Women's Empowerment Camp

Chapter 2: It Comes At A Price

Max woke up in his shared tent with Neil. It had been about a week since he moved out of the cabin and back onto the campgrounds. So he was still getting used to sleeping on a shitty cot again instead of an actual bed. Max looked around and noticed how quiet it was. ...A little TOO quiet. Neil was still asleep, as were most of the other campers. "God damn where is everyone." Max mumbled quietly as he rubbed his tired eyes. The boy stumbled out of his cot and peeked through the tent. Upon observing his surroundings, it was dark out, but not too dark. He looked around and upon the darkness was a beam of light near where the bonfire would normally take place. He walked toward it, thinking he was along. Only to be jumpscared by a familiar, overly cheery voice. "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, MAX!" David greeted as Max covered his ears. "Awfully early for you to be up already, huh?" The counselor said as Max sat on one of the makeshift benches that are basically just logs. "I don't wanna talk about it..." Max said as his eyes adjusted to the rising sun. There was a beat as the two watched the sight before them. "Do you come here all the time?" He asked. "I wouldn't really say ALL the time." David said. 

The two sat in a rather comfortable silence. Something David and Max rarely ever did together. ...If Max even wanted to spend one on one time with David at all. Even though he didn't wanna admit it, Max was actually enjoying the view. It felt... Peaceful. He finally broke the silence by asking "When does the sun usually start to come up like this?" David turned his head to face the child, not expecting such a question. "...Not that I, y'know. CARE or anything." Max said. David smiled and simply said "5:30." Max didn't even question David for giving a one-word answer since he knew pretty much everything about nature. "...Should I go?" Max asked. "Only if you want to." David replied. The boy got off the log he was sitting on and began to walk back to his shared tent. Only before David stopped him. "But you can never escape such a magnificent view." The counselor said before Max brushed it off as David being... David. 

8:00am

Gwen was barely ever a light sleeper, but today seemed to be an exception for her as she was woken up by the sound of a tree branch falling off. And not a small one either. She bolted up out of bed and rushed outside in nothing but her uniform and no shoes on. She looked around and saw a large branch had fallen off of a nearby tree, it didn't look to have naturally fallen off, it looked like it was PULLED off by someone's weight. "I fucking swear if Nurf is trying to make his own spiked mallet I'm gonna kill him." Gwen thought to herself before she heard a voice that she did NOT wanna hear half awake. "Hi, Gwen!" Somebody said. The counselor looked around, her tired eyes still adjusting. "I'm down here!" The voice said again. Gwen looked down only to see Nikki holding a huge stick. "...How did you?" Gwen asked, connecting the dots. "I saw we were running low on firewood, so I'm taking things into my own hands." Nikki explained. Gwen took the stick from the small child and chucked it back into the woods. "David stocked up on firewood last night. I think we're good." She said, rubbing her temple. "Awww that was a waste of a perfectly good stick, Gwen! You owe me one!" Nikki replied before running into the woods, possibly searching for her stick. Gwen was about to turn back to return to the cabin, only to be caught off by the screeching of the PA system that was very rarely used. 

"Attention campers! Please report to the mess hall for a special announcement!" An automated message of Cameron Campbell's voice said. This only gave Gwen even more of a morning headache and a crowd of campers to emerge from their tents. "...At least those little shits look more refreshed than I do." She mumbled. The campers, plus Gwen, reported to the mess hall only to be greeted by David standing beside a chalkboard that looked like it had been used so much that you couldn't erase anything off it anymore. "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, CAMPERS!" David greeted, resulting in Gwen covering her ears. He waited for a response, but didn't get one. "Are we doing swimming lessons early today?" Space Kid asked, raising his hand. "Well uh. Contrary to what the board says, Space Kid. We are NOT doing swimming lessons today!" David said, the kids staring at him confused. "Instead, we will be trying a new activity here at camp!" Ok, this time it was REALLY getting confusing. "Am I required to be in this activity?" Max said, hoping he'd be able to worm his way out. "I'm afraid so, Max." David replied, only to receive a bored groan from the 10 year old. Gwen sat down, wanting to just go back to bed. Her headache got worse the more David scribbled on the board with the same crappy piece of chalk that had been used since God knows when. 

"So you know how the Flower Scouts have their annual cookie sales?" David questioned. "Yeah, the one we raided last week?" Max replied. "...Well, this year, we are gonna do our OWN sale!" David replied, garnering mixed reception from the crowd. "What will we be selling?" Nerris asked. "That's a great question, Nerris." David replied. "And that great answer is...." He paused before writing on the board some more. He stepped aside to reveal a poorly drawn candy bar with the words "Campbell's Candies" written below it. "Campbell's...Candies?" Gwen said, trying to read the words behind all the pervious drawings and words. "Seriously, David. We need to get a new chalkboard." She added. "And that's EXACTLY what we're gonna do with the money we earn from selling Campbell's Candies!" David responded, his eyes practically BEAMING. "Well... What ARE Campbell's Candies, David?" Ered asked. "It sounds cool." David went behind the board and pulled out a moderate stack of boxes. Each labeled with a different flavor\variety of candy bars. "We will be selling 100 boxes of candy bars in hopes to turn a profit for this summer camp!" He announced. "...Which brings us to our price for these bars." David grabbed a worn out eraser and wiped it against the board, only to have it create a large cloud of white dust. Once the cloud faded away, he began writing on a somewhat clean board. Which was only covered in white dust. He began to explain the candy bars they would be selling and how much to charge for them. The problem was... Campbell wanted some really BOGUS prices for these bars. 

"David. We are NOT charging $50 for a regular chocolate bar you can just get at the store." Gwen said, interrupting him. "Oh, but that's the cheapest one, Gwen!" David replied. "...Actually, the almond bar is our cheapest option." He blushed awkwardly. "Now the DARK chocolate bars are a little more expensive. The standard one costing $100." David explained, holding up a dark chocolate bar. "...As in...$100 for 100 or-" Neil asked before being interrupted "$100 per BAR, Neil." David replied. It was clear nobody took this seriously. Had David REALLY lost his mind? "I like the prices, Mr. David. But why are they so expensive to begin with?" Dolf said. "Glad you asked, Dolf." David replied. "These aren't just any old candy bar you can buy at the checkout line. These bars were made with locally sourced ingredients like-" David explained before being cut off "METH!" Max yelled from the crowd. "Well... Only in the Beyond Candy Bar" David admitted. "And those cost???" Gwen asked. "...$200." David confessed. "Basically, Campbell wants all 100 boxes sold by the end of the month." He explained to the children. "So that means every day, Gwen will be splitting you into two groups of 5. We will take each of you into different parts of town to try and sell these bars in hopes to earn enough money for..." David paused. "Wow... Campbell really didn't say what the money was for. But I'm sure it's to fund our beloved summer camp!" He said before opening the first couple boxes and packing the bars up into smaller boxes for the children to carry. 

Gwen began to split the campers up into two groups. Max was stuck with Nikki and Neil as usual, while Preston and Nerris would join them. "I'll be in charge of group 2, so that means David will be monitoring your candy sales." She explained. "It's bad enough I have to be stuck with Nerris, but to add David on top of that?!" Max exclaimed. "This is gonna be the worst month EVER!" "Yeah, I wanted to be in Ered's group." Nikki pouted before each of the kids were handed their boxes. "Well, David? These little shits are in your hands now." Gwen shrugged before walking away. "Wonderful! Now let's sell some bars!!!" David cheered as he and Gwen proceeded to guide their groups out of the mess hall. 

This was the start of a business venture that was bound to fail.