The Summer of 1974

chapter 3~ Lake Bunny

June 28, 1974, boy scout camp

Robert woke up before the rest of the boys and walked out onto the porch where he sat on the steps.

The sun was starting to rise casting an orangish pink Hugh over the morning sky. Back at home Robert never woke up early enough to see the sunrises, and as he looked on at the colorful sky, he regretted never waking up to see it. It was beautiful.

The grass was still slightly damp from the morning dew and the air was chilly.

Robert got up off the deck steps when he saw in trees near his cabin there was movement. He didn't know if there was something there or if his eyes were playing tricks on him, but he could have sworn he saw a person.

He walked over to the tree line and looked around hoping to see where the movement was coming from. And like a stroke of luck Robert was able to make out a person's figure walking away from him and toward the creek that was far behind the cabin.

Robert couldn't make out his face because of trees so he decided to walk towards him, following him through the brush and toward the creek.

He was about to call out to the mysterious person when he turned around revealing himself.

And then Robert saw her face.

It was a girl.

At a boy scout camp.

Holding a rock.

Robert wanted to say something and make his presence known, but he found it hard to say anything. What the hell was a girl doing here?

She had long brown hair with skin that was glowing under the sunlight. She looked to be about as tall as him and was wearing a white summer dress that went just below her knees.

Then Robert stepped forward causing a twig to crunch under his feet.

The girl whipped her head around and spotted Robert standing there awkwardly. They stayed in an uncomfortable silence until the girl broke it.

"Hi, I didn't see you there."

"Oh um, hi." He replied, and for some reason he felt nervous. He never feels nervous. So why are his palms sweating?

"Uh, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm just collecting some rocks for my collection. What are you doing here?" she asked, tilting her head.

Robert ignored her question not wanting to make things awkward.

"Um, what's your name?"

"My name is Oriana. What's yours?"

"That's a nice name and uh, my name is Robert, but you can call me Rob if you want." He was trying so incredibly hard not to blush in embarrassment at how dumb he sounded.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Rob, and thank you. I'm named after the famous Oriana Fallaci."

"Who's that?"

"I dunno, that's just what my mom says." She said with a smile.

She was about to say something else when she got interrupted by Leo shouting Robert's name.

"Oh crap that's my um, uh, yeah I should go. To breakfast, yeah. Uh bye." Robert stammered out, walking backwards toward his cabin.

"See you later Rob." Oriana giggled giving him a small wave.

Robert practically ran back to the cabin, trying to control his heartbeat. He had so many questions and was so confused and he hardly even spoke five sentences to her.