Turn on, Tune in, Drop Dead

       

The sun glistened on the calm waters of Branwen Loch. 'White Rabbit' by Jefferson Airplane could be heard coming from one of the large wooden cabins in the centre of Black Mountain's campsite, known as The Sanctuary.

Teepee-style tents on either side of the loch lay empty, as bright red and blue canoes knocked into each other with the gentle ebb and flow of the water. Two ravens were dismembering a small fish on the boardwalk and began squabbling with each other, eventually tiring each other out and flying off towards the black mountains. 

Laughter broke the blissful music as a group of five early twenty somethings walked towards the campsite.  A red-haired woman came out from the cabin and stood on the wooden stairs watching the five approach her. "That must be Meadow," one of the men presumed, making their way towards the crimson haired beauty. She smiled at the group that stood before her, "you are two days early," she whined, before laughing. "Whatever could we do until the children arrive?" she asked playfully, before walking down the rickety wooden stairs to greet them. "I'm Meadow," she introduced, to which one of the two men smiled as he looked her up and down. Meadow's red hair clashed slightly with her revealing emerald dress, but her beauty was striking and clearly very distracting for the boys.

"I'm Amy," a sandy-haired girl from the group said, rolling her eyes at the men practically gagging over Meadow. "And this ditz is my guy Robby," she poked her long-haired lover in the ribs, shaking her head. He smiled sheepishly at Meadow trying not to make too much eye contact with her as he was still flying high from the joint he had moments before they arrived. "Where are the rest of your things?" Meadow asked, leaning to look behind them, to which they all laughed. "We left the rest of our things at the entrance," a second guy piped up. "I will go get them now," he assured the rest of the group. "That's a lot of bags," Amy pointed out, with a smirk on her face, and she laughed as he flexed his muscles. Robby introduced his dark-haired friend, "This lump of muscle is Chad". Chad bowed showily, and asked "can I bum a smoke?". Robby threw one towards him. His thick dark locks bounced as he stood upright after retrieving the cigarette from the ground. "Let me come with you," another girl offered, before turning towards Meadow, "I'm Tiffany and this is my sister Sarah," she explained. Sarah smiled and waved. Tiffany hooked her arm into Chad's before walking back towards the entrance, her short yellow skirt looked like a burst of sunlight between the trees. "Why don't you go help them?" Robby taunted Sarah, pulling her lavender headband over her eyes. "Cool it!" Meadow cautioned them as Sarah stamped hard onto Robby's leather sandal.

Robby laughed, but Sarah was unimpressed. "As you are here two days early you may as well choose the cabins you are going to stay in," Meadow explained, "and when the children arrive in two days we will have a ball", she concluded as Sarah walked off. "You should take those bells off your ankles," Robby mocked Sarah as she stormed off towards her sister, "It's easy to hear you coming like that!" he shouted, before Amy grabbed him by the beard and led him towards one of the cabins.

Sarah stood and watched Tiffany flirt hopelessly with Chad, she playfully touched her long worn bouffant hairstyle as she bit sultrily into her rosy pink bottom lip. Chad picked up three of the bags while Tiffany struggled to carry even one. Sarah walked over to her sister and smiled at Chad as she walked past him. She turned to look at his firm butt in his tight pale blue bellbottoms. "Eyes off," Tiffany snapped, pushing her sister aside. "No!" Tiffany cried, noticing a scuff mark on her candy-coloured vinyl boots. "Why even wear those out here?" Sarah asked perplexed. "Why not?" was the very short answer Tiffany gave. Sarah began to sweat slightly, so she removed her lavender headband revealing her blonde braided hair. "Here," Tiffany said pushing a Day Lily into her braid. "You almost look as good as me," she joked handing her sister one of the bags. Sarah looked at the cabins placed throughout and between the Douglas fir trees while walking back towards the camp. Some were derelict and boarded up, while others looked as if they were newly built.