of the littlest girls grabbed the boys in an inappropriate place. That game ended quickly.
When they finally got back to Trail's End, the rain showed no sign of stopping. The grass was wet and muddy. Gryffin and Taylor had their yellow duckie boots on**, and they had swiped a few pairs for the boys who lived in their unit as well. Gryffin decided that it would be easier just to send the girls to bed a half hour early since they could not play SPUD as they had originally intended.
"Hey Gryff," Taylor called from her position next to Itey as the campers dispersed to their tents. "Would you mind if Itey and I cut out early? We want to go. um."
"Don't hurt yourself trying to think of an excuse there. Get out of here, I don't need you." Gryffin playfully shooed the two out of the unit. She watched their backs disappear down the path for a moment. They looked cute together.
"So now we'se all alone," Blink commented, smiling at Gryffin and taking a step toward her.
"Woah, first, loverboy, I'm getting out of the rain." Gryffin put her hands up as she spoke and headed off to the unit shelter where they usually sat taps. Sky and Skittery would be there soon, but there was no need for all of them to be in the unit shelter. Gryffin was sure that Sky and Skittery would have no problem leaving. She turned back, teasingly to Blink. "You can come if you want."
Blink grinned. He thought that he was being shot down again, though he could not figure out why. He shook the water out of his hair as he followed Gryffin up the stairs.
Once inside, Gryffin took off her shoes and sat on one of the tables by the door. They should really keep their shoes on, but the girls actually sounded as if they were going to sleep for once. The rain seemed to be slowing down some, and they were lucky enough not to have any homesick campers in this unit. The girls were mostly all older, being in Blazing Saddles, they had been to camp for at least two years. Blink took off his hat and let it fall onto the bench. Both of the councilors were soaked. It always took longer to walk from one place to another in the rain, especially with complaining campers. At the moment, Gryffin did not mind at all. Aside from the fact that she was cold, the wet did not bother her. And frankly, Blink looked incredibly hot with wet hair.
"So do yas really forgive me?" he asked bluntly. He never was much of one for being subtle. She did not mind. neither was she.
"Yes," Gryffin said in almost a whisper as she placed one hand on the back of his neck and pulled herself to him for a kiss. His lips massaged hers for a moment, the sweet ecstasy of power emanating from the passion they felt for each other. Gryffin felt her soul relieved in the moment. She had always had a habit of having irrational fears, and recently she had taken to worrying about her motive for liking Blink. She was not sure if it was just lust or the feeling that everybody else in camp would soon be paired off and she did not want to be left behind. The kiss made her stop wondering. No lust could possibly send her on the emotional high that she was on at the moment. She could not possibly care for someone this much if it was simply lust for their body. No. this was more.
Gryffin pulled away and lay back on the table. Blink lay next to her and propped up her head with his arm. His other hand found her stomach and left it there. She snuggled into his warm embrace and turned her head to kiss him again.
A half an hour later, a loud clap of thunder shook the building. Gryffin sat bolt upright and began to throw on her shoes. Almost immediately, the wind picked up. The rain pounded on the sides of the buildings.
"SHIT!" she yelled, throwing on the poncho that she knew would be useless and throwing another one to Blink. "Go tell the girls not to worry, to roll up their sleeping bags and their pillows and their flashlights, put on their shoes and ponchos and wait in their tents for us to come get them. Tell them to start lashing their tents from the inside if they know how to after they are ready and before we come to get them."
Blink remembered enough from their short crash lesson during the bus ride here that he knew what she was talking about. They both walked outside. Gryffin started with the three tents on the right near the unit house while Blink went to the camper tents near the flushie building. The first tent by the horse path was not being used. there were only twenty girls in the unit and only five tents in use. Gryffin ran through all of this information in her head as she opened the tent to tell the girls what she had told Blink. Before she got a word out, the campers started all talking at once. One girl, Shannon, sat quietly sobbing on her bed.
"Girls, please calm down. It is just a storm, and because of it we are going to go inside and have a sleepover tonight. You need to stop screaming and yelling at each other and do as I say. Get your things. only get the things I told you except for a stuffed animal or a book and be ready when I come back. Do you understand?"
The campers nodded their general assent.
"Shannon?"
The girl was being completely unresponsive.
"Shannon? Honey, you need to get up. You need to put your shoes on so that you can go inside and sleep in the unit shelter tonight." The girl still refused to move. She did not even seem to acknowledge Gryffin's words. Gryffin sighed. Shannon was probably the youngest girl there, being nine. She looked around the tent. "Luppee," she called to the tallest camper there. "As soon as you are done with your stuff, try to roll her sleeping bag and throw her animals or whatever inside with a flashlight. See if you can get her raincoat on her too. Just throw her shoes in her sleeping bag too. make sure they're not muddy ones though okay hon?"
The older camper nodded and set about her tasks. Gryffin went to the next tent. She saw Blink come out of his second tent. Good thing that he was not having problems too.
When Gryffin got to the second tent the campers there already had their bags rolled and were lashing up their tent. Maddie looked up and grinned at Gryffin. Being as Maddie had been here for longer than many of the staff members, she knew full well that they would be sleeping inside.
"Thank you Maddie," Gryffin said in a sing song voice, as she went back out to tie up the other tents while the rest of the campers got ready. Blink came over to help her.
"Da goirls in da foirst tent ovah dere are real scared, but dey's gonna be okay. Da second tent didn't seem ta mind. Dey jus' got up an' started doin' what I told them. Da thoird tent was split half an' half."
"Okay, I'll finish this then, go and get the girls from that first tent and get them inside." Blink left across the unit. A dark hand appeared on Gryffin's shoulder. She screamed and dropped the rope she was tying.
"Chill out Gryff," Sky said. Skittery removed his hand from the girl's shoulder as if afraid she might scream again.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
"Don't worry about it. Listen, Skitts, go to tent number two and take the girls inside then go get tent number four. Sky go get the girls in three, they're scared right now. Okay?" Gryffin was barely done speaking before they were gone. She looked to make sure that none of the tents had major problems with leaks at the moment and went back inside the fifth tent.
"Are you girls ready?" she asked. Three of them nodded. They had rolled Shannon's sleeping bag and pillow. They sat next to her on her bed. Shannon still had her knees pulled up under her chin, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Come on Shannon, can you put on your shoes and walk inside for me?"
The little girl gave no response. Gryff let out an exasperated sigh.
"Okay, whoever has a spare hand, grab her stuff. Are those back flaps lashed?" The girls nodded and picked up the pillow and sleeping bag. "Good. I'm going to pick her up and carry her. I need someone to hold a flashlight so that I can see where I'm going okay?"
Gryffin pulled the small girl into her arms. She felt incredibly light as Gryffin carried her around the giant puddle that collected before the steps to the unit shelter. The wind whipped at their faces. Gryffin saw the flaps of the staff tents flapping madly in the wind. Skittery and Blink were working on tying them down now, but they were having a hard time. The girls were spread out on the floor, some chatting and some whimpering while others had already curled back up into their sleeping bags and were trying to go back to sleep.
Gryffin never was very good at calming down campers, because she always felt that their fears were unjustified. She had never been afraid of such things as spiders or storms. Try as she might, she could not understand their concern. She sighed and sat down on the bench with Shannon on her lap. She stroked the girl's hair and rocked her gently back and forth. If the girl would not even talk, then there was not much that they could do for her since they did not even know for sure what was wrong. Sky quieted the rest of the campers and went through the sphiel about sleeping inside and the rules for the night: come get one of us if you need to go to the bathroom and nobody better get out of their sleeping bags until the bell rings thirty times in the morning. She also told them that they had nothing to worry about; this was just a safety measure. The unit shelter would hold them and keep out the rain and the wind.
Blink and Skittery tumbled in out of the rain. PB was with them. She had been asleep in her tent the whole time. The newcomers had ripped the sheets and sleeping bags off of a few of the staff beds and brought them into the shelter.
"You'se guys' beds are all soaked," Skittery informed them. "Yours was da last tent dat we got ta tie off. Sorry."
Gryffin and Sky both waved it off. They had been through this too many times last summer. They were quite used to sleeping without blankets or pillows because of storms. It was never comfortable, but it was one thing that had to be done. The boys dropped the blankets on top of the tables that were pushed against the left hand wall. Gryffin looked down at the camper in her arms. Thankfully, the girl had gone to sleep.
After laying Shannon down in her sleeping bag and instructing Luppee to keep an eye on her friend, Gryffin laid down on the benches in the corner. The girls were quiet for once in their lives. Skittery, Sky and PB were playing some sort of card game. Blink walked over to Gryffin and picked up her head, sitting on the bench in its place.
"God, Gryffin," he said, feeling her neck at the same place his hand had just left it. "You're freezin'!" The girl just nodded. She was well aware of the fact that she was cold, but she did not say anything because there was nothing to be done about it. According to Skittery, her clothes were soaking in her tent right now. "Here," Blink continued as he went through the pillowcase at his side. "Here's a long shoirt. Go ovah dere an' put it on. You're gonna catch a cold an' get sick."
Gryffin felt the soft flannel fabric pressed into her hands. She did not move. Instead, she looked around at all of the other staff members. PB had not been out in the rain. She had lashed her own tent from the inside, and by the time she was woken up that was the only thing left to do. Sky had her hoodie on, which had been left in the unit shelter since pre camp. Skittery had a drier shirt on, and Blink was airing out his over shirt already. It was thin, and would be dry soon. When she had decided that the rest of the staff were already more comfortable than she was, she stood up and worked her way through the camper sleeping bags to the farthest corner of the room where a table stood on end.
Once concealed, she pulled off her sopping t-shirt and pulled on his ratty, old, and wonderfully dry flannel shirt. It smelled like boy. It was very comforting. Gryffin's stress level started dropping already. The rain still pounded outside. The wind seemed to be calming down some, but the thunder and lightening still ripped through the night. She came out from behind the table and walked straight into the open door.
"Damn," she said to herself, low enough that the campers did not hear her. The open door had just reminded her that Happy said somebody must sleep next to the door so that the campers do not go out it in the night. It was a pain to walk through the campers all the way over to the door. But it had to be done, because rules just freaking rock.
"Hey guys, can I have one of those little blankets? I'm going to go sleep by that door so that none of the campers wander out and fall into the Connie. Because we all know how horrible it would be if we LOST one of them." Gryffin rolled her eyes. She was tired, miserable, and did not want to be in here with all of these little girls now that she thought she knew what she wanted with Blink.
"I tried dis line before an' it worked. I thought maybe it'd work again. Do yas maybe want some company?"
"Sure. I'd love some," Gryffin replied. "Hey Peebs, wanna come sleep with me?"
"Okay hon," PB said without even looking up from her hand.
"Hey!" Blink exclaimed indignantly.
"I'm only joking. I do want you to come with me."
The wind picked up again outside as they made their way to the other side of the room. The power went out when they were half way there. All Gryffin could see was the faint glow of the kerosene lantern that was sitting at the main door. She felt Blink's hand on her shoulder as she tired to pick a path through the still sleeping campers. Once they got to sleep, they were hard to wake up. The storm was incredibly bad outside now, but the girls were either asleep or quiet. Gryffin could hear branches breaking outside in the wind. The air whistled through the trees. She was glad that they were not sleeping outside tonight. It would be incredibly hard to keep the tent flaps down against this gale.
Gryffin and Blink curled up on the last empty table in the place. The blanket covered both of them. Despite the storm, as Gryffin laid in the dark, she felt safer and more comfortable than she had in a very long time. She was sure to make Blink know how she felt before she went to sleep.
End Twenty
** duckie boots are these wonderful, waterproof rubber booties that pull on over your shoes and keep your feet dry as long as the water remains below the first hem line. They reach up to your knees when the yellow parachute material is fully extended so that your pants can stay a bit drier as well.
A/N: Okay, for some reason you all have me hooked on this fluffy stuffs now. I'm going to have to quit that, and soon. I always thought it would be the most romantic thing to fall asleep in your guy's arms, but not having DONE anything first. To honestly just sleep together. Anyway. Hope ya liked. Ummmmm... damn, there was somethin' else I was supposed to tell you. Oh yeah. things will get back to normal in the morning. Well, as normal as camp can be. Fluffy stuff only happens at night in my mind. ^_^ Okaies. TTYL!