Wonderland

Chapter One

"No, Jason, for the millionth time, you may not take your pet fish back to your bunk for a sleepover," Addison shouted, exasperated. She wasn't a kid person by any means, but the summer camp counselor job at Camp Rutledge paid well enough, provided free room and board, and allowed her to escape from the hell that was her freshman year of university. She had gone to college on a petroleum engineering scholarship due to her high standardized test scores, but quickly realized she had no proclivity for the subject and finished her first semester away from home with a disappointing 2.0 grade point average. She then switched her major to English lit and spent spring semester resuscitating her GPA. The shift in coursework had been a relief to her and a disappointment to her dad, who was one of those types who believed a job wasn't a job unless you got dirty every day.

No sooner had Addison finished making sure that the rambunctious eight year old left all the fish in the lake than a blood-curdling shriek snapped her attention back up the hill to where a couple of girls were racing to the top. One tripped over a depression in the earth and feel face first to the ground. Addison rolled her eyes and jogged to where the girls were frantically declaring that the squealing nine year old with curly black pig tails would "definitely have to have her leg cut off." "Ellie, stop crying. You are not going to have your leg cut off," Addison assured the blubbering little girl as she picked her up and shot the others a reprimanding glare. "You probably just sprained your ankle a bit. Let's take you to visit the nurse."

It took Addison about ten minutes to find a free counselor to watch the kids while she carried Ellie to the medical cabin. Addison was breathless by the time she set down the surprisingly heavy third grader, so she placed her hands on her knees to catch her breath before getting some water from the Culligan machine. Twenty second and third graders had not sounded that bad when she signed up for this gig. Boy, Addison thought to herself, Wasn't I in for a rude awakening? She had never realized children could have so many catastrophes within the course of a few hours. Yesterday morning it was a wasp sting when Malcolm thought it would be funny to poke the nest with a stick. By mid afternoon, she had dispensed ten band-aids (only three of which were really needed), broke up two fights, re-braided a hundred pigtails, and had an impromptu birds and the bees talk with a third grader named Phil when he demanded to know why "butt smacks like football players do" was an inappropriate form of greeting. Was I this big of a pain when I was a kid? Addison asked to herself, doubtful.

"Addie! How's it goin'? I hope the little rascals aren't giving you too much trouble!" a peppy voice with a slight Wisconsin accent announced upon entry to the nurses' cabin. The lady wore a broad smile which displayed her slightly over large white teeth prominently. She winked at Ellie, who stopped crying almost immediately and returned a shy smile. The lady had that effect on children, and Addison marveled at their exchanges every time she got the chance to witness one.

"Oh, hi, Mrs. Peterson," Addison replied, smiling back at the friendly camp director. Amy Peterson was about the peppiest lady Addison had ever met. She was tall and fit, with cropped brunette hair and kind eyes. She was a good employer, and checked in on the senior counselors frequently; she also had an inhuman amount of patience with the campers. Addison didn't know whether to conclude that Mrs. Peterson was on drugs or just a saint. "Actually, they're keeping me on my toes today, ma'am," Addison laughed, huffing a breath dramatically.

"I was thinking about that actually, Addie," the director said, "and decided that we might benefit from bringing in some more help. There's isn't enough left in the budget for more counselors, but the local high school has an advanced placement program, which requires students to do two hundred volunteer hours a summer, and I thought this might be a good opportunity for them and for us."

"Wow," Addison reacted, "That's strict." She had been a good student academically in high school, but wasn't very social, and hadn't joined any service groups herself.

"Yeah," Mrs. Peterson agreed jovially, "but it works for us! I'm going to bring in at least one high school student per senior counselor. We can call them junior counselors," she said, making a rainbow motion with her hands and winking dramatically in Addison's direction. Addison laughed; Mrs. Peterson was always eager to make her employees feel important.

"Sounds great, ma'am," Addison replied sincerely. She could seriously use some help, and the students from the advanced program sounded mature enough to be useful.

"Oh, I'm glad you think so, Addie," Mrs. Peterson replied, giving her arm a squeeze and waving in farewell. Addison waved back, and returned her attention to the nurse and Ellie, who was only sniffling lightly now, as the nurse wrapped a pretty pink ace bandage around her swelling ankle. The rest of the day passed without event, save for a few accusations of booger-picking at dinner and a review of the talk on boundaries with Phil. Soon enough, the day came to a merciful close, and all campers were accounted for and tucked snugly in their bunks. They could almost be cute when they're sleeping, Addison snorted to herself as she cleared the last cabin for lights out and headed back to her own.

Addison took a deep breath as she closed the door of her cabin and rested back against it as she kicked off her trainers. Silence was a luxury she hadn't fully appreciated until twenty children trampled through her daily solitude. She was lucky enough to have a single sleeper cabin, which she decorated in her standard minimalist fashion. It was small, but clean, and the new pine boards smelled like Christmas and camping. Addison fingered the black elastic band from her long sandy brown ponytail and loosed the waves around her shoulders. A shower was going to feel great after the long and hot day. She crossed her arms and pulled her short-sleeved raglan camp tee over her head, tossing it in her grey-blue mesh pop up hamper, followed shortly by her khaki shorts, socks, and undergarments. Addison grabbed a plush smoky blue towel that matched her hamper, and prepared to thoroughly enjoy the next two hours that she had all to herself. Soon, sunrise would come and the twenty campers for which she was responsible this summer would find new ways to make her lose her mind.