Between The Trees

Chapter 1

"When I meet my prince, I'll know it right away, and I'll love him right then and there." - Susanna Bouchard, aged 4

Chapter 1

This was her first time abroad alone. Maple was hot off a ten-hour flight from Heathrow to Seattle, Washington; she'd been stopped by security and pulled aside for questioning due to a hiccup with her work visa, leaving her a shaking, burbling mess. Then, her baggage had taken another two hours to arrive. She had stumbled into the arrivals lounge, struggling under the weight of her almost-23KG backpack (she knew that, because she'd anxiously repacked it four times to ensure it was under the airline's luggage restriction), sweaty, with bright red cheeks. Maple barely had time to correct her crooked glasses when-

"Maple?"

It wasn't her real name, but Maple turned. The voice had come from across the hall, and she eventually located a young woman with a smile wider than Seattle's summer sun. She was waving, and then got up to come greet her.

"You are Maple, right?"

Maple nodded, and the woman smiled again, then took her oversized backpack with ease.

"Let me help you with that. I'm Bonsai, I'm a Unit Co-ordinator at Langlois; here to pick you and a few other internationals up." She explained. Maple nodded again.

"Oh-thanks," she said softly, her English accent sudden and jarring compared to the easy flow of Bonsai's Pacific Northwest lilt.

"You're welcome," the smile was back, and it filled Maple with joy. "You're the last one, so we can head to the van now." Bonsai hoisted Maple's bag higher on her back, then lead her over to a group of other overwhelmed looking individuals. "This is Marmalade, Capri Sun, Yellow, Cadbury and Pomelo," Bonsai introduced her to the strangers. Maple smiled at them in greeting, but immediately forgot all their names.

She was used to being called Maple; her father had called her his Maple leaf ever since she was born, thanks to her bright red hair as a baby and his Canadian roots. So, when she'd been asked to pick a camp name for her summer working at Camp Langlois, Maple had been the obvious choice. And yet, somehow, she'd forgotten that everyone else would have names that were a bit off the wall too.

"Alright, are we ready to head to camp?" Bonsai asked the disjointed group, some of whom nodded in response, but for the most part they just looked shell-shocked. Maple heard Bonsai chuckle about 'internationals' under her breath, then was efficiently herded out of the arrivals hall and to the multi-storey car park. A large white van was parked nearby with Camp Langlois printed along the side in forest green.

Despite Bonsai's best efforts, the almost hour-long drive to camp was completed in near silence. Maple wasn't a big talker on a good day, and so she wasn't about to start any small talk after the 12 hours she'd just had. It wasn't until they drove through a wooden 'Camp Langlois' gate that Maple even started paying attention to those around her. Bonsai manoeuvred the large van up steep hills and round sharp corners before parking in front of a building that looked like a cross between a house and a cabin.

"These are the Cielos," Bonsai announced, turning to look at the cohort in the back of the vehicle. "The littlies sleep here once camp is in session - seven and under. But you lucky internationals get to stay here whilst you get used to camp. In four nights, you'll move down to the units when the American staff arrive," she explained, pulling out her phone. "Capri Sun and Pomelo, you're in Cielo one, so this is your stop."

Bonsai bounced out of the van and helped the two girls pull out their large bags. She mentioned something about helping them settle in, then vanished inside the building with them. Maple could hear other voices, and a few times she glimpsed young women of her age through the trees, and her hands began to shake nervously. Without Bonsai's constant chatter - or, sometimes, singing, morale in the van plummeted almost immediately.