The sun had just begun to peep over the horizon when the door to the cabin burst open, Counselor Carrie announcing loudly in a voice so chipper Anne thought it should be illegal, especially first thing in the morning, "Rise and shine, campers! It's time to wake up and see this beautiful day!"
Anne groaned, just as she heard Rebecca whimper in the bunk above her. It was too bloody early as far as Anne was concerned, and she pulled her sheet over her head.
Only to have Carrie then whip it off of her… "Come on, time to get up! It's a gorgeous morning—you don't want to miss it by being a sleepy head!"
Anne looked at Carrie, meeting her eyes. "There's nothing that goes on before noon that's worth seeing. I've done the research."
Carrie frowned for a moment, Anne's reply taking her aback, before she recovered and her smile returned. "Sure there is! Now get on up, lazy bones!"
Grumbling, Anne gave in and got out of the bunk. It wasn't like she could get anymore sleep with the overly-cheery counselor harassing her anyway.
Pleased that she'd managed to get Anne out of bed, Carrie walked off, still smiling. Moments later, Rebecca jumped down from her own bunk and landed on her feet beside Anne. "Why are they doing this to us?" Rebecca bemoaned.
"Because it's peppy prison camp," Anne replied. "I hope our parents are happy with their evilness."
"Somehow, I think they probably are," Rebecca said.
"Okay, everybody, be in the dining hall in thirty minutes for breakfast!" Carrie announced before leaving the cabin.
Rebecca and Anne shared a sigh of resignation.
Anne swatted a bug that dared come near her face. Never would she understand the appeal of the "great outdoors." Why anyone would want to go traipsing through the bloody woods when there was plenty of civilization out there was beyond her.
Yet there she was, walking in a line of campers, suffering through being surrounded by nature. She hoped her parents were pleased with themselves…
To make matters even worse, everyone—apart from herself and Rebecca—were singing some inane camp song. It seemed like they were always singing. They'd even been singing in the dining hall before breakfast.
Anne tried her best to just tune it out, but the melodies were insidious, working their way into her mind, no matter how hard she tried to hum the Ramones to herself and fight it.
She couldn't think of a time when she had wanted more to be sedated…
Rebecca came up as close to Anne as she could without bumping into her friend, and asked low enough so only Anne could hear, "What the hell is a bunny foo foo, and why are they singing about it?"
Anne snickered. "I haven't a clue. Probably something that would make your mother run in terror, though."
Rebecca tried to respond with a dirty look, though she couldn't stop her smirk. "Yeah, probably," she conceded after a moment.
Just then, Counselor Dan stepped up to walk beside the two girls. "You aren't singing. You're supposed to be singing."
"Aren't you supposed to be all stealthy-like in the woods?" Anne asked. "I mean, we're like, tipping bears off to our location, aren't we?"
"Sing with the rest of the campers, or I'm escorting you on an extra wilderness hike," Dan snapped, the tone of his voice taking Anne and Rebecca both by surprise. "I've had enough of the attitude from you two."
At the threat of more pointless walking through the woods, the two girls began to sing with the others.
Looking pleased with himself, Dan retreated to the back of the line.
"Chew, chew, chew your food
Gently through your meal.
The more you chew, the less you eat
The better you will feel!"
As soon as the singing began—again—Anne sighed and slumped in her uncomfortable dining hall chair. If you felt better the less you ate, then she was sure she would soon start feeling wonderful since all the spontaneous bursting into song was making her lose her appetite.
"Wait! Nobody touch their food yet!"
Counselor Dan's call made the entire group of campers freeze. Anne felt dread wash over her, knowing, somehow, this was not going to go well for her.
"Two of our campers didn't sing along," Dan said, an exaggerated frown on his face. "They seem to be having a hard time getting into the spirit of things around here."
"That's because they're losers," Melissa whispered to her friends, who immediately began to giggle, as if Melissa's comment was truly something clever.
"I think we need to help them stop being such Broody Bessies," Dan continued, eliciting an angered gasp from Anne. Her, broody? Not bloody likely!
"So, in order to help them catch the spirit of camping fun, they're going to lead us in a special lunch time sing along!"
"What?!" Anne and Rebecca yelled in unison.
"You cannot be serious," Rebecca protested.
"We are," Carrie said as she came up behind the girls and pulled them to their feet. "Now up to the front of the dining hall with both of you—time to sing!"
Anne glared at the woman as she led them up front to Dan. She knew she could never act on the homicidal urges going through her now, but boy were they fun to indulge in mentally.
"We don't know any of these songs you keep singing," Rebecca protested. "They don't, um, have them in England. We're completely camp-song free across the Pond."
Anne nodded vigorously. "She's right. We can't lead anyone."
"Don't worry about that, girls," Dan said with a grin Anne was sure could be categorized as sadistic. "For this song, all you have to do is repeat after me. Now, on the count of three: one, two three. The other day…"
Sharing a look before they conceded temporary defeat, Anne and Rebecca sang back. "The other day…"
"I met a bear…"
"I met a bear…"
"Out in the woods…"
"Out in the woods…"
"A-way out there…"
"A-way out there…"
"Altogether now campers!" Dan cried. "He said to me…"
After lunch, Anne was fairly certain the day would contain nothing but misery. Standing in front of those idiotic little campers and singing that brainless song had ranked fairly high on her list of most embarrassing moments, and she couldn't wait to get home to rake her father over the coals for it.
How dare he do this to her?! He was supposed to spoil her, not ship her off to be tortured in Connecticut.
Then, she heard a word that didn't fill her with dread and disgust.
Archery.
Sure, the bow she was holding on to now as she stood a few feet away from a large target wasn't like the crossbows she was used to at home, but it was suitable for flinging sharp projectiles, and that was good enough in Anne's book.
"Okay, Anne, remember how I demonstrated shooting the arrow before we began?" Carrie asked with her normal big smile.
"Yeah, I remember. Can I shoot this thing now?" Anne asked.
"Sweetie, you're not in the proper position."
"That's because the one you showed isn't a good one unless I want to miss the target," Anne replied, with a roll of her eyes.
"Fine, young lady, if you want to refuse to learn from anyone, then you can just…"
Before Carrie could finish her admonition, Anne had let the arrow go, striking the center of the bull's-eye perfectly. She turned to the counselor, her eyebrow arching upwards. "You were saying?"
Carrie blinked, then scoffed. "It was a lucky shot. Next!"
"It bloody well was not!" Anne protested, insulted that her skills be brushed off in such a manner. "You're just upset because I showed you up."
"You know, little missy, I think I've had enough of your backtalk," Carrie said, her hands planted firmly on her hips. "Return to your cabin for the rest of the afternoon."
Anne gaped. Finally, something she actually liked doing, and now they chose to send her back to her cabin? Why couldn't they have done that earlier, during the hike? Or during the lunch from hell? She'd rather starve than be forced to sing some stupid song about a bear in front of a room full of people…
But no, she was being forced to skip out on archery. Life was so beyond not fair…
Too sick of it all to even argue the point, Anne thrust the bow back at Carrie and stormed off towards the cabin, stopping just long enough to give Rebecca a small smile in response to her look of sympathy.
Anne marched back to the cabin and threw herself on the bunk, trying to at least take comfort in the fact she could now have some alone time. She found little respite in the thought, however, and soon pulled herself back up to a sitting position, her knees resting beneath her chin as she wiped roughly at her tears before they had a chance to roll down her cheeks.
She hated this. She knew she'd messed up big this time and, if she were being honest with herself, she knew hadn't exactly been a model daughter as of late. But to be sent away to a place like this one? Her parents knew he well enough to know she'd be nothing but miserable here—probably more so than she would have been in actual jail. She hated being in a place where she couldn't fit in at all even if, truth be told, she didn't want to fit in with these overly-cheery freaks.
God, she was bloody miserable…
From outside the cabin, Anne could hear people singing again. She couldn't make out the words, but they sounded happy. Maybe she should just give into the whole thing, play along with their stupid games and sing-a-longs until she could go home where things would be normal again.
What would it really hurt anyway? If anything, it might make the days go faster. And perhaps, if she just let herself get swept up in the whole camp momentum, then she'd find a little fun somewhere. Sure, it wouldn't be the sort of fun she was used to back home in England, but people did enjoy this whole getting back to nature thing, so perhaps there was merely something she was overlooking.
Anne started humming along with the song, trying to get the feel for it. Sure, the lyrics were utter shite, but at least it was a catchy tune.
The door to the cabin opened, and Anne looked up as Counselor Dan walked in and over to her bunk, taking a seat on the end across from her. "I heard you had a little trouble with Counselor Carrie," he said.
"I didn't mean to this time," Anne replied. "Honestly, I didn't. This place, it's just…" She paused for a moment to sigh heavily. "It's not my sort of place."
"I know, but I bet it could be your sort of place," Dan said. He leaned forward. "Do you know what I think? I think you're trying so hard to be like a grown up that you're missing all the fun of being a kid. You'll have lots of time later to be a grown up later, Anne. Just let go of all that teen angst and have fun for a little while, okay? Can you at least try that?"
Anne nodded. "I can try."
"Great!" Dan exclaimed, his wide smile coming back again. "Come on, everyone's about to start playing a super fun game. Let's go join them."
"Okay," Anne replied softly.
"Come on, camper!" Dan said as he jumped up from the bed. "It's time to have lots of fun!"
Resolved to make the most of her situation, Anne followed Counselor Dan out of the cabin.