Today, while the blossoms still cling to the vine
I'll taste your strawberries, I'll drink your sweet wine
A million tomorrows shall all pass away
But ne'r I'll forget all the joys that are mine
Today...
Pre-Camp
Jamie pulled up to Camp Freedom on his motorcycle. School had let out a week before pre-camp for CF started, so Jamie started up his bike and and made the cross country road trip. Of course, Jamie's father wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of Jamie riding from Virginia to the camp site in California, but that was tough luck, because Jamie was doing it anyway.
Jamie pulled his bike into a parking spot next to a very familiar black pickup. The only difference since the last time Jamie had seen that particular car was that this time the lisence plates read Arizona instead of Virginia.
He opened up his rented tour pack, and pulled out all of his stuff. After assembling it so it was carryable, he headed torwards what looked to be the gathering place. He walked through the crowds of people greeting old friends and making new ones, but paid them no attention. He was on a mission.
A few moments later, Jamie saw one of the only two people at the camp he would recognize, his older brother Peter.
Jamie approached his much shorter, yet still raven haired and midnight eyed brother. "Hey Peter!"
"Hey!" Replied his brother. They looked each other over, as they hadn't spoken in person in three years, when Peter went off to college.
"Hey Jamie," Jamie heard a familiar voice say. He turned to look at the speaker, and would not have recognized him if not for his voice.
He sounded like Hank, but he Hank he knew was "football player broad", while this Hank was "track star lean". Plus, the Hank he knew had hair.
"What happened to your hair??" Jamie exclaimed.
Hank grinned, and his hand unconsiously went up to rub his now shiny and shaven head. "Initiation. All of the new counselors do it. I was just the first."
Jamie's hand went to his porcupine hair protectively. "I. Am. Not. Shaving. My. Head," he stated forcefully.
Peter clapped his little brother on the back. "Hank's kidding." Jamie sighed in relief.
Just then, the trio was aproached by a girl carrying a clipboard. "Hello all!" She greeted.
"Hey Sara," Peter replied. He turned to Hank and Jamie. "Guys, this is Sara Jenkins. Sara, this is my little brother, Jamie, and my friend, Hank Beecham."
She smiled. "One Waite is enough! Can the camp handle two?" Then she looked down at her clipboard, and made some marks. "Anyway, I've got all three of you checked in."
Peter raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing that for?"
Sara grinned. "I've got an official position this year. Coordinator of Counselor Activities."
"Cool."
"Anyway, I have your official positions. Hank, you're sleeping in Sunrise River, and you're one of the counselors in charge of sports. Jamie, you're sleeping in Cedar Cove, and you're one of the counselors working the ropes course. Both of you are also our on-call emergency medical staff. Peter, you're in Driftwood Trails, and you're a general counselor."
Peter groaned.
"What does Sunrise River, Cedar Cove, and Driftwood Trails mean?" Jamie asked.
"Sunrise River is for kids who have recovered from their OCD. Cedar Cove is for Hypochondriacs, and Driftwood Trails is for kids who have assorted obessions. There's also Starlight Point, who are kids worried about germs and the washers, Tanda, which is counters and Foxfire, for cleaners," siad Sara.
"Excuse me!" Yelled a man with a bullhorn. "If everyone will head to the lodge, then we will begin counselor orientation!"
"C'mon," Peter said. "I'll show you where the lodge is."
"I've got to be off," Sara said. "More people to check in." They parted ways and the trio walked down a dirt path to a large building that looked like a rustic cabin made of logs and large stones.
As Peter pushed open the front screen door into the lodge , he ran into a girl. "Oh, hey Michela," he said to her.
"Hey, Peter," she replied. She looked at Jamie and Hank. "Who are your friends?"
"This is my little brother, Jamie, and my very good friend, Hank."
She raised an eyebrow. "'Very good'? Does that mean what I think it means?"
Peter lightly smacked her across the back. "Keep your theories to yourself, girl!" He announced.
She grinned. "Anyway, I'm Abby Nettles. I was in Driftwood with Peter last summer, but this year I got a break, and I get to be in Sunrise!"
Peter stuck a tongue out at her. "I'm still in Driftwood."
"Ooooo, poor Peter."
"What's so bad about Driftwood?" Jamie asked.
"Driftwood is where all of the kids with random obessions go. Instead of just dealing with mainly one obession, you've got to deal with 20. Driftwood is the unit counselors wish they aren't put in, where as Sunset, which is the cabin for recovered kids, is the one everyone hopes for. "
Hank perked up a little. "So I was put in a good place?"
"The very best!"
They sat through counselor orientations, where they learned all kinds of camp procedures (like that breakfast was at 8 sharp, lunch at 1 sharp, and dinner at 6 sharp), rules (girls and boys cabins were kept seperate for a reason...by 11 pm everyone was epxected to be out of the cabins belonging to the oppsite sex) and other assorted briefings (like CPR training, which Jamie and Hank were already certified in, so during that lecture they drifted off a bit). Finally, they were released to go their seperate ways. Hank, Jamie, and Peter seperated so they could go to their inviduial cabins.
Hank grabbed his stuff and placed it in donkey cart to haul it to Sunset. It was the farthest cabin from the lodge, at about a quarter of a mile away. However, he soon reached it. It was a cabin built on large concrete pillars, and he lugged his luggage up the flight of stairs leading to walkway between two cabins, one to the left, and one to the right, but the one to the left had someone in it, so Hank opted for that one.
He pushed open the screen door to reveal a cabin with a line of bunk beds on each wall, the bunk bed routine only stopped by a screened in room with two cots in it. There was a guy inside the room, so Hank opened the enterance to it.
"Hello," He said loudly.
The guy looked up and smiled. "Hey! Welcome to Sunset. I'm Gary Ocllo. Are you Hank?"
Hank nodded. "Yeah. How did you know my name? I didn't recieve a list of the other guys in with me when I checked in."
Gary laughed. "If you had been coming to Freedom every summer since you were five, then you would learn a few tricks, too. I found out the names of the other two guys, but they were guys I had met before."
"So, ah, is this cot taken?" Hank asked. "Or has one of the other two claimed it?"
"Nah. They're OK guys, but I've never been really made good friends with them. They won't mind taking the other cabin."
Hank looked around nervously. "I've got a bit of a thing for neatness, so..."
Gary shrugged. "Hey, if it's your OCD, I understand. I'll keep this place as clean as humanly possible." He smiled. "But I have a bit of a thing for keeping my hands clean, so if you don't mind a roomie that wakes up at odd hours in the night to wash his hands, then we should get along fine."
"Sounds good."
Just then, the door swung open. Standing there was a tall, gangly guy with dusty blonde hair.
"Hey Carl," Gary said. "This is Hank, he's gonna be sharing the cabin with me."
Carl shrugged. "Fine by me." The he turned to Hank. "I'm Carl Petts, I'm one of the camp's horseback riding instructors. Nice to meet you. Do either of you know, by the way, who is the fourth?"
"Ramsey Mitchel," Gary replied.
Carl took in a deep breath. "Oh, well. I guess Ramsey's cool. A tad bit irritating at times, but he could be a lot worse."
Carl left to unpack his things, leaving Gary and Hank to unpack in their room. When they were done, Gary came up with a suggestion. "Want to go visit the girl's section of Sunrise?"
Hank shrugged. "Sure."
The two trekked off to the other pair of cabins. They opened the screen door to reveal four girls sitting on the two cots, talking cheerfully. He recognized two of them; Abby, from the lodge, and Jess Fuente, who was in Hank's OCD group, in addition to being Peter's best friend/roommate.
"Hey Hank, hey Gary," Jess greeted. "What brings you guys out to Sunrise?"
"We're in Guy Sunrise," Gary told her.
"Cool," said one of the girls Hank didn't know. "So, Gary, who's your friend?"
"I'm Hank," Hank said. "This is my first year working here."
"Mine, too," said the other girl Hank didn't know. "I'm Misty."
"I'm Hollie," said the fourth.
The six sat and talked for awhile and got aquainted, until it was time to head to the lodge for dinner. A few of the counselors with cars left to eat somewhere else for dinner, but most ate on camp, as the food wasn't bad, and it was free. Besides, it was an oppurtunity to meet some of the people they would be working with all summer.
Gary, Hollie, and Misty all had other friends who they sat with at dinner, but Hank stayed with Jess and Abby, and were joined by Peter and Jamie. Both had stories to tell of the people they were rooming with for the summer. Peter wasn't sharing a room with anyone he knew, but he was good friends with three of the girls on the girl side of his unit.
That night, laughter echoed through the halls, and it was evident that the entire camp was in good spirits, with the counselors glad to return to the place they had grown up, or eager to begin a new chapter in their life. Later in the summer, spirits wouldn't be as high, like always, for low pay, long hours, and endless tirades of children tend to do that, but right now, Camp Freedom was bliss.