Seeking

Camp Again

Camp Again

The three friends awoke early the next morning. They were all in different moods. Lennae was dead on her feet like she hadn’t gotten any sleep. Justin was limping like he had been in a fight (which he had). Rebecca was the only one with any energy. They started towards the main cabin. Justin was the first to speak.

“Are you ok, Lennae?” he asked, noticing she wasn’t really paying attention. His eyes and voice were full of concern. It was kind of surprising to hear it.

“I am fine. I just didn’t sleep well last night, that’s all,” Lennae murmured. Her stare returned to being a million miles away. They were quiet the rest of the way to the cabin. They found Bird leaning against the cabin when they got there. He looked up, his gaze resting on Justin for a long second, and then scanning over the girls.

“Come on. I am taking you three back to camp,” he said. With that he shifted to his bird form and flew off. Justin followed behind while Rebecca and Lennae got into their usual scuffle about stepping on each other’s tails. Justin just rolled his eyes. Bird stopped about thirty yards from the camp.

“I will leave you to go back from here. Before I go though I have something to tell you: never come back without a good reason or else…” Bird let the threat go unfinished. “I can’t go with you any further because I don’t want to cause trouble. I hope this good-bye.” He glared at Justin then he flew off in the direction they had come. They all shifted back to their human forms, they trying to enter camp without causing anyone to see them. It didn’t work.

Mia came up to them with questions rolling off her tongue. Brittney was right behind her. “Where were you guys?” was the first question they both asked. That was hard to answer. Other came up behind them with similar questions.

“We went hiking and got lost. It was almost dark and we didn’t want to lose our trail so we waited until today to come back,” Lennae explained quickly. Justin and Rebecca were surprised she could make it sound so normal but no one else noticed. They continued asking questions. Lennae finally got tired of listening to them and announced she was going to lie down.

Lennae did lie down but she didn’t go to sleep. Instead, she closed her eyes and thought of the prophecy. What did it mean? That someone wasn’t going to trust another anymore? She didn’t mean to but she drifted to sleep.

After that, the days seeped by uneventful.

Lennae was sitting in bed with a book she had borrowed in her lap. A light knock was to be heard on the door. Lennae glanced up in time to see the door open.

A girl walked in. She looked about 18. It was the camp owner’s daughter. Great, what did I do now? thought Lennae.

“Hey, I am Crystal,” she said. Her smile was friendly. A thought occurred to Lennae: was she her about her disappearance?

“Hi. I am Lennae, but I guess you know that. Is there anything I can help with?” Lennae said. She tried to sound polite.

“No. I have some bad news for you. If we can’t get a hold of your parents by the end of the week we have to send you home. You can’t be here for much longer without them knowing,” Crystal paused, watching Lennae’s reaction. Her mouth had fallen open but she quickly snapped it shut. “They thought it would be better if I told you. Adults can be a little less sensitive to the situation. I understand you better than they do, and I am sorry about the news. Really, I am.” Crystal got up and headed out. An apologetic smile was on her face.

Lennae was heading back to the clearing tonight. She wasn’t going home if she had anything to say about it.