Blood Moon Lake

Chapter 2

It had been about three hours since we had stopped for lunch, and I now sat in the back of Ella's car scrolling through Pinterest. I was looking at different clothing designs trying to get inspiration for my next project. Currently, all I knew was that I wanted it to be nature-themed, since I was spending the week in a cabin, I figured I would be able to find something to inspire my next design. As I scrolled through the assortment of images something caught my eye. Immediately clicking on the image, I couldn't help but gape at what I had found. It was a gorgeous brown dress with a portrait neckline, adorned with a long trail and enchanting light green trim. Sewn on the skirt was beautiful pastel pink and blue butterflies. "Anna come look at this dress," I said showing her the photo. "Oh, wow," she gasped, "That's stunning." I nodded in agreement; I had found the piece to inspire my work. Now all I needed to do was put my spin on it. A smile spread across now I definitely couldn't wait to get to the cabin. "How much longer till we get there?" I asked looking up at Ella. "We have another hour," she told me, "You better not have to go to the bathroom because we just stopped." "I don't," I reassured her, "I was just wondering." "Okay," she nodded turning all of her attention back to the road. Turning my focus back to the image of the dress I decided to save it so I wouldn't lose it. I then picked up my backpack and began digging through it to find my sketchbook. As I dug through my bag, I pulled some stuff out and placed it on the seat beside me until my hands brushed across the familiar feeling of a spiral-bound notebook. "AHA!" I cried pulling it out of my bag, "I found it!"

"Oi!" Ella shouted, "Stop making a mess in my car!" "I'm gonna clean it up! Jeez!" I replied while stuffing the things back in my bag. After I had put all of my things back in my backpack, I pulled out my pencil case and opened my sketchbook. The sketchbook is well used, and the black cover had faded over the years and some of the drawings had faded too, the lines weren't as defined as they used to be, but you could still tell what most of the stuff was. This was the first drawing book I had used to design clothes; my mom had given it to me when I was either ten or twelve so that I could draw scenery and stuff in it. The book stayed untouched for years until I found out about my passion for designing and then whenever I got an idea, I sketched it out. When I became experienced enough, I started making them. I always take it with me just in case I see something that catches my eye and sparks an idea, so it has most definitely seen better days, but it is my favorite sketchbook. I flipped through the book trying to find an empty page I finally found one towards the back of the book and began to sketch out my design. I wanted the sleeves to cover the shoulders and be long enough to reach the elbow, but I didn't want them to be a tight fit, but flowy kinda like a princess dress. The bodice would fit snuggly around the waist and chest with mesh over whatever color of silk I decided to use for the embroidery. The skirt would be high low, knee-length in the front, and go down to mid-calf in the back. I might embroider some flowers at the bottom of the silk to add some color. I would probably use a paler shade of silk to give the dress a softer tone to try and match the delicacy of the flowers. This would be a spring dress if you wanted it to match the season. It would also look nice with a hat, but I don't feel like adding one so that would be up to the person wearing it.

I smiled down at the completed design it looked perfect. Now I just needed to figure out the colors! The style of the dress might change when I get to the cabin depending on if I find anything I should add or take away, but for now, I love it. "What are you drawing?" Jack asked turning around to face me. "A dress," I answered. "Can I see?" he questioned. "Yeah, sure," I replied turning the sketchbook so he could see it. "Oh wow! That beautiful! I think I would even try that on!" He exclaimed. Ella laughed, "Jack Wood in a dress oh I would love to see that!" Jack rolled his eyes, "Shut up." "No, I'm serious! I would pay to see you in a dress!" Ella insisted, "Because it is something you'd never do! If it was something that caught his eye and he deemed gorgeous Luke would go ahead and try it on, but you never in a million years." "She is right," Anna said, "We all know you would never put on a dress unless you were blackout drunk." "Wow way to call me out," Jack muttered slumping down in his seat and crossing his arms. "We're just messing with you Jack," I laughed. Jack just stuck his tongue out at us. I shook my head, but I could feel a small smile forming. I turned to look out the window we weren't on the highway anymore we were driving through some random town it was a nice quiet place, and I could see some adults walking around most were heading in and out of stores. Different shops lined the street there was a Walmart right next to it was a Post Office and farther down was a red brick building that didn't have a name. There was a small library on the other side of the road and next to that was what I believe is a Pawn Shop with bars on the window. "Wanna stop there?" Anna joked pointing to the Pawn Shop. "Nope!" Jack shouted locking the car doors. "I was joking," Anna giggled, "I would never go in one of those places they're creepy." I chuckled, "Yeah it looked pretty shady especially with the windows bared."

"Agreed," Jack replied. "Thirty more minutes till we arrive!" Ella announced. "Yay!" Anna cheered, "We're almost there!" Thank goodness! I thought to myself, I can't wait to get out of this car! Soon enough the senary changed from small shops and houses to trees and empty fields. As I continued to watch the trees roll by, I began to brainstorm things we could do once we got to the cabin. We had it all to ourselves for a week so there are endless possibilities. I know I want to go swimming and meet some people in the other cabins, but I'm not sure what the others want to do, and I don't know if anything is interesting around the cabin. We could go hiking that would be fun if it wasn't too hot that is, or we could just lay around the cabin and do nothing. Meh, we'll just figure it out when we get there, I mean we have all week. I turned my attention back to the window and I noticed we were now on a dirt road surrounded by trees the road split into a fork and in the center was a sign that said 'Welcome to Blood Moon Lake! Enjoy your stay!' Underneath the sign were two arrows that pointed in opposite directions the one on the right said, 'Cabins' and the one on the left said, "Camping Grounds.' Ella turned right and we continued down the road. As we continued driving the trees on the left began to thin and revealed a bunch of cabins near a large lake. Ella slowed to a stop at another sign this one littered with different cabin numbers and arrows pointing in the direction we needed to go. "Which cabin are we staying in?" Ella asked turning to face Anna. "Cabin thirty-three," Anna replied. Ella nodded, "Okay," and continued driving. We continued down the dirt road till we came to the very end and then turned left into the driveway. Ella parked the car and sighed, "We're here." I looked at the clock, three forty. We're only ten minutes late, well technically we didn't say we were gonna get here exactly at three-thirty we said around three-thirty, so I don't think it counts as late.

Grabbing my backpack, I opened up the car door and slid out. Glancing around, I couldn't help but gape at the beauty of this place. The cabin was built out of a wonderful red cedar wood that looked almost golden with the light bouncing off it. The cabin had a front porch that faced the shimmering lake with some rocking chairs and a small table. It would be the perfect place to watch the sunrise. Enchanting yellow Begonias filled the flower bed in front of the cabin along with red Rhododendrons. The whole place was filled with laughter and happy shouts. It was like paradise. "Luke!" Ella shouted pulling me out of my trance, "Come get your stuff!" "Coming!" I hollered back. Turning around, I jogged over to the back of the car so I could collect my bag. I picked it up and swung it over my shoulder then I reached down and grabbed my pillow. As I walked toward the cabin a thought flashed across my mind and I stopped dead in my tracks. "Uh, guys," I said. "Yeah?" They all asked. "How do we get inside without a key?" I questioned, turning around to face them. My friends stared at me with blank expressions and then we all burst out laughing. "I-I can't believe w-we forgot we needed k-kyes," Jack wheezed. "D-do you guys' k-know where we can g-get them?" I asked in between giggles. "I think I saw a little building before we got to the sign with all the cabin numbers," Ella told me out of breath. I nodded as I tried to calm myself down, "Okay, I'll go get them." I set my bag and backpack down and placed my pillow on top of them. Taking a deep breath, I walked out of the driveway and began to run down the road. As I ran down the road, I looked at the other cabins most had cars in the driveways a few were empty. People were either unloading their cars or exploring the area around their cabin. All of the cabins looked the same except for their sizes, some were bigger others were smaller. By the time I got to the front of the camp, I was out of breath.

I glanced around trying to find the building Ella was talking about, my eyes landed on a building that reminded me of a trailer with a sign that said, 'Check-in and check-out.' "That must be the place," I muttered. Walking over to the building, I checked to see if the door was unlocked. Luckily it was, I opened the door and walked inside. Glancing around I saw a desk on the other end of the building with a little sign that said, 'Check in or out here.' Making my way over to the desk, it took me a second before realizing it was empty. I frowned that's strange one would think that someone would be there. Oh well, I'll just wait. "Are you here to check in?" a voice behind me asked. Whipping around I came face to face with a woman in her late fifties. She had short red hair and brown eyes and she was wearing khaki shorts and a blue shirt that said, 'Blood Moon Lake Cabins and Camping.' "Yes, I am," I replied. "Which cabin?" she asked. "Cabin thirty-three," I told her. She nodded and walked behind the counter and grabbed a pair of keys. "Here you go," she said handing me the keys, "My husband is out right now, but he'll stop by your cabin to show you how everything works." I nodded and took the keys, "Okay, it was nice meeting you." The woman smiled and with that, I left the building.