Lost Treasures

Eight

HOSEA

Beep, beep. Beep, beep.

Confused, I wiped my eyes and shut off my alarm. Wait, where was I?

I glanced around the room, and then it dawned on me. I wasn't in my own room back at home; I was at camp. I then remembered that I'd brought my digital alarm clock with me, so we'd all know when to get up, since we wouldn't have our phones with us. Sometimes I wondered how people even survived before technology.

Scanning my surrounding again, I realized that I was lying on the bottom bunk of a bed I shared with Israel. There were three other campers in the room, plus our counselor, Calvin. All the 'counselors' were just team leaders who needed a place to sleep. The other guys in my room were Justus, Lane, and someone named Jesús.

The time on my clock read 6:33AM. Everyone appeared to still be sleeping, so I took advantage of that and got the first shower.

Camp showers were weird. There were two in each room, and they were small. The bathroom had green tile that looked grimy and unclean, and the water pressure in the shower made you want to hurry up and get out because it basically pounded down on you.

So after less than ten minutes of being in the shower, I got out, dried off, and hesitantly opened the bathroom door to see if it was safe to get some clothes. I rolled my eyes, realizing that everyone was still asleep. Except for Calvin... He had mysteriously disappeared. I shrugged, assuming he had went outside for something.

With a towel wrapped tightly around my waist, I snuck over to my suitcase and pulled out a black shirt with a Bible verse on it, and some checked grey and black shorts. I hurried to get dressed, and just as I was pulling on my T-shirt, the rest of the guys woke up.

It was now 6:50, and we had ten minutes to get to breakfast. I mean, you could always go late, but then you wouldn't have as much time to eat.

I waited for Israel to get out of bed and get dressed, and then we headed over to the cafeteria. It was just a short walk down two flights of stairs, and then crossing the main campground. The boys got all the dorms on the top level, while girls got the bottom. Someone claimed it was so they wouldn't have to carry their bags so far, which made me roll my eyes.

Breakfast that morning was pretty elaborate, if I do say so myself. There were eggs, sausage (links and patties), hash browns, bacon, and a fruit bar.

"Where do you want to sit?" I asked Israel.

He glanced around, looking for his friends. Then he shrugged, unable to find them, I guess. We decided to make our own table.

Soon, the girls from yesterday found us and asked if they could sit with us. Israel nodded politely and motioned for them to sit.

"Thanks," Madisyn said. "This cafeteria is so crowded! I feel like a lot of people from our youth group came, but it's still hard to find everyone. I heard that one church brought over a hundred people!"

"Really?" Emory piped up.

"Yeah, they're from...Colorado, I think."

"Wow. That's a lot. My church doesn't have a lot of young people in it," Emory said. "It's mostly people my grandma's age, or older."