1000 Words

Dear Diary,

                Today is June 27^th, three weeks into the summer counseling program. Today, I took the teens out to the nearby beach and we played volley ball ‘til the sun went to sleep. The kids who didn’t want to play had the option to swim in the ocean, walk along the beach’s wooden steps, or collect sea shells for tomorrow’s arts-and-crafts.

                As usual, at the end of the day, while we’re roasting marshmallows at the campfire, I ask the teens what they’re grateful for. As usual, Sandy jumpy hand beats everyone. She told me, “I’m grateful that we had another beautiful day to bond with one another.” What can I say? The girl’s got a sunny outlook on life.

                Jacob, the oldest of the bunch, told me, “I’m grateful I brought sunscreen.” Now let me tell you this, Diary. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, so the old sun was cooking us from skin to bone. It was a good thing Jacob had enough sunscreen for everyone or all of us would be burnt barbecue.

                I can’t write everything everybody told me, but I saw that one of the teens didn’t want to answer my question. It was Gary. The boy was lost in deep thought and when I asked him what he was grateful for, he shook his head.

                Strange… Well, I guess it shouldn’t be. Gary never answered my question since day one. I wonder why. Well, I am a counselor. I’ll see if I can talk to him tomorrow and see what’s bugging his mind.

~ Entry 2 ~

Dear Diary,

                Today, I taught my group how to fish. I led them all on a hike through the woods ‘til we came face to face with a huge freshwater lake. We rented our gear and casted our lines into the water. While I was waiting for a bite, my unfruitful attempts at talking with Gary began. The boy made it his life mission to stay away from me as much as possible today. It’s like he knows that I’m following him. Weird…

                I wrote her name a few entries back, but remember Zoey, Diary? She caught a huge fish today. Poor girl… The fish caught her instead. She went flying into the water, and she struggled to keep afloat. Did I mention she can’t swim? Me and some other counselors were about to rescue her when we saw Gary carrying her back onto land.

                Tonight, while we were roasting marshmallows, I asked everyone what they were grateful for today. Zoey told me, “I’m grateful I didn’t lose my life today.” We all laughed and looked over at Gary. He was gone. He’d already eaten his marshmallow and gone off back into his assigned cabin.

~ Entry 3 ~

Dear Diary,

                On our hike the other day, some teens got hit with poison ivy, myself included. While the others spent the day bird watching, I watched over the kids that had poison ivy. Gary was here too. I couldn’t tell if he had poison ivy or not. He wouldn’t get out of bed or remove his blankets. It was baking hot today, so I don’t know how Gary felt comfortable through the heat.

                I checked his forehead and it was slick with sweat. He’s snoozing at the nurse’s cabin right now, enjoying the AC. The stars are out and I’m in my cabin while the others are roasting marshmallows and telling each other what they’re grateful for today. A good counselor buddy of mine gave me hot chocolate earlier, so I’m sipping that while I’m writing in you, Diary.

                I just… What’s wrong with Gary? He’s not having fun here. He refuses to talk to anyone and he doesn’t do the things the other kids do. He’s always off by himself. I’m a counselor. I tried talking to him today, but he gave me the cold shoulder.

                I know the other counselors are worried about him too. I want to call his parents and ask them if Gary had always been like this, but I can’t. Gary’s contact sheet disappeared from our files. The counselors and I think he took it away from us so we wouldn’t call his parents.

                This is getting out of hand.

~ Entry 4 ~

Gary’s locked himself in his assigned cabin and refuses to leave. He’s been there since morning. He hasn’t eaten anything. He hasn’t drunk anything. Heck, he isn’t letting his cabin buddies in. It’s nighttime and us counselors are trying to break into the cabin. He must’ve pushed all the bunk beds against the door. The thing won’t push open.

We gave up and did the usual nightly activities we did with the teens. Today, I decided to change it up. “Instead of telling us what you’re grateful for, tell us a person that you’re grateful for.” I saw a few hands rise.

Sandy: “I’m grateful to the counselors. You guys have done so much for us for the past few weeks, that I’ll remember this summer for the rest of my life.”

Jacob: “I’m grateful to Jake, Winston, Silvia, and Zoey. We’ve been friends since day one of this journey, but it feels like a lifetime bond.”

Zoey: “I’m grateful to Gary.”

My eyes went bug wide.

Zoey: “True, he doesn’t speak or interact with us, but I’m grateful that he’s here. I’m grateful that, even though it was out of his element, he joined us in the group activities, even if he didn’t know what to do. I’m grateful that helps us when we least expect it. Like, back at the lake. He saved me from drowning. I’m grateful that he doesn’t say anything rude to any of us. Okay, his actions might’ve been bad, but he never said anything rotten to any of us. And, I’m grateful that he came here. His actions told his he didn’t want to, but he came here to this camp anyway.”

From her pocket, Zoey pulled out a piece of paper. She went up to the cabin and knocked on the door. “Gary, I want to give you something to show you my, I mean, our appreciation.” To my dang surprise, he actually opened the door. He was pale as a sheet, but he nodded his head when Zoey gave him the paper. Unfolding it and smoothing it out, I swear I saw a tear fall from his eyes.

“Thank you,” he said. He showed all of us what the paper had on it. There were dozens of Thank You(s) splattered all over the paper.

“How many did you write?” I asked Zoey.

“At least a thousand,” was her reply.

Reviews

[Fire Mage Andrea]

Great story, and it had me hooked.

[C. Rose]

"from skin to bone" is creatively phrased
There was a "Me" that should have been an "I", but because of the format of this story this choice made the voice more believable.

A heartwarming ending :)

[Vivian]

Thank you for reviewing. I guess I was going for a southern voice when I wrote this. I don't know. But, I'm glad you liked the ending

[C. Rose]

I didn't hear southern - though I don't know much about the south. I heard female, late teens.

[iEv]

What a beautiful story. I was hooked throughought all of it.

[Vivian]

Thank you for reading! This was a new writing format I wanted to try, and I'm glad you were hooked throughout the whole story