Turmoil

Stikers

Atlanta

Everybody is surprised that I could read a map. Tim especially.

"WHO'S THE BADASS OF THEM ALL, " I chant

"YOU ARE, " they sing in unison, and even Tim joins in.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU, "

"YOU ARE, "

I cheer and then run ahead, barefoot and all. My awesome skills reap benefits. We end up with four two-litre bottles of water, blankets, ropes, matches and firestarters. I'm glad that we have acquired the matches. I don't exactly fancy going flint and stone. The last place marked, is our camp place, which is basically a clearing, swept free of all the trees, the snake of a river's tongue gushing a little bit away.

"What now? " Phoenix asks and dumps the supplies onto the floor. They clonk as they fall. I follow his example. We're all hot, we're sticky like candyfloss. My hair is one sheet of sweat.

"We have to set up camp first, " Lorraine says and her eyes are already scanning the area for a place to pitch our 'tent' and where our fireplace should be. Everybody groans at her words. We have trekked all the way here, fought our way through brambles, just so we could work even more. And the susurration on the river, so beckoning too.

"Come on L, " I laugh and I take her supplies from her, dumping them on the floor " we'll go for a little swim first, then back to work, "

She looks doubtful, and I'm guessing she has never lain work aside for a bit of fun. Lorraine doesn't strike me like the kind of girl that jumped out windows or ate ice cream after six. But this is camp. And camp is supposed to be wild.

"No swimming after seven, " Tim informs us, in that conceited little voice of his. I wonder how he knows this and I'm surprised that I wasn't the only one who listened to the rules. They are so much easier to break when you're aware of what they consist of. I'm still holding Lorraine's arm, so before I even have a chance to whirl around and tell Tim off, Phoenix cuts in.

"We don't actually know what time it is, " Phoenix says in a friendly voice " and besides, time was invented by humans so there wouldn't be chaos, so it doesn't actually exist, "

I'm proud of the way he manages Tim, using facts because Tim seems to be intellectual. Phoenix has a way with people. He has a way of saying the things he intended, without harming anyone in the process. It's hard to tell what Tim thinks, his face is a drawn curtain. But he doesn't utter one word against the idea so I guess he must be appeased.

"I don't know if I should go, " Lorraine is still doubtful and I can feel the impatience curling up my back, like a cat using me for a scratching post. My foot, it stings every time I set it down, and I'm pretty sure it's infected.

"Come on Lorraine, it'll be fun, " Phoenix says " we can all wash off and then get to work. Cold water. No sweat. It'll be too cold later, "

He's lying I know, and I glance at Tim to make sure he keeps his mouth shut. It won't be too cold later, but I doubt Lorraine knows that.

"Fine, " she agrees and we are all charging towards the river. We don't even bother to waste time on tasks so trivial as getting undressed.

"We should slow down, " Tim yells over his shoulder " and wade in, check out the depth and current, "

But my feet are still pounding the ground when all the others have come to a standstill. The air is too still to be in much longer. The water, it adjures me to jump, it greets me. My bare feet are cold against the grass that dew has begun to gather upon.

"Atlanta, " I can hear Phoenix behind me. But it's too late. He can't hold me back. With the final push, arms spinning, I'm in mid-air. I'm tossed forward by gravity, like a piece of trash tossed towards a bin. I let out a scream, a scream that's full of fun and youth and then I crash.

The water tosses me back out again, and my head is above water, and I'm spluttering and laughing.

"Tim told you not to jump in, " Lorraine says in pinched voice " you could have not resurfaced again, "

"But I did, " I tell her and lift up one arm to wave " come on jump, there's no current what so ever, and the river at least a meter deep around here, "

"You better watch out Atlanta Savage, I'm coming in, " Phoenix is the first to comply. He charges at the bank, and I let out a scream, moving away so he doesn't land on me. His jump is rewarded by a mist of droplets, flung into the air above us and coming down as rain. He looks up, and I see Phoenix eyes, brown and smooth, like the surface of a chestnut.

"You have gorgeous eyes, " I inform him, and he looks taken aback when the conversation is interrupted by Lorraine's leap, who is quickly followed by Tim.

The swim ends quickly as Lorraine's eagerness to get things done hasn't been washed away with her sweat.

"Tim and Phoenix, you're off to go get wood for the fireplace, " she orders them and explains how we need rocks to mark out where the fireplace is going to be. For a townie she sure knows a lot about camping. I may have written her off too soon.

"We'll build the tent, " she says to me and I have to scramble to find the sheet of polyester that we ditched amongst the other supplies. Setting up the tent is easy. We find a low hanging branch, and toss the sheet over, so it hangs down from both sides, like the kind of tents children made on washing lines when younger.

We manage to excavate a couple of rocks from their homes to use as weights to pin down the edges of our tent. When we're done, we step back to admire our work. We've done a good job, it looks like an actual tent.

"It's perfect, " Lorraine says proudly, crossing her arms across her chest. Her hair is still dripping from our swim, even though her clothes have dried.

"It's a bit dull, " I say "we need something to liven it up, "

I squat down where I dumped my bag, and begin to root through it, pulling out m clothes with the intense passion of a sports fan, before I manage to find them. I give my treasure to Lorraine and she raises an eyebrow at me but doesn't say anything until all my clothes are safely back in the bag and I'm standing again.

"May I ask why did you bring stickers to camp? " she uses the word 'may' instead of 'can' and I can see all the teachers rubbing their hand together gleefully. I don't mind proper grammar, so I don't remark on her use of words. For each their own.

"I always bring them, in case there's an emergency, "

"What kind of emergency would require stickers? " she asks, incredulous. I'm scared for her eyebrows. I hope they won't stay hidden in her hair forever.

"All of them. There has never been a day that hasn't been made better by stickers. A kid is crying? Give him a sticker. Your nail polish has chipped off? Use a sticker and call it fashion. A hole has appeared in your clothes? Sticker, "

"Wow that's very deep, " Lorraine says and we stand in silence for a bit, admiring the noble actions of stickers everywhere, every day. When the dudes return, Phoenix almost drops the wood he's carrying.

"Uh, will someone please inform me, why does our tent look like a Disney movie? "