Day Nineteen - Morning
There's a package in our mailbox quite early this morning. I know it's there quite early because I've been up since dawn. This is the third time I've checked for mail so far this morning. I'm so tense with anxiety and anticipation it almost feels like a perverse, twisted Christmas. Everybody knows the game will change today, but for me it's a change of a completely different kind.
I return to camp with our package and set it down outside our shelter. Ellen and Pete are up already and starting to cook breakfast. A quick peek inside the shelter finds Kiki and Chet starting to rise. It's odd, being down to just five of us from the original eight. The same thought must be weighing on others' minds, and Pete puts voice to it.
"So, a cozy little gang we've got here. But not cozy for long."
Ellen purses her lips. "I don't want to lose any more of us. We should discuss what's going to happen after the merge." You go, girl! She's starting a conversation we need to have, but I didn't want to instigate.
"Our team should definitely stick together," muses Kiki. "I'm sure they're all very nice over there, but I don't want to vote any of our team out."
I catch Kiki's eye and wink. "Well, let's be sure to discuss any and all voting decisions beforehand, so we can come to a consensus. I'm sure we'll be able to come to an agreement about who to let go." Kiki nods and winks back. We'll talk later.
So we're all on the same level regarding our votes. However, we have no idea what the merging procedure will be like. We open up our package and find colorful bundles of feathers, flowers and cloth. The instructions detail an island ritual where tribes put on their finest decorations when meeting rival tribes. We're to each choose a color and create a headdress, necklace, sarong or other impressive-looking display. Just my luck, one of the bundles is a combination of scarlet and gold. How can I not give a subtle shout-out to my fellow Gryffindors? Eerily enough, there's also a bundle of green and silver, which Pete takes. Good, fine, let him wear Malfoy's colors. I'm sure if their tribe is doing the same thing, Malfoy will be as loyal to his house's colors as I am.
Kiki ends up with blue and white, Ellen with the unfortunate combination of orange and purple, and Chet with black and pink. Although he refers to pink as "red," which of course it is, in an alternate universe where accidentally being the last to choose your colors means that the remaining colors are the pinnacle of masculinity. And so of course, to torment him, none of us is willing to change colors with him.
We get to work on our personal decorations. Kiki and I have both decided to wear our cloth as a sarong over our bathing suits. We both create anklets and bracelets out of our flowers and help each other weave flowers and feathers into our hair. Pete makes a strange sort of turban on his head with feathers sticking out of the front, which means we have a very hard time stopping the giggles. We finish up our decorations and start toward the designated meeting spot. Just short of the clearing, a production assistant holds us up. We can hear voices from the clearing, but there's just enough jungle in the way that we can't see what's happening. Our assistant gets the word, and allows us to enter the clearing. There are two circular enclosures next to each other. We are ushered into the nearer one. It feels somewhat like a hut, except that there's no roof. All I can see of the other team is the occasional bobbing feather sticking up. The enclosures are both open at the front, so we can see Marcus clearly, but we can't see the other tribe to find out who's wearing what colors.
"Today is a very important day here on the island," Marcus begins his standard speech. "Two tribes will become one. You will combine together and live on one of your beaches. Now the decision needs to be made: on which beach will you live?
"You've all chosen your colors, and you may have guessed that someone on the opposite team will have the same colors on as you." I smile to myself, glancing toward the Fetia Rai hut; Malfoy's pretty tall, and there's a green feather bobbing around. Marcus pulls out a bag and some colored stones. He shows us the stones, then drops them one by one into the bag. "These stones represent your colors. I will draw two stones. The people with those colors will both be ambassadors of their tribe, and the two pairs selected will visit the two camps. Each pairing will consist of a visitor to inspect the campsite and a resident to give a tour. Once the visit is complete, these ambassadors will reconvene here and decide which beach will be your new home."
Marcus pauses dramatically. Then he reaches into the bag and pulls out the first stone. Blue on one side, white on the other. Kiki smiles at us, then steps forward out of the hut. The Fetia Rai team member steps up next to Marcus so we can see her. She's probably older than anyone on our team; a rough guess would be 50, but it's possible that the grimy conditions make her look older than she is. She has a very nice smile. Marcus tells them that they're going to the Fetia Rai camp. With a wave to us, Kiki follows the woman into the jungle on the left.
"And now, the team that will visit Miti Matai." Marcus pulls the next stone out of the bag.
Shock and surprise, it's scarlet and gold. I step forward and join Marcus out front, then turn toward the Fetia Rai hut. Their representative starts walking toward me.
I've often wondered just how many emotions a person can feel at the same time.
There's anger, of course. Why me, Fates? Confusion -- why would he not only not wear his own school colors, but wear the colors of the house that he slandered on a daily basis. Strangely, jealousy is in there as well. He's done a much better job with his decorations than any of the rest of us. Which leads us into good old fashioned lust, because with the fabric worn as a long, billowing cape and a lei of feathers and flowers over his bare chest, he looks something like a god. Or a king. Or at the very least, a high priest of some sort. Let's not forget irritation, since I now have to spend the rest of the day alone with him. Oh, also uncertainty, worry and a splash of fear, since I now have to spend the rest of the day alone with him.
Throw them all in a glass and swallow them down. Bitter and violent. But they're chased with a clear shot of calm and acceptance, because now the next part of the game can finally begin. As Malfoy strides toward me, with a cocky and sure look on his face, I make eye contact and hold out my hand. Straight. Unshaking. Confident. And ready to meet him in the middle.
There's a package in our mailbox quite early this morning. I know it's there quite early because I've been up since dawn. This is the third time I've checked for mail so far this morning. I'm so tense with anxiety and anticipation it almost feels like a perverse, twisted Christmas. Everybody knows the game will change today, but for me it's a change of a completely different kind.
I return to camp with our package and set it down outside our shelter. Ellen and Pete are up already and starting to cook breakfast. A quick peek inside the shelter finds Kiki and Chet starting to rise. It's odd, being down to just five of us from the original eight. The same thought must be weighing on others' minds, and Pete puts voice to it.
"So, a cozy little gang we've got here. But not cozy for long."
Ellen purses her lips. "I don't want to lose any more of us. We should discuss what's going to happen after the merge." You go, girl! She's starting a conversation we need to have, but I didn't want to instigate.
"Our team should definitely stick together," muses Kiki. "I'm sure they're all very nice over there, but I don't want to vote any of our team out."
I catch Kiki's eye and wink. "Well, let's be sure to discuss any and all voting decisions beforehand, so we can come to a consensus. I'm sure we'll be able to come to an agreement about who to let go." Kiki nods and winks back. We'll talk later.
So we're all on the same level regarding our votes. However, we have no idea what the merging procedure will be like. We open up our package and find colorful bundles of feathers, flowers and cloth. The instructions detail an island ritual where tribes put on their finest decorations when meeting rival tribes. We're to each choose a color and create a headdress, necklace, sarong or other impressive-looking display. Just my luck, one of the bundles is a combination of scarlet and gold. How can I not give a subtle shout-out to my fellow Gryffindors? Eerily enough, there's also a bundle of green and silver, which Pete takes. Good, fine, let him wear Malfoy's colors. I'm sure if their tribe is doing the same thing, Malfoy will be as loyal to his house's colors as I am.
Kiki ends up with blue and white, Ellen with the unfortunate combination of orange and purple, and Chet with black and pink. Although he refers to pink as "red," which of course it is, in an alternate universe where accidentally being the last to choose your colors means that the remaining colors are the pinnacle of masculinity. And so of course, to torment him, none of us is willing to change colors with him.
We get to work on our personal decorations. Kiki and I have both decided to wear our cloth as a sarong over our bathing suits. We both create anklets and bracelets out of our flowers and help each other weave flowers and feathers into our hair. Pete makes a strange sort of turban on his head with feathers sticking out of the front, which means we have a very hard time stopping the giggles. We finish up our decorations and start toward the designated meeting spot. Just short of the clearing, a production assistant holds us up. We can hear voices from the clearing, but there's just enough jungle in the way that we can't see what's happening. Our assistant gets the word, and allows us to enter the clearing. There are two circular enclosures next to each other. We are ushered into the nearer one. It feels somewhat like a hut, except that there's no roof. All I can see of the other team is the occasional bobbing feather sticking up. The enclosures are both open at the front, so we can see Marcus clearly, but we can't see the other tribe to find out who's wearing what colors.
"Today is a very important day here on the island," Marcus begins his standard speech. "Two tribes will become one. You will combine together and live on one of your beaches. Now the decision needs to be made: on which beach will you live?
"You've all chosen your colors, and you may have guessed that someone on the opposite team will have the same colors on as you." I smile to myself, glancing toward the Fetia Rai hut; Malfoy's pretty tall, and there's a green feather bobbing around. Marcus pulls out a bag and some colored stones. He shows us the stones, then drops them one by one into the bag. "These stones represent your colors. I will draw two stones. The people with those colors will both be ambassadors of their tribe, and the two pairs selected will visit the two camps. Each pairing will consist of a visitor to inspect the campsite and a resident to give a tour. Once the visit is complete, these ambassadors will reconvene here and decide which beach will be your new home."
Marcus pauses dramatically. Then he reaches into the bag and pulls out the first stone. Blue on one side, white on the other. Kiki smiles at us, then steps forward out of the hut. The Fetia Rai team member steps up next to Marcus so we can see her. She's probably older than anyone on our team; a rough guess would be 50, but it's possible that the grimy conditions make her look older than she is. She has a very nice smile. Marcus tells them that they're going to the Fetia Rai camp. With a wave to us, Kiki follows the woman into the jungle on the left.
"And now, the team that will visit Miti Matai." Marcus pulls the next stone out of the bag.
Shock and surprise, it's scarlet and gold. I step forward and join Marcus out front, then turn toward the Fetia Rai hut. Their representative starts walking toward me.
I've often wondered just how many emotions a person can feel at the same time.
There's anger, of course. Why me, Fates? Confusion -- why would he not only not wear his own school colors, but wear the colors of the house that he slandered on a daily basis. Strangely, jealousy is in there as well. He's done a much better job with his decorations than any of the rest of us. Which leads us into good old fashioned lust, because with the fabric worn as a long, billowing cape and a lei of feathers and flowers over his bare chest, he looks something like a god. Or a king. Or at the very least, a high priest of some sort. Let's not forget irritation, since I now have to spend the rest of the day alone with him. Oh, also uncertainty, worry and a splash of fear, since I now have to spend the rest of the day alone with him.
Throw them all in a glass and swallow them down. Bitter and violent. But they're chased with a clear shot of calm and acceptance, because now the next part of the game can finally begin. As Malfoy strides toward me, with a cocky and sure look on his face, I make eye contact and hold out my hand. Straight. Unshaking. Confident. And ready to meet him in the middle.