Capture The Flag:
Maura lifted her heavy bag off the ground
and slung it onto her shoulder, the weight of the bag almost knocking her over.
She irritatedly pushed her flat brown hair out of her eyes, and re adjusted her
glasses. She could hear the other cabin girls’ giggles as they watched her
struggle. Maura shoved the laughter out of her thoughts and started towards the
cabin door.
As
Maura reached for the handle, Madison, one of the cabin girls who lead the
taunts, stepped between Maura and the door. Madison put her hands on her hips
and swung her bright blond curls out of her face with the whip of her head.
“Poor
Maura. Do you need any help with your bags, Dear?” Madison cooed, an evil smile
sliding along the corners of her face.
“Get
out of my way, Madison.” Maura grumbled. She tried to go around Madison, but
she still couldn’t get to the door.
“Well
that’s not a very nice thing to say to someone who’s trying to help you with
your bags.” Madison wore a fake expression of shock.
Maura
could feel her knees bending under the weight of the bag. She knew she wouldn’t
be able to support the bundle much longer. If only the camp director didn’t
have them carry around so many supplies when they played capture the flag.
Maura
had had enough, so she shot out an arm and forced Madison out of her way. While
Madison was checking to see if her hair had gotten messed up, Maura yanked open
the door and stormed out.
“Hey!
Where do you think you’re going, freak?” Maura could hear Madison’s taunts from
over her shoulder, but she knew that if she could just make it in sight of the
camp director, Madison would pretend to be an innocent angel again.
Maura
forced her legs to pump as she plowed her way down the opening. Just a few more feet, Maura thought.
Finally,
she could see the camp director. As soon as the director came into view, she
could hear the shushing of her other cabin girls to Madison, signaling that
they were now in hearing range of the director.
Maura
plopped down her bag and took a seat right in front of the camp director, in
front of all the other girls that attended the camp, awaiting instructions.
Soon after her arrival, Madison and her gang appeared around the corner, and
took their seats in the back of the crowd.
“Alright,
let’s go ahead and take roll real quick.” The camp director pulled out her clip
board with a pen attached to it. “Madison Bail?”
“I’m
here!” Madison chirped, as if everyone would be relieved to know that she was.
Maura
couldn’t concentrate on the roll. She was too busy thinking about all of the
horrible things Madison and her clique would do and say to her once they go out
into the woods where no one would see them.
Where no one would see them.
Maura repeated the thought to herself. She could finally escape from all of the
tortures that summer camp forced her to go through!
“Candace
Smith?” One of Madison’s followers.
“Right
here, Mrs. Collins!” Candace waved her hand in the air as if her announcement
didn’t make it clear enough that she was, indeed, here.
If
Maura ran fast enough, she might be able to make it to the highway before any
one even noticed that she was gone, not that they would care. She already had
all of her equipment with her, and it would be enough to survive on for weeks.
She wouldn’t even be out in the woods that lon-
“Miss
Hill? Are you paying attention?” Maura was snapped away from her thoughts of
escape by the director’s, well, direct question.
“Yes,
Ma’am, sorry, I’m here.” Maura couldn’t help but notice the muffled giggles in the
back of the crowd.
“Alright,
now that roll’s complete, let’s get the capture the flag game started. Is
anyone unclear of the rules?” When no one responded, the director dismissed
everyone to their places.
Maura
immediately pushed towards the woods. Apparently, her ‘lack of shoe style’ was
indeed helpful, her tennis shoes providing easy access for her over tree roots
and pebbles. She winced as she thought of what might happen to her if she had
worn high heels.
As
Maura broke through the tree line, she cleared all rational and irrational
thoughts out of her head. All she focused on was her feet carrying her and her
back pack out of the range of Madison and the other cabin girls.
***
Right
as Maura started to think clearly again, she realized that the sky above her
was turning darker. Panic and adrenaline started to pump through her veins as
she thought of all the dangers the night time would bring to her in the forest.
It
had been hours of tireless trekking and there were still no signs of the
highway in which her plans were based around. A coyote howled in the distance
as she sat down, back against a tree.
Eaten by a coyote, mauled by a bear, or
attacked by something much more dangerous and a bit more mythical. Maura
mentally listed all of the horrible things that could happen to her.
As
her first tear of regret fell to the forest floor, Maura had an epiphany. What is the first thing you would do in a video
game to survive the night from monsters? Maura picked herself up and
started to plan out in her mind how to make a decent shelter.
Maura
walked around the still darkening forest and collected sticks and tree sap. When
she had all that her tiny arms could carry, she went back to the tree she had
been sitting in front of. She stuck the larger sticks into the ground around
the tree to make a fence, and then she pulled a tent packet out of her bag.
***
Once
she was all settled into her tent, Maura leaned her bag against the plastic
wall, and pulled out some food. She greedily shoved the small slices of cheese and
crackers into her mouth. All the hard work that she had done that day had made
her absolutely starving.
By
the time she had had her fill on food, she heard a twig crack a few yards away
from the entrance of her tent. Maura’s heart stopped. Then it violently
restarted. Something had smelled her food, and now it was coming to get some.
Maura
shakily opened her tent door a crack and peeped out. The forest was pitch
black, and she could barely see anything. She stuck her head back into the tent
and closed the opening. Then, she reached over and turned off her lantern, as
to not turn anything’s attention to her tent.
She
knew it could very well be her imagination acting up on her from all the fear,
but she thought she could hear a set of padding feet outside of her tent. Maura
held her breath only to shakily let it back out. Another coyote howl could be
heard in the distance.
She
never should have run away from the camp. She should be in her bed, secretly
reading while hearing Madison snore in the bunk above her. She should have
stayed.
Now
she knew it wasn’t her imagination. From behind blurry tears, Maura could see
the silhouette of a wolf on the wall of her tent. She said a silent prayer.
She
knew that she shouldn’t, but she reached out and grabbed the opening of the
tent and slightly pulled it back. As soon as she did, she let out a scream as a
harry face poked through the tent door and flashed its teeth.
Before
she blacked out, she felt the sharp pain of something scratching her face, and
the warm trickle of blood soak her shirt.
***
Maura
knew she had returned to consciousness because a harsh light was making red
spots on the back of her eyelids, much too unpleasant for a dream. When she
inhaled, she got the distinct scent of a dentist office.
She
felt unfamiliar clothing rub against her skin as she tried to prop herself up. When
she immediately fell back onto the hospital bed, she opened her eyes.
Maura
was being wheeled down a white hallway, and loud but blurry voices were saying
something about an operation. Then one of the doctors noticed she was awake.
“Oh
thank goodness your awake.” Said a worried female voice. “You should be getting
pretty sleepy about now even though you’ve just woken up. We gave you some
medicine to help you sleep while we fix you up.”
Maura
wasn’t a clueless child. She knew that they had drugged her so she wouldn’t feel
any pain during the surgery she was about to go to.
She
winced as pain went across her face. She put her hand up to her cheek to feel a
bumpy line go across her face.
The
next thing she knew, she was slipping into unconsciousness again. All she could
think about was how happy she was that someone had found her, and how relieved
she was that she was going to be okay.
Then,
blackness.
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