Jake stared out the side window of his parents’ minivan. The Appalachian Mountains passed in a blur of hurried green streaks. He was supposed to be headed to camp with Danny, but that fell through when Danny’s mom called saying that her only son had a 101 fever and wouldn’t be going anywhere. Jake figured, incorrectly, that Danny’s illness would translate into a SKIP CAMP pass for himself. No such luck. Here he was getting shuttled across northwest North Carolina to attend Oak Bay Camp. With no buddy. For a whole week. Joy.
“You should work on having a positive attitude,” Jake’s dad said from behind the steering wheel. “When I was your age, I would have given a lot of money to be able to go to summer camp.”
Jake bit his tongue. He wanted to tell his father that he’d be more than happy to trade places. But he didn’t want to be disrespectful. He knew his parents paid big money for him to attend camp. “I just don’t know anybody.”
The mountains slowed down, and the blur of color became clear shades of hunter and forest green. Endless stands of red maple and white pine trees lined the highway like soldiers standing guard in front of the mountains rising behind them.
“We’ve talked about that, honey,” his mother said.
Jake saw the huge camp sign come into view as the van made the right turn into Oak Bay. He wanted to try once again to talk his mother out of sending him here, but instead he just exhaled loudly.
“Your mother’s right, son. You’ll meet a friend. Maybe even two … or five.”
An older man stood next to the gatehouse and waved for the Henrys to stop.
Jake’s mom rolled her window down.
“Camper?”
“Jake Henry.”
The old man looked back at Jake before consulting his megalist of names. “Henry … Henry … yes, here it is…. Jake, you’ll be in Cabin 33 over on Karankawa Hill. Follow this drive all the way to the end. Thirty-three will be on your right. If you go into the lake, you’ve gone too far.”
No one laughed except for the old man. He waved them on, looking at Jake the whole time as the van passed.
Jake’s dad parked next to a blue Dumpster that had the camp’s oak tree logo painted in white on the side. Jake grabbed his backpack and got out of the car. The sooner he got going, the sooner this whole camp thing could end.
The cabins were painted chocolate brown with white trim around the eaves and doors. Boys and girls of all shapes and sizes were milling around in front of the cabins as well as in the parking lot. There was even a large beach ball getting punched around in the air by random hands.
Jake’s dad also got out of the vehicle and caught up to Jake. His mom stayed in the car, checking Facebook on her phone. She’d told Jake she had to make an important call, but he knew better. Last summer when they dropped him off at the airport for his flight to visit Grandma and Grandpa in New York, his mom had cried and his dad told her to dry the tears. Since then, Jake noticed, she had used the distraction of her phone to avoid emotional situations.
Jake found Cabin 33 tucked away behind the other cabins, down a well-worn path that skirted the lake. Boys were running in and out of the screen door. A young guy with an Oak Bay T-shirt and khaki shorts stood on the deck, smiling.
“Hey, guys! Welcome. I’m Sam. I’ll be your counselor this week.”
Jake noticed that Sam had a cross tattoo on the inside of his right forearm.
“Martin Henry. This is my son, Jake.” Jake’s dad shook Sam’s hand and then said, “His buddy Danny was supposed to be here but got sick at the last minute.”
“Sorry about your friend,” Sam said. “Trust me, Jake. You’re still going to have a blast!”
The happy counselor led Jake and his dad into the cabin. There were bunk beds against three of the four walls. One set of bunks was empty. “Make yourself at home. We’re going to meet out front at five. That gives you about an hour to hang out. Meet the guys. After the meeting, we’ll all head over to the lodge for dinner.”
Jake’s dad gave him a quick hug and told him to have a good week. Jake watched his father leave and then thought about his next move. None of the boys who had been in the cabin were left. They all must have slipped out while the counselor was talking.
Jake wanted to just lie on his bunk and wait until dinner to move. But that wouldn’t be a smart way to meet anyone.
He walked outside and noticed a bunch of boys had grouped up in front of the cabin. One of them had a football in his hands. Jake walked over to them and saw that the kid with the football was dividing the group into two teams. By the time he was done, all the boys had been sorted except Jake.
That was awkward. None of the boys acknowledged him. They just hustled over to the field and started their game.
Jake walked to where another group of boys were huddled around a camper who was playing a Nintendo Switch game. None of them said anything to Jake, so he said, “Hi.” One of the kids said, “Hey,” but never made eye contact. This was going to be a long week.
The lake looked like a good option. There were two boys standing by the water’s edge skipping stones. Jake headed in that direction. As soon as he got to them, they stopped what they were doing and walked away.
Maybe I smell like a dead skunk.
Jake sat down on a rock and wondered what it would be like to be one of the popular kids. To have the feeling of fitting in and having tons of friends. He watched the sunrays sparkle across the water. Back at school, Danny was his only friend—and even that title was probably a stretch. They didn’t hang out after school or on the weekends.
He hadn’t even known Danny that long. When Jake’s older brother, Ted, moved away to college last August, his parents had decided a change was in order. After the Christmas holidays, they moved with Jake from their country house in Oklahoma to a quaint town house in Charlotte. Right in the middle of the school year.
While Jake and his parents were unpacking, Danny and his mother paid a visit, welcoming them to the neighborhood. Jake had a really hard time connecting with Danny. The boys had nothing in common, but Jake could tell that Danny tried very hard to make him feel welcomed. The camp trip was Jake’s mom’s idea. She’d told Danny’s mother, who in turn said her son would love to go before she even asked him. Danny said he’d go and then managed to get a stomach bug. He was probably faking it just to get out of coming here.
Jake found a small flat stone and sent it skimming over the lake. He watched it bounce three times before disappearing under the glittering surface. He looked at his watch. He still had thirty minutes before he had to be back at the cabin.
He thought about taking a long walk in the woods, but the warm sun made him sleepy, so he decided to lie down in the grass and rest until it was time to head back.
“Open his eyes.”
The sound of a man’s deep voice came from behind Jake. But when he sat up and turned around to see who was talking, there was no one there.
Just the trees.
And the path that led back to the cabins.
I’m hearing things, that’s all.
Then Jake turned back to look at the lake and felt his heart rate explode. It was gone. No water. The only thing he could see was flat land stretching out toward the horizon. Tall grass covered the earth. It swayed back and forth like waves on a wide green sea. The sky was painted with morning tones of dark blue, orange, and red.
The camp had disappeared. The lake, gone. The path, gone. The trees, gone. Oak Bay had simply vanished.
Insane.