We haven’t played a camp wide game
yet, and we are already having cocoa. This must mean one thing: we are playing
Lantern! Mug and cocoa in hand, my cabin talks this over at our table.
“Guys, Lantern is tonight!” Kelsey
brings the topic up.
“YES!” I yell excitedly.
“So how are we going to do this,
none of us have ever won. We need to talk strategy” Kathleen states.
“Are we going to stick together?”
Lauren suggests.
“That never works.” I shut that
idea down.
“So just free for all then, I
guess” Sabrina joins in the conversation
“That’s likely what’s going to
happen anyway. We’re going to lose each other if we try to stay together
anyway” Kathleen agrees as Amber starts clapping to get the rest of the
camper’s attention.
“You know what to do, wipe your
tables down and flip the benches, and you can head down to campfire.”
Everyone stands up and starts
moving. Kelsey and Sabrina go grab a wet cloth to wipe the table down, as they
were assigned as ‘gophers’ and cleaned up dinner, so they get to clean up now
as well. We flip the benches and head down to campfire, my cocoa not quite
finished as usual. I like to drink it slow so I have some at campfire.
We sing some classic songs, I Don’t
Wanna Go To Artaban, Cornermaster Store, and Arky Arky, as well as my favourite
slow song Rose Red:
Rose
rose rose red
Will
I ever see thee wed
I
will marry at thy will, sire
At
thy will
Ding
dong ding dong
Wedding
bells on an April morn
Carve
your name on a moss covered stone
On
a moss covered stone
We do our normal high pitched
“goodnight campers” before Amber goes up on the platform to do some
announcements.
“Most of you are aware that we are
playing lantern tonight!” she says, and a Wooo! immediately follows, “you guys
should already be in long sleeves and pants and have closed toed shoes on. But
before we meet in front of the dining hall in 10 minutes, I’m allowing you all
to go put away your mugs and change into the clothes you want to play in. go
ahead”
It’s dark enough to require our
flashlights to walk up the hill to the cabins. Once there I change into the
black long sleeve shirt I brought just to play lantern in, and into my navy
blue sweatpants.
The object of the game is to not be
seen by the counselors that have flashlights. They flash it on you if they see
you, while in the dark. If they see you, you have to travel back down the hill
to the bottom and start your quest for the ‘lantern’, which is usually a glow
stick.
Tonight we are playing in the
section of forest beside the craft hut. This is my favourite place to play as
there are lots of bushes and logs to hide behind. As soon as the game
officially starts we all ‘disappear’ with the exception of Rob, as he decided
to continue to wear his neon yellow sweater. Needless to say, he was the first
person to get caught.
I inch along the ground, and I
pause behind a log, trying to figure out where the other counselors are. “You
with the glasses and brown hair” a male voice says, shining the flashlight
right in my eyes. Well, I guess there’s a
counselor there I think sarcastically to myself. I figure out a way to get
back to the bottom, and head back up, taking a different route; I don’t want to
get caught again.
I’m about 3/4 of the way up the
hill, and I can see the green glow stick clearly. I just need to figure out a
way to get across, as it is to the left of me. As I’m lying on the ground, head
up, making sure I’m not getting caught, someone steps on my hand “Ow!” I
whisper loudly, as to not give myself away too badly. I slowly inch myself forward,
hoping I don’t get seen by the counselor who is nearby. While doing this, I see
the glow stick move and a girl yells out “WOOOHOOO!” Of course I didn’t win, I
never win at this game, I just always get close.
