i love camp

I called her "hot stuff" and never learned her real name. Our mutual love for each other led me to be in her baptism circle, I was so honored. She loved to pick me up. She loved to tackle me as soon as she saw me. And I loved the closeness I felt to her. She wasn't in my cabin but I loved her as if she was.

No one liked him. Even the counselors ganged up on him at times and ignored his plea for vengeance to the kids that bullied him. I became his camp mom and his best friend. He was known as the camper who always got in trouble, who liked to misbehave in extreme ways.

He always came to me when some kid put him in tears. I always loved on him until he calmed down. And one night he ran up to me with swollen eyes, I expected to hear the insults that were thrown at him that day but I got a completely different set of words.

"My dad died two months ago and I feel alone."

He felt as if everyone hated him, and he just wanted someone to love him. His dad was an alcoholic who came home at night and beat him along with his mom. He kept pinching the bruise his dad left on his leg because it was the only thing that reminded him of his father.

This is why I love camp. I get to hug hurting people and pretend that if I close my eyes hard enough their pain will go away.