Untitled

We all get up in a hurry, we playing collectively, one of our favourite games of the week. The sun has gone down behind the mountain and we've sung our campfire closing song, Taps. I run past John wanting to make it up to the dining hall first, and by doing so, it is immediately made a race. He wins, of course, being 6' 3" and all. Huffing and puffing we agonizingly wait for the rest of our respective cabin mates to arrive before Arianna comes to remind us of the rules.

quick in class freewrite of an idea i'm forming for a creative essay (i'll post the creative 'write your own story' essay once its written)

As if it could be Anything Else

The golden sun peeking over the trees

it feels like ten degrees

despite it being late summer

But time is flying by

Stylish in our pajamas

and a constant zombie state

the cereal bowls clang

no thoughts of the city nearby

Expecting normality

Saved by the strange

Waiting would be disastrous

first is to get a seat

Fighting non-stop laughter

to maybe get through the meeting

Plastic swords

Answers to questions

Watch a movie and

we all lie on someone else

And to believe I thought this place had changed

Used To Know

The first time I went to competitive

I was 8 and nervous

Crossing to the other side of the gym

I was told to follow Alita

And I did just that for warm-up

The Kona Winds is a large boat

It took me to and from Gambier until it broke

And I would always sit on the top deck

Except for once; we played cards

I lost and was dared to lick the window

I did

I have a sister

Our height is on a wall

Marked with a pencil

Just down the hall

I know she is sleeping

When I hear a thunk

On the wall that we share

The stop lights were horizontal in Calgary

and the floor for gymnastics was bouncy

the White Spot had just reopened and my mom and Michelle

had Bellinis with dinner

We found the crawlspace in our cabin

This one time at band camp

There were mysterious blue crystals in a Ziploc bag

We never found out what they were

But it was a resounding ‘yes’ from my cabin mates for drugs

The Crown Motel

Has a lousy “heated” pool

We would float around on our air mattresses

And once I got pushed in

towel included

I saw campers setting up a bed

In the middle of the cabin area

For no apparent reason

They even brought out the broom and garbage can

Turns out that it was their counselors’

I got a picture of him jumping onto it

Telling my coaches I was quitting

Was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done

Tears and heartbreak

Not only for me, but for them

I would have been moving up a level

This is what I used to know

(my prof really liked this poem that i put in my portfolio, so I thought I'd share. i took the idea from Julia Nunes song This is What I Used To Know, but made the stories my own (with a slight exception to the third stanza))

Mornings

Dusty,

Allergies,

Sore hips.

These mattresses are horrible.

Beep beep beep

Rolling over

Fumbling with her phone

She turns off the alarm

Door opens

Blanket dragging, I walk

The couches. Sitting

Leaning against people

Bed head, morning breath

Everyone has sleepy eyes

Smelling bacon

Coffee wakes us up, only a bit.

What truly wakes us up

And causes a flurry of movement

Is the call

“Breakfast”

Lantern

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.

Summer Camp

Summer Camp

            I step off the boat onto the wobbly lower dock. I take my sunglasses off my head and put them over my eyes so the glare from the sun off the water is slightly bearable. I walk up the ramp, steep because of the low tide. It’s windy down here. I make note of things, the house on the point, the red railings, Snake Island, the red row boats and canoes. Everything is quiet for a moment as I remember. Then reality snaps back as I hear the kids behind me calling out my name, but that doesn’t matter. I’m home again for the first time since last summer.