Family + Camp (working title)

Chapter 25: Letters Sent and Unsent

The next game was getting in order by birthdate without speaking. There were a lot of fingers in the air expressing months and dates. About a quarter of the staffers were from Camp Counselors International. Nell would have to ask her dad about that. Maybe they got paid less than regular American camp counselors? That or they filled in the hole left by a lack of talent. They had not used this service up in Oregon.

In addition to Annika, there was Kirsten, another wrangler from Norway; and two girls from Australia on the Arts and Crafts team who had already adopted camp names—Topaz and Honeydew. Honeydew had the good fortune of playing the guitar. So did Dave, a wrangler from Sonoma County. They were going to be tapped quite often to perform at campfire, that was for sure.

Because of the International folks, there was some confusion about months and dates, which number went first when trying to interpret someone's birthday. Eventually, they got it.
Then it was time for the boring part. Morrie had some of the staffers move their chairs so that the circle became horseshoe shaped. He and Rob stood at the opening, and training began.
Nell had been allowed to be on staff the year before at Fields Creek after she got her lifeguard certification. She had been the youngest there, and she was still one of the youngest this year. The point was that all of this was familiar to her. She didn't exactly space out, but she definitely didn't pay super close attention to what her dad and Rob were saying. She knew all about being a person who needed to report suspected child abuse. She knew about the SAD rule (well, now she did). She knew this, that, and the other thing.

After two hours, they took a pee break, but were right back at it for another ninety minutes before Morrie let them go.

"We'll see you all at dinner," he said. "Meals are mandatory, and so is the camp fire afterwards."

Nell was definitely ready for her own room. She headed home before anyone could waylay her.
When she got to the house, she took off her shoes by the front door as was her family's custom. Her mom was in the living room rearranging the furniture. Clearly their first attempts at making it homey had not been to Sandy Wu's satisfaction.

"Hey, honey," she said. "How was training?"

Nell shrugged. "It was, you know, your basic do this and don't do that kind of thing."

Sandy nodded, fluffing a throw pillow on the couch and cocking her head at it. "How are your coworkers? Make any new best friends?"

Nell thought of Cashel, but tucked that stray thought away like a tendril of hair behind her ear. "Oh, Mom," she said instead of anything else.

"I know you miss your friends." Sandy sat on the couch and patted the seat next to her. Nell's room would have to wait. "And this was a big move."

"It's fine," Nell grabbed a different throw pillow and flopped onto the couch, putting her bare feet on the coffee table. "I'm fine."

Her mom frowned at Nell's dirty feet. "Off," she said. Nell obeyed.

"You'll have to ask Len and Jenny to come down for a visit this summer."

Nell sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "I guess. But they're probably busy, and it's a long way."

"Sure it is. But they're young. They can do it. I remember having boundless energy at your age. They can carve out some time to see your new place and all. Have you written to them?"

"Yeah," Nell admitted reluctantly. She'd been too busy with moving in, and now staff training had started, to think about whether or not her friends had gotten her letters, or to wonder if they had written back yet. They could have written to her first, after all, but evidence showed they had not. They had her address because she'd given it to them before leaving. What had she expected? That Len would write and mail a letter even before Nell had left town? That wasn't the kind of person he was. Teens might have boundless energy but they also had boundless laziness.