Warnings: Separation, bruises, blood, fire, flood, and death
I step out of a white van.
"Bye, Frederic." I say.
"Goodbye, Darling." A man with brown hair, tan skin, blue eyes, wearing a suit with red and blue columns and blue columns, a golden sun medallion, brown pants and boots, Frederic replies. The van drives away. Frederic will go back to the airport and then back to Corona. I look around. I am in a forest with evergreens and dirt paths. I see a paper with a black arrow pointing forward that says 'orientation' taped on to a tree. I follow a dirt path forward.
I arrive at a brown, log cabin. I go inside. There is a screen in front of the room. A woman with blonde hair, tan skin, green eyes, wearing a brown hat with a red ribbon around the rim, a brown jacket with several colorful badges, pants, shoes, and a red bandana stands in front of the room. A Roma woman with a pink headband, gold hoop earrings, a white shirt that covers her shoulders with a blue lower part with golden vertical lines, a purple sash with a golden lining with circles coming off it around her waist, and a purple skirt sits on a white, foldable chair. A Chinese girl with short red hair, wearing a red jacket with a white collar, a purple skirt, magenta leggings, white socks and black shoes skirt sits on a white, foldable chair. A girl with brown skin, green eyes, white hair going down to her waist, with blue markings below her right eye, above her chest, and on her arm wearing gold, triangular earrings, a blue crystal necklace, a light blue bra, a gray, feather sleeve on her left arm, a dark blue skirt with two red marks on it with yellow outlines, and a light blue cloth hanging down in the middle of it skirt sits on a white, foldable chair. A Colombian girl with curly hair, green glasses, a white shirt with pink butterflies on it and a teal skirt with pink and green dots on it, orange, light blue, and green flowers, a jaguar face with a toucan on top it, a yellow heart inside of a pink one, a blue capybara with orange dots on it, yellow stitching sits on a white, foldable chair. I sit on a white, foldable chair.
"Welcome to Evermore Retreat! Here's a short orientation film to get you started!" The woman announces. She steps back.
An European girl with black hair, and blue eyes wearing the same outfit as the woman is at the camp onscreen. Another Latina girl wearing the same outfit as the woman is at the camp onscreen. Another European girl with blonde hair and green eyes wearing the same outfit as the woman is at the camp onscreen. Another African girl wearing the same outfit as the woman is at the camp onscreen. Another Asian girl with black hair wearing the same outfit as the woman is at the camp onscreen.
"Welcome to camp!" The woman announces.
"When you're beaten"
The European girl with black hair is at the camp, bruised up in a green, grassy field.
"and you're bloody"
The Asian girl sits on a hospital bed in an office with teal tiles with bloody knees.
"and you're face down in the mud"
The Latina girl trips and face plants in the mud in a green meadow.
"When the ponies try to eat you"
A brown horse chomps down on the European girl with blonde hair's arm in wooden stables.
"you're on fire,"
The African girl's rear is on fire at the campfire. The campfire is a pit surrounded by white stones.
"there's a flood"
A flood washes over the camp. The camp has white dorms, a wooden zip line with red and blue grips, a white brick swimming pool, a brown yurt with a straw roof, a mud pit, an archery course with red and white targets, a blue and purple observatory, a green grassy island in the sky with a rainbow over it, the ocean, a fire pit, an orange cookhouse, and a brown cabin in a tree.
"You can bet that you're on the shore of Evermore Retreat"
The girls are at the beach. The waves crash into the shore.
"You can bet that you're on the shore of Evermore Retreat"
The girls sing at camp.
"Evermore Retreat
Where only half of us survive!"
The girls sing in the forest.
"Evermore Retreat
Be glad you're still alive!"
They spin.
"Evermore Retreat
Where only half of us survive!"
The screen shows a green, grassy graveyard with gray headstones and crosses.
"Evermore Retreat
Be glad you're still alive!"
The girls point at the screen.
"This is why no one watches the orientation film!" The woman exclaims, grumpily.
The other girls and I turn and look at each other. An image of the camp appears in my head. I visualize. What have I got myself into?