The start of the day was filled with excitement. D. Va and I did camp activities. We did archery, kickball and went down a zip line. For lunch, we ate at the cafeteria. I'm sitting next to D. Va with a few other kids at our table.
"What are we doing next?" D. Va asks me
"The whole camp is doing a huge game of tag in the forest" I reply eagerly
We finish eating and everyone leaves for the game of tag. Once we all get their, the councillors pick out a hand full of people who are "it". In total, there are about 50 kids playing this game of tag.
"We should stick together, D. Va." I ask
"You'll slow me down," D. Va replays jokingly
"I know these woods better than you because I have been studying the map,"
"Fine, you can trail behind me if you wish."
The rules of the game are simple. All of the rules of tag apply. We are required to stay on the camp's paths.
The camp counselors directs everyone who is not it to line up and D. Va and I stand next to each other. 3… 2… 1… GO!
D. Va takes off leaving me behind. I struggle to stay behind her and not let her gain any distance between us. I follow D. Va through the camp passing team obstacle course and many of the camp's activities. All of a sudden, D. Va starts to slow down. I am able to catch up to her and we run side by side. Even though we are running a little slower, we still are pushing ourselves. After running for a while, we both stop to catch our breaths. D. Va is so exhausted that she starts lying on the ground.
"Do you think anyone followed us?" D. Va ask through her heavy breathing
"Not a chance," I reply
D. Va musters her strength and gets up.
"Where are we, Jason?"
"I don't know."
"Come on Jason, you are the map guy."
"What do we do now?"
"I guess we walk around until we see someone who is it"
D. Va and I wandered around the woods aimlessly. As we went it only got more and more unfamiliar. The neatly kept trails became littered with broken branches and rocks. Weeds as long as our legs were scattered all over the path. Eventually we came to a fork in the path with a green pole in the center.
D. Va began to speak "Hey does the map say anything about this place?" She sounds concerned.
"No we're completely off the grid" I sigh defeated.
At this point, we both have no clue where we are. D. Va seems annoyed by the state of things.
"We're going left" she exclaims sounding fed up with our lack of progress. Before I could make a noise I found myself on her heels. As we walked it gradually grew darker. The trees felt as if they were closing in on us as fireflies our only guidance. They hovered above the path giving us the ability to navigate the darkness. I was about to ask D. Va about what we should do before a weak cry came from the weeds off to our right. D. Va wordlessly looks to me and slowly began to make her way towards the source of the crying. Once she parted the grass with her hands she cupped her hands over her mouth and gasped. As she turned around to face me the fireflies illuminated her face enough to see that she was crying. As I moved to peer through the grass. Once I separated the stalks I saw what brought D. Va to tears. A young fawn was attached to an old hunter's trap it looked as if it had not eaten for days. The snare binded its hind leg to the ground. The fawn was laying on its side crying softly. Slowly D. Va approached the young animal and gingerly sits next to it. With one hand she strokes the poor animal's ears gently. She looks up at me. Her eyes pleaded that I help her. This look was accompanied by a soft
"Help." D. Va weakly gave out. After that look I was in no position to question the sanitation issues that touching a wild animal entails.
"Alright, I'll see what I have." I sigh. I rummage through my bag that I took with me and returned with a small bottle of water and a few salted almonds. At the sight of food the fawn lifted its head anticipating the relief it was finally receiving. All the while D. Va was lovingly stroking the ears of the fawn and whispering that it will be alright. I cup the almonds in my hands and brought it to his mouth. The fawn takes a small bite, then it took another bite. Finally, it begins to chow down upon the almonds. After it was finished, I slowly began to pour the water into the mouth of the fawn. He gulps it down eagerly. Soon, D. Va begins to work on the knot that imprisons him. We sat there for what felt like hours, taking turns working on removing the knot from the fawns leg. Eventually D. Va got it, but we were so tired from all of the walking and effort that we both fell asleep next to the fawn.
