camp || hemmings au

one

The drive down the dirt road to Weeping Willow Camp was long and unhurried. My mom's hand rested on my leg the whole ride down it as if she was trying to comfort me. I didn't understand why she would try to now because she never had before. My little sisters, Hallie and Dana, and my little brother, Kyle sat quietly in the backseat, my brother listening to his iPod and my sisters busy coloring in their coloring books. My dad couldn't tag along, he made up an excuse saying that he had to work. We all knew that his law firm would have let him off but we didn't push it. He didn't want be bothered with me, I was used to it by now.

Coming from Frankfort, Kentucky to Nashville, Tennessee was quicker than I thought, but only because I didn't know where they were exactly located in each state. We were already a day late, as I had procrastinated and wasn't done packing in time for our departure. It wasn't that I didn't want to come, it was just the thought of getting up and coming.

I stared out the window as we passed what seemed to be an endless amount of trees. The wooded area made the camp seem like it would be a quiet place to stay. And since I was staying here from June to August, almost three months, I figured that in that time I would need some peace and quiet.

Our van slowly pulled up to a large medal gate, it opened slowly and my mom drove through it. As I stared back out the window, I saw a man standing on the inside of the gate. He was bringing his hand down just as I looked over at him, I figured he was the one who had opened the gate for us.

We continued to drive down the road, and as people came into view I became confused. There were little children running around everywhere. Some had jumping ropes and others had balls, tossing them back and forth. There were numerous cabins and right in the center, there was a fairly large one. My mom had told me that this was a camp for kids around my age so I didn't understand why there were 5 to 12 years olds running around the camp.

As I opened my mouth to ask my mom about all the little children there, the van stopped in front of another gate. By this point, I was beyond confused. This gate opened just like the last, but when I looked over there was no man standing there. Instead it was a woman, about 20 years older than me. She wore a pink tank top and a pair of blue jean shorts. Her blonde hair was down, but a pair of sunglasses restricted it from falling into her face. She smiled at me as I stepped out of the car, as we had came to a halt in front of a large cabin just like I had seen a moment ago. There was no one in sight like there had been back at the other part we had passed through. This part was completely deserted, aside from the numerous cabins spread about.

The woman approached my mom and I, as my siblings were ordered to stay in the car once we got here. I quickly walked to the trunk and pulled out my bags, a carry all and a suitcase with wheels. I threw the bag over my shoulder and pulled the suitcase behind me. I met my mom and the woman halfway, as they had been talking while I was collecting my luggage.

"Hello, I'm Jess." The woman stretched out her hand for me to shake.

"Caroline." I smiled, clasping our hands together. I guessed she has already introduced herself to my mom.

"I'm the head of Weeping Willow Camp," Jess informed me. "Since you're late and already missed the tour, I'll show you around." She was polite about the whole situation, though she didn't have to be.

"Well, this is it." my mom spoke and I turned to look at her. She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a hug. I was in shock at first. I couldn't remember the last time my mom had hugged me. It was a warm embrace, the kind you need when you're feeling down. I hugged her back for a minute before she released me and gave me a kiss on the forehead. All this felt so new, my mom hadn't had showed me this much affection in a long time.