Treading Water

6

"Why are there walls of honeycomb here?" I ask

"Honey is a large part of Grecian culture and one of my favorite kind of sacrifice so I brought docile bees and nymphs to tend to them so the camp can have true honey" he says

"Thank you so much" I say

"Anything for my little lamb" he hugged me and kissed my head

"Alec Olivander Allen, I'm glad you were chosen as Athena's counselor. Some of your siblings aren't as dependable or witting as you" he says

"I've heard and seen those things" he says

"I would say it's generational but my little star is nothing like that" he picked me and squeezed me

"Yeah, these guys are gonna do a hammering on economy and society" Alec says

"Well, I have to get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow princess. Give me a sacrifice please" he pulled a book from his robes and left

"What do you wanna do, little lamb" Alec says

"Don't start with me" I say

"I prefer little star" I rolled my eyes and began heading to my home

"May I come in?" Alec asks

"You have the honey after all" he carried the honey to the kitchen and I began flipping through the book for recipes

"What do you think of honey cakes?" I ask

"Which recipe?" He asks

"Let's get to cooking" we gathered our ingredients and made small amounts of batter to test the waters. We went through so many dishes that we had to take breaks to wash them before getting back to work. We stirred and baked and cleaned and ate until we made the perfect cakes and took time to indulge in one for ourselves. We took the cake to the temple and offered it to my father just as dawn arrived.

"You could have brought it to me" my dad says

"I didn't know where you were" I say

"I forget that you aren't just a mini me" he took my face and pressed my temples then kissed my nose

"You can't see the future but you can see all of camp if you put your mind to it. Thank you for the cake" he ate it like a large cookie and left me a little dizzy

"Can you help me back to my home?" I ask

"Of course" I stumbled and he caught me

"I've got you" he picked me up and carried me home

"Bring me some honey milk please" he left me and I watched him prepare my honey milk and put a drop of vanilla in it before bringing it to me

"Thank you" I drank the milk and curled up as my dizziness grew into a headache

"Don't cry. Just breathe" he left and gathered a bunch of herbs and plants then put them in a liquid. He ran to the resource home and crafted a weird holey object with different components then brought it back.

"Take deep breaths. This is soaked in peppermint, smell it while I set up" I did as told and snot poured from my nose. He bought me tissue and as his contraption steamed, my headache began to clear.

"Get some rest" he says

"Can you stay? My head feels like is gonna explode" he touched my forehead then brought me a wet cloth and some snacks

"You'll be okay" he sat with me and got me whatever I asked for...

I woke up feeling better and the smells from Alec's contraption helped. I turned over and Alec was asleep with his mouth open a little. I rolled back over and ate a few honey bars then went back to sleep...

When I woke up again, I was completely better and Alec was holding me. I took his arm off me and got up to go shower and start me day. When I finished my shower, I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and styled my hair in flat twists with chuncky twists in the back. I wrapped my hair then went to my kitchen and made wheat cakes and crostinis. When I finished cooking, I went and took out my twists and fluffed my hair. I then went back to the kitchen and made some honey milk and whipped honey butter.

"Hey, are you feeling better?" Alec came in the kitchen with a freshly washed face, messy hair, and a groggy voice

"I'm feeling great, but I was out for a day and you stayed with me so your siblings are worrying" I say

"Can I eat before I have to go back?" He asks

"I can't eat this many pancakes by myself" we had breakfast together then he went to tend to his worried siblings.

While the other counselors dealt with campers, I began the planning of the scholae. At the end of the day, I discussed the plans with Alec and the other counselors and construction began. It didn't take as long as expected but it took long enough for everyone to get the classes and activities together. We got everybody in classes and activities and we becane better united as a camp. We all helped each other and the camp and became a good community. We did weekly communal prayers, feasts, stoas assembly few days, and even had some products added to our market.

In the middle of summer, we decided to hold a ball to give everybody a chance to mingle and enjoy themselves and not compete against each other for once. The only problem was that people were commanding it be like a prom with Kings and Queens, so we had to break our Oligarchy in order to have a vote of if there should be monarchs at the event. A vast majority said yes and most others were indifferent so now we had to add that to the agenda. Then we had to vote for a theme and the votes we're so close to each other that we had to have multiple ballots. Out of frustration, the final theme was Heaven and Earth.

We ended up having to push back the event because we had to build a venue for the party since every structure we had was either too small or large with small rooms. We counted each camper and multiple that by a certain amount of cubic feet then called upon nymphs, satyrs, and campers to help build. Once it was build, the campers were no longer able to help because the decorations were supposed to be a secret. So we had to hang fairy lights, vines, and other decorations, all on our own. It was tiring and gave counselors barely any time to prepare.