The Storm
Billy woke to the light pitter-patter of rainfall on the roof of their cabin and Dylan snoring.
He rolled over in his bed and looked out of the window.
The camp had turned into a mud pit overnight. Through the rain-fogged windowpane, he could see other campers making their way to the canteen, presumably for breakfast.
‘Dylan,’ he said. ‘Dylan, wake up.’
Dylan grunted and buried himself deeper in his bed.
Billy threw a pillow at him. ‘Come on, it’s time for breakfast.’
‘It sounds like it’s raining,’ Dylan muttered. ‘I don’t want to go out in the rain. I get enough of that at home in Ireland.’
‘So you’d rather stay in here and starve?’
Dylan moaned and rolled over. ‘Fine, fine. If those are my only options, I guess I’ll take a little rain.’
In the canteen the other campers huddled round the breakfast tables, with wet hair and muddy shoes. Nobody looked happy. Billy wondered if it was an ominous start to the summer. Any hope he’d had about exploring the camp grounds had been washed away by the rain; he had a feeling they were going to be stuck inside all day, damp and smelly and bored.
‘Why does everyone look so glum?’ asked Charlotte, dipping a piece of fried dough into her bowl of congee. Dylan kept calling the congee ‘rice porridge’, which it kind of was. ‘It’s just a little rain,’ she added.
‘I like this weather,’ said Ling-Fei, looking out at the rain pounding on the windows of the canteen. ‘I wish we could go and run and dance in the rain, but Old Gold will want us to stay indoors.’
‘I’m with Old Gold on this one,’ said Dylan, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. ‘I personally do not want to catch a cold. But you are welcome to go gallivanting in the rain if that sounds like your idea of fun.’
‘I don’t mind the rain either,’ said Billy. ‘At home, I surf every morning, even in the rain. But it’s one thing to be in the ocean in the rain when you’re already wet – it’s a swamp out there. No thank you.’
‘If you all love the rain so much, you really should come to visit me in Ireland one day,’ said Dylan, slurping up more hot chocolate.
Old Gold hurried into the canteen, wearing a giant rain hat and raincoat that went all the way to the floor. Only his beard stuck out.
‘Good morning, campers!’ Old Gold said. ‘Due to the inclement weather, we’re going to have to postpone our scheduled activity. Instead, today you’ll have your first Mandarin lesson, followed by a cooking class with Wu laoshi in the kitchens, and then a kung-fu demonstration with Lee laoshi.’ He clapped his hands. ‘Now, off you go!’
In their Mandarin lesson Billy was surprised at how well Dylan spoke the language.
‘Dude,’ he said in admiration, ‘you’re really good. How long have you been studying Mandarin?’
Dylan shrugged. ‘I’ve always liked languages,’ he said. ‘So I started teaching myself Mandarin a few years ago.’ He flushed. ‘I know, I know, I’m a nerd. But that’s why I was so excited when the librarian at my school told me she’d put me forward for this summer camp. You probably think that’s really lame, right?’ The tips of his ears turned red.
Billy shook his head and grinned at Dylan. ‘No, it’s actually kind of cool.’
Dylan beamed.
Later, Wu laoshi, a short, round man with a big head, showed them how to make mapo tofu, a spicy stew of tofu and minced pork. Billy loved mapo tofu. It was one of his favourite dishes that his dad made and the mouth-numbing spice from the dish reminded him of home. Dylan took one bite and his eyes started streaming. ‘This is… spicy,’ he said.
‘I can handle it,’ said Charlotte. ‘I’d like it even spicier! I put hot sauce on everything at home. I’ve got a very high tolerance for spice. And an excellent palate overall.’
‘Of course you have,’ said Billy under his breath.
During Lee laoshi’s kung-fu demonstration, Billy expected to feel silly as they practised the basic moves, but he found he was a bit of a natural. Meanwhile, Charlotte was getting confused with her ju-jitsu moves and Dylan’s glasses kept falling off. ‘It’s only the first day,’ said Lee laoshi. ‘Just wait till the end of camp. You’ll all be kung-fu pros.’
At the end of the day, it was still raining, and even walking from the cabin to the bathroom to get ready for bed felt like a trek. Billy was exhausted, but in a satisfying way, like when he came home after a long day of surfing. Even though they had been indoors the whole time, he’d had fun. Especially in the cooking and kung-fu classes. Still, he hoped that it would stop raining by tomorrow so he could explore more of the camp grounds.
‘I do not want to go back out in that,’ said Dylan, when he and Billy were back in their cabin. He sat on his bed and wrapped his blanket tightly round him.
‘I’m sure the weather will be better in the morning,’ said Billy with a yawn as he climbed into his bed. He found the sound of the rain on the roof soothing, and soon he drifted off to sleep.
Billy didn’t know how long he’d been asleep when a crash of thunder woke him. He jolted up and looked over at Dylan, who was sound asleep and snoring loud enough to be heard over the rain.
Billy settled back into bed and closed his eyes. After a few moments, he opened them, squirming with a very uncomfortable realization.
He had to pee.
He waited for as long as he could, and then got up and put on his jacket.
As soon as he stepped outside the door, he was pelted with raindrops from all directions. He put his head down and hurried towards the bathroom.
On his way back to his cabin, lightning flashed above him, setting the sky alight. Thunder followed, so loud and so close that Billy could have sworn he felt the ground shake. Blinking, he stepped under the awning of the nearest cabin for shelter as his eyes adjusted.
He blinked again, trying to clear his vision. Had he just seen a flash of lightning inside the cabin? There! Again! A flash of blue light, zigzagging across the cabin, illuminating it from the inside. And in the centre of the room, emitting its own light, sat a glowing silver orb. The blue lightning seemed to be coming from it, or going towards it, Billy wasn’t sure. But he was sure he was seeing something very strange.
A crash of thunder snapped Billy back to his senses, and he was suddenly very aware of his soggy feet and wet hair. With a final glance back at the strange blue light, he ran to his own cabin, wondering what he’d just seen.