Pranked

Fourteen

It had been three days into survival week and we weren't doing so bad. We had an infinite water source, Kenny was a total pro at finding food (heck he brought us raspberries once), our shelter was going well, Evelyn was holding up well, and no one got lost. Evelyn said that survival week was being cut a day short because three teams had cheated, so we would be going back tomorrow instead. We decided to have a party that evening. During the day, we decided to gather food for our 'potluck'. We came to dinner and had tons to eat. We opened the bag of gummy bears and put them on half a paper plate. Jojo found raspberries and blackberries which she boiled in my canteen to make a fruit drink. Martin pulled of some alfalfa and some elm leaves to make a salad. I went wandering beyond the border and found cabin nine. I spoke to them and told them we were starving. That wasn't actually true, but they donated me a small bag of potato chips. Our potluck was great. We all had 'the holy glass' which was the plastic wine glass. We poured ginger ale in it and passed it around and drank it. When we ran out of ginger ale, we ate and threw some gummy bears into the fire. Sure, we did waste some food, but it looked cool, watching the gummy bears melt. I wondered who would stay at this site next year. They may see the remains of our gummy bears and wonder what it is. And after dinner, we all went into our shelter and went to sleep before the rain came in. The shelter was tight. One wall was at a vertical angle and against a tree and so Jojo and I both sat down and leaned back against it while Martin and Kenny curled up on several pine boughs lining the ground to keep the chill from the earth out. I listened to the rain come. I felt totally at home. That was strange, because home was no more than a tent shaped stack of wooden logs with pine boughs on the floor and a trash bag stretched over the roof. It was homey in a strange way. I closed my eyes and listened to the rain on the roof. It relaxd me. Maybe this was how homeless people felt, living in boxes and still managing to be happy in this crazy world. It was a new experience for me. I had never even been camping or anything. Ok, maybe I roasted a marshmallow over a fire when I was younger, but that was the closest thing to camping that I've ever done. And now, being thrown out in the woods, keeping my friends and my cousin safe and alive as well as a counselor who just sat there, writing notes made me feel proud. I watched Evelyn, who curled up in the corner, wearing a pair of cut up sinch sacks on her arms to keep warm. It must be scary, being a counselor in this position. To teach a group of kids survival skills and then be thrown into the woods with them and to trust them to take care of each other and yourself. I remembered that we had to hike back tomorrow, so I shut my eyes and went to sleep.