The Safest Summer Camp in the World 3

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*Part 3/7 of The Safest Summer Camp in the World. If you haven’t caught up, click HERE.

Sunlight on a lake puts everyone in a good mood; kids, doubly so. There are about fifty of them, My Mother used to sing a song when we’d go to the beach as a kid:

Beach-beach,

We’re going to the beach!

I love the beach- weee…

She was a lawyer. A group of kids have a Frisbee. The tell me in Russian that it is called “Flying Plate.”

I play a bit. A few of them are doing gymnastics on the side. We are beside a horse farm, occasionally the Frisbee will go over. One kid or another chases after it to the tune of “Oh come on!”

They duck under the fence. There is a sign with a lightning bolt on it, something written in Finnish. The kids are allowed to swim in shifts. Eventually the Frisbee players are called into the water. I walk to the shore. S is splashing about among them with a floating Go-Pro.

“Come!” he calls.

I shake my head. He gives me a disappointed look. He rallies the kids until all are chanting for me to get in. I sigh, take of my shirt and walk over to where S is standing.

“Yay,” I say–toneless and shivering.

I splash about a bit, go under. It feels nice. Then, someone cries out. I turn to find all of the kids holding each other under, one by one. I look at S, he is coming toward me, arms outstretched, smiling.

“You’re turn,” he says. His hands are on my shoulders. The body of a kid named Misha floats by.

“Wait–no!” but it’s too late, he has me under. I struggle and manage to get loose. I come up, choking. S is advancing.

“Oh–fucking wait!”

He looks confused–a bit sad.

“What?”

“Just–no.”

“But, didn’t K tell you?”

I don’t respond.

“So you must?” he says. I sigh and don’t move. He takes it as a sign and comes closer. I am under for forty-five seconds–it’s hell. Then, I’m being pulled up. The water is blurring my eyes. I hack up a bunch of water. S is still holding my arms.

“Sorry–” he says, “but what is this called?”

“What?”

“This.” he pushes me back under the water, then pulls me up.

I claw at his arms and back away. “Drowning! it’s called freaking drowning, man.”

S smiles. “Ah! I like that word.”

He comes closer. I hold up my hand.

“No! Hell no,” I start walking to shore, nudging the corpse of Misha out of my way. S calls after me. “Wait! We have to.”

I turn with some pretty dark language loaded into my tongue. But, from behind S, one of the other councilors dunks him under. I watch him die, shaking my head. I walk back to the kids playing Frisbee. It’s a group that have all died already. They are looking at me, disapproving. No one throws me the Frisbee. So, I go and stand beside the horse pasture. One of the younger students, a girl with glasses named Dasha, comes up beside me.

“Why didn’t you–” she points at the lake. I sigh.

“I just don’t like it,” I say, controlling my tone.

She frowns. “You’re not a fun teacher, are you?”

She walks away before I can respond. I feel somehow guilty. I look at the fence–the kids, the fence.

“Dasha?” I call. She turns.

“Check this out then,” I say, managing a small smile.

I grab the fence.

I am dead in seconds.

TO BE CONTINUED…

15 replies to “The Safest Summer Camp in the World 3”

    1. I do hope it all comes together clearly at the end. The plot will start to develop more today and there will be some clues and hopefully the bit of mystery will keep the story on it’s feet and keep your attention. I do specialize in flash stories so whenever I do a series I worry that I am not creating as good a flow because I have to separate it all and try to make each story enjoyable while also progressing the plot. The plot is a bit slow in this, a bit under the surface. Some of my other series have had more off-the-bat action but this one I am trying to develop characters in a short amount of time. But please keep letting me know if I slip up. I want to continue making series in the future and I would love to know, at the end, anywhere that I could have improved. Thank you.

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      1. You say that you’re trying to develop characters in a short amount of time. Do you think naming them with letters helps or hinders that? Would it engage readers sympathy more readily if they were named?

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      2. Hmm. I don’t know. I think it works with the shorter pieces. I don’t know why I started using letters a long time ago. I do it mostly because people attribute bias on names based on their experiences. Like a guy named Matt… I knew a guy named Matt. He…bla blah. But with letters the characters can be blank. But unfortunately that means I have to apply a lot more to thing to make them more real. I’m not sure. But now it is simply habit.

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  4. oh no, I laught a lot! Very clever at the end, that he “grab the fence”…much more better than the water! Poor man, he gives everything : “Check this out then,”.for the child…may be the “pretty dark language loaded into his tongue” would have made a little change?

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    1. haha I’m glad you like it. Yeah I mean I wanted to show that the character is trying to fit in. Do it for the kids even if he finds it weird or uncomfortable. I mean, I’m using a twisted story to try and show this concept but that is what I wanted to show so thank you.

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