Summer Nights

Welcome to Camp Juniper

Silas had to be at this camp a whole week before the kids came. Well, at least that's a week of not having to deal with kids, but it's also another week of waking up at six in the morning. He gets up begrudgingly, the floorboards of the cabin creaking as he does so, and walks to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Will- the other counselor of his group- was just coming out of the showers, and bumped into him. Silas may or may not have shot a death glare at the shirtless man. 

Breakfast for the counselors was boring, but the cereal was good and Silas was on "target set up" today which basically meant put up all the targets for archery, and burn the old ones according to a senior counselor. Silas liked burning stuff. He liked burning stuff almost as much as he liked sex, and mild violence. Never mind that. 

All the counselors were dismissed, and Silas walked briskly out of the "bear shack" (what they called the dining hall). He had work to do, and if he did it quickly, he could take a nap and forget the world existed. He took the longer trail to the archery station, walking along "pebble creek" instead of through the meadow.  It might be contradictory- he wanted to get the work done faster so he should get there faster, right?- but Silas hated  the meadow, too much brushing all against him at once, so he opted for the longer route. The sun shone brightly, its rays leaking softly through the thick tree coverage and making everything unbearably muggy. That was okay though, because at least, when it got too hot Silas could splash the cool creek water on himself. He found himself thinking about that very water as he walked, it ran cooly even in the heat...it was honestly a little miracle. Even if Silas was a bit of a pessimist, he could appreciate that, the little miracle that ran through camp. The thought made him smile to himself.

Eventually he got to the Archery station. It was a little clearing in the woods, with sturdy targets set up at different heights and distances often utilizing thntioe trees and hang-ups. There was a little shack as well, where new targets, bows, quivers, arrows, and target se tup materials were. Silas walked up to the shed an unlocked the door, dragging out a few targets, and starting to put them in the place of the old ones. Once that was done, he locked up the shed, and started a fire with the old targets. He beamed at his work, before taking out a knife and carving little designs in a stick, throwing that into the blazing fire as well when he was done. Silas looked up at the bright sky. It was hot, and sticky, and muggy but it reminded him of days as a kid- out on the farm tending to the corn, beans, and squash in mid-summer. Times where simpler then, before the drugs, before he even knew what sex was, before he found his father hanging in the barn shed. He had been full of joy back then, but now...even as he was in a good patch...he didn't know. He sighed, and got up, extinguishing his dying fire with the last of his water in his water bottle. And then he left. 

Back at the counselors cabin-which was only used for the first week before camp opened and for meetings- everyone was given snacks, and a paper telling them cabin, co-counselor, and their campers they would have to look after. Silas looked over his paper, a guy named Will was his co-counselor and he was in the Raven cabin, he didn't bother look at the list of names.  Now is a good time to mention, that Silas hates kids. Never did like them. Why is he volunteering at a summer camp then? Well, his therapist said it might help him with his childhood trauma- plus hot guys. So that's how Silas eventually ended up here. At Camp Juniper, in The Raven Cabin...with a cute tanned and freckled blond guy his age...sweet mother of Jesus. 

Silas looked the boy up and down, keeping his mouth closed, and in a thin line, but he was surely blushing. 

"Hiya, yer Silas, right?" Will asked in a mild southern accent, which wasn't weird to Silas-because they were in Georgia, where Silas had lived most of his life. Silas nodded, still blushing a bit. His brain darted to what the guy would look like in swim trunks, but shook it off.

"Yeah, that's me." Silas said, in a monotone voice. 

Will looked at him quizzically for a moment and then asked. 

"Where're ya from? You sound Georgian...but like...not country, and not Atlantan either."  Will asked. 

"Born in Nashville, raised in Jasper and I live in Atlanta now. I'm gonna put my stuff down."  Silas said blankly, trying to make it seem like he wasn't interested in talking- otherwise he might make a fool of himself.

Will's smile faltered for a millisecond, but then he nodded and started humming the tune of some old folk song.  Silas sighed, it was going to be a long summer.