“Oh my gosh... my legs feel like their gonna break off,” Emma complains as we hike through the woods.
Since we had a free activity period, Emma and I chose to take our girls on a hike through the woods. There was a trail for us to follow. The scenery was beautiful and peaceful; with tall oak trees lining the paths and bushes full of berries that were not to be touched or eaten.
“Stop complaining. We’ve only been walking for 2 minutes,” one of the girls said to Emma. I started laughing and Emma poked me with a stick.
“She’s got a point. You need to get in better shape, girl,” I tease her.
“Ha ha, very funny. Say what you want, but I’m the one who brought all the food. Keep messing with me and you’ll be eaten rodent turds for lunch,” I say. The girls behind us giggle.
“Are you guys sisters?” Jenny asks us. She’s 10 years old with bright red hair and a bright smile to match. I shake my head.
“No, we’re best friends. But we are like sisters,” I tell her.
“Yup, we are like sisters,” Emma agrees.
“What kind of bush is that?” Nine year old Amanda asks as her long ponytail swishes from side to side as she walks.
“I have no idea,” Emma says and blushes. She hates whenever the little girls ask us a question we don’t know the answer to about nature.
“How long is this hike gonna take?” 10 year old Shanice asks Emma. “My feet hurt.”
“Come on girls! We’re supposed to be enjoying this nice walk and the beautiful scenery around us,” I tell them.
I get a lot of side eyes from the 10 year olds in Emma’s cabin, but tiny smiles from the girls from my cabin. I bet the older girls would rather be lazing about and on their phones checking their social media. But this camp doesn’t allow cellphones.
They took everybody’s phones the minute we got to camp. They want us to experience the full effect without electronics distracting us. They feel it takes away from the camping experience. To be honest, it does feel amazing to get a break from my phone.
After 20 minutes of hiking, we finally reach a nice spot to have lunch at. Emma gets the food out as I get all the girls settled. We sit in a circle, eating our sandwiches and chips in silence.
All I can hear is happy munching. After we’re done eating, we head back to the campsite.
“Listen up, everyone! I hope you have been enjoying your free activity. In 5 minutes, we’ll have arts and crafts for everyone to do and then we’ll meet by the swimming area,” Mrs. Knot announces to everyone.
“Man, I’m never gonna rest,” Emma sighs, sounding tired.
“Well this is camp, what did you expect? And to think I almost didn’t wanna come. I’m glad you talked me into this.”
“It is fun and I’m glad you came too,” Emma says, giving me a wide smile.
***
“That looks a little lopsided,” Shanice comments on the house I drew. We were all drawing a picture of our own choice for arts and crafts. I chose to draw a picture of my old house that I grew up in.
I tilt my head and look at my picture. Shanice was right; my house is totally lopsided. Okay so maybe arts and crafts isn’t my strong skill.
“I know, it totally is. I’m not that great at arts and crafts. You’re picture looks amazing though. I love how you drew the fruit in the basket.”
“Thanks. My father is an artist. He taught me how to draw.”
“That’s so cool.”
“I can’t believe camp is almost over. How many days do we have left?” asked Heather, a quiet girl from Emma’s cabin.
“We have 2 days left,” Emma answered. She was drawing a picture of Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel. Why; I have no idea. But her picture looked way better than mine did.
“It did go by pretty fast,” I said. “Have you talked to CJ lately?”
“Yeees, I spoke to him right before we left for camp. Our second date was great! We went to a park and had a picnic.”
“Awww, I’m so happy. At this rate, you might be my sister-in-law.”
“Slow your roll, girlie. But I have to admit that things between us are going really well. I’m enjoying it a lot,” Emma says quietly, smiling real big.
***
The next couple of days go by really fast and before we know it, camp is over and we head back home. When I get back home, I go to the mailbox to get all my mail I missed for 2 weeks. And man, it was ALOT! As I was sorting through everything, I came across a letter that was addressed to me but didn’t say who it was from.
Dear Paige,
I don’t know if you remember me. But I was in the cell with you. My name is Katherine. I was an acquaintance of Aaliyah Kassab. I recall you mentioning that you accidentally killed her and I was quite shocked. I was not a big fan of hers because of some things that happened in the past between her and my family. Anyways, I won’t be getting out of prison any time soon, so I hope me and you can keep in touch through letter writing. Hope to hear from you soon!
-Katherine
A letter from Katherine! Wow, I wasn’t expecting that at all. I wonder what happened between her and Aaliyah... I’m not sure if I will be keeping in touch with her though. I don’t wanna talk about Aaliyah. It still hurts thinking about that night.
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Eye of The Tiger
أدب نسائيPaige has had to start a new job, in a new city, with new friends. She left everything behind to start over brand new. Everything is going great until she receives a phone call one day that stirs up her troubled past. She has had to have the eye of...
