Max lay in his tent awake. The evening had been uneventful, a boring dinner, a boring campfire, and stale s'mores with David playing boring camp songs. He knew he was being hard on David, he really was trying, but he was trying too hard. Couldn't he just leave him alone.
Finally, Max closed his eyes and plunged into a nightmare. Max slowly opened the front door so that it didn't creak, but a tall figure was already waiting. The kick came without warning, throwing the boy across the room. Max got up and ran down a hall, that seemed to lengthen forever. Finally he reached the door, burst into a bedroom, and dove into the closet. The man was in the room a second after, his footsteps creaking on the old floorboards. The closet door was thrown open, Max pressed himself against the wall as a hand reached toward him…
Max bolted awake. He was cold and shaking; his heart was racing, panic set in. While Neil snored in his bunk, Max swung his feet out of bed and into his shoes. After slipping his hoodie over his head he unzipped the tent and stepped out into the brisk night air. The cold air helped to calm him as he trudged toward the lake.
Siting near shore with his back pressed against a tree, Max took deep shaky breaths. He pulled his knees up to his chest and watched the water as the gentle breeze sent ripples across it. Just as he was starting to feel okay, a loud crack caused him to jolt and whip his head around; David stood a few feet away, having stepped on a dry branch.
"Hey," Max mumbled.
"I thought I'd find you out here," David said sitting down next to the boy and laying a blanket across their laps. "Couldn't sleep?" Max only shrugged. He fidgeted with the edge of the blanket as he studied David out of the corner of his eye. David was watching the lake, as Max had been doing a moment ago; his thin sweater had a twigs sticking out of it.
"You know," David started, "My mom used to tell me that the reason water is so calming is because it's the source of life. I don't know how true that is, but it's interesting to think about. Life came from it, everything needs it to live, and we are mostly made of it. But even though water is, in a way our mother, it can also be cruel. Rain causes floods that destroys the landscape, and storms sink ships and wash away coastlines. That doesn't stop life though, it powers through, moves on, gets stronger, and better at surviving the tragedy that water throws at it." David looked down at Max, whose brow was knit in thought.
"Why do you care so much?" Max asked after a moment of silence.
"About what?" David asked perplexed.
"Me," Max said as if it were obvious. David looked solemnly at Max. "Last summer I did everything I could to make your life hell, and I haven't been much better this summer. Why bother with me? Why haven't you sent me away yet?! Just get it over with and abandon me already! Everyone else has." Max stared at the ground and David saw a tear fall. Without a second thought David scooped Max up and held him in his lap. For once the boy didn't struggle, and instead held tight to David's shirt while he cried.
"I'll never abandon you Max," David explained gently. "Never. You're a good kid. It's not your fault that the world has been so mean to you. We can work through this together, because you are stuck with me no matter what."
Max looked up at David, tears, and something else in his eyes. A look that David could almost swear was awe.
"Really," Max choked.
"Yes, Max, really."
They stayed that way for long while, until Max had fallen asleep in David's arms. As gently as he could, David carried the sleeping boy back to his tent and put him to bed, careful not to wake him or his bunkmate.
As he walked back to his own bed David's resolve hardened. 'Even if I have to court and fight I will never let anyone else have that boy.' he thought to himself. 'Never'
Sorry for the long break and short chapter. My computer broke and I had to get a new harddrive, then work's been crazy. Hopefully I'll be able to update more regularly, but not promises.