Harly

Chapter 1

"Mom," I yelled, my voice echoing through the house, "I can't find Luna anywhere! I have to be at Camp Myths of Ontario at 9:00, and it is already 7:00! Have you seen her?"

"No!" Mom shouted over the sound of the dryer, the rhythmic hum of the machine punctuating our frantic morning.

I was completely packed for camp except for Luna, my favorite stuffed animal, and socks, which I was washing. It might seem a bit childish to take stuffed animals to a camp at fifteen, but Luna was different. This wasn't just any stuffed animal; this was a cherished gift from my absolute best friend, Grace. We were born two days apart in the same hospital room, and the first time we met was on Grace's birthday, because our moms both threw us birthday parties at the same building, in the same room, and my mom forgot the time my party was and took me to the party early and we almost ruined Grace's party. Ever since then Grace and I have been best friends and practically sisters.

"Harly," Mom entered my room. "Grace's mom just called. She says you left Luna there yesterday."

"Really?" I asked incredulously, "I don't usually forget things, especially not Luna."

"I guess you just got so caught up in excitement for camp  that you forgot ." Mom replied soothingly, "Now if you want to take Luna,  we need to go get her now because Grace has to leave soon."

"Ok, the washer just finished so I'm going to move it to the dryer, meet you in the car."

Upon arriving, I dashed to Grace's door, anxiously knocking. When she opened it, a warm smile spread across her face.

"Hey! I can't believe I forgot Luna."

"Yeah, you never forget her," Grace replied, leading me to her room where Luna sat on a red bean bag beside my gift to her, a bald eagle named Freedom, given on the same day Grace had given me Luna. Luna's stuffed form seemed to exude happiness as she greeted me.

"Did you see that?" I questioned bewildered.

"No," Grace said, puzzled, "What did you see, Harly?"

"Oh, nothing, I was just testing to see if you were paying attention." I lied, thoroughly confused by what I had just seen.

"Grace," her mom called from the hallway, "are you ready yet?"

"Yes, I just have to say bye to Harly," Grace responded

I looked over at her and playfully rolled my eyes and mouthed "Moms."

When we got home I went straight up to my room to finish packing for camp. I ran back downstairs to check if the dryer was done yet. Of course, it still had 5 minutes. While I waited for the drier I decided to get a couple of powerful flashlights and a small box of power bars. By the time I tracked everything down and found extra batteries the drier was done.

"Mom!" I called when I was finished packing, "I'm ready to go!"

We were driving to Camp Ontario and saw not many people were there yet which was surprising given that the call time was in 10 minutes. At the check-in building, my mother received the schedule for visitation, and we received a quick overview of camp activities. After we had asked all our questions I was handed a campground map. There were four different cabins, Cabin Ruby, Cabin Emerald, for the girls, and Cabin Amethyst, and Cabin Sapphire, for the boys. There were four cabins: Cabin Ruby, Cabin Emerald for girls, and Cabin Amethyst and Cabin Sapphire for boys. Each cabin had a distinct door color matching its gemstone. I was assigned to Cabin Emerald, so I told my mom I'd see her at the end of the month, and she left. I examined the map to figure out where to go next.

While I was absorbed in studying the map, someone collided with me. "Hey," I said reflexively, turning to see Grace.

"Oh, sorry Grace, I didn't see you there... Wait, that is Grace, right?" I asked, puzzled about why she was there.