Country Wisdom
by Kristen Bealer
Based
on comments and flashbacks from Camp Fear.
揥here is everyone??/span>
Daria wondered out loud.?The
twelve-year-old wandered around the deserted campground in search of any signs of
life, but she couldn抰 see or hear anyone.
Mr. Potts梠r Mr. Putz, as she referred to him in her thoughts梙adn抰 said
that anything was going on that evening, but she hadn抰 spoken to him for most
of the day.?Everyone else had been
playing that stupid greased watermelon game while she sat on her bunk in the
cabin and wrote in her journal.
She sat at an empty
picnic table and glanced at the stitches in her arm.?I guess I can thank that horse for one
thing.?I finally had an excuse not to
get dragged into the water again.
Maybe they all drowned.?Or maybe Skip drowned and everyone else
followed his lead.?Taking one last look around the camp, Daria
sighed and decided not to worry about it.?I wish Mom had let me keep my
book.?Now what?
She looked toward
the forest at the edge of the campground.?Hiking was the only part of camp she didn抰 hate梡artly because it
didn抰 involve key chains or watermelons or singing, but mostly because Quinn
and her vapid friends never came along.?Skip Stevens was always there, but he was easy to tune out.
揑抳e got at least an hour before it gets dark,?she guessed.?揟aking a walk beats sitting here doing nothing, since doing nothing is no fun without a television.?o:p>
Without other
voices or footsteps to interfere, Daria could hear all kinds of nature
sounds.?Leaves were rustling in the
wind, birds were singing, and somewhere in the distance she could hear
water.?I抦 getting close to the lake, she realized.
As she drew closer,
she recognized a noise that didn抰 belong to anything in nature, somewhere in
the distance.?Quinn抯 voice.
揕ike, I don抰 know where Alex was during the square dance, Cindy.?I, um, had a headache so I didn抰 even go.?o:p>
Daria frowned.?She could just make out other, less piercing
voices as she walked.?At last she saw a
dim orange glow and began to follow it.
Peeking out from
behind a tree, she saw Mr. Potts and all of the campers gathered around a
campfire.?Not too far from where she was
standing, her almost-friend Amelia was talking to some girls.
揝o where抯 that
weird kid you usually hang out with??one of them asked.
揙h, I don抰 know.?She probably didn抰 want to come.?At least, that抯 what Skip said.?o:p>
Daria didn抰 hear
what the other girl said in response, but all of them immediately started
laughing.?Even though she was standing
well away from the fire, her face began to feel warm.?Amelia
didn抰 even bother telling me about this.?She turned her back on the circle of campers.
Of course.?I抦 the 搘eird kid.?span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>?Everyone thinks
I抦 a freak, so naturally she抎 want a chance to ditch me and make friends with
the normal kids.?No wonder she didn抰
visit me in the infirmary after I got my stitches.
The more she thought
about it, the angrier she got, and the angrier she got, the faster she
walked.?Soon she was running through the
forest, barely paying attention to where she was going.?She didn抰 stop until she tripped over a tree
root and fell to the ground.?Landing
partly on her wounded arm, she grunted slightly in pain then stood up and
looked around.
揋reat,?she sighed.?揑抦 lost.?o:p>
After checking to
make sure the stitches were still intact, she tried to figure out which way
Camp Grizzly might be.?The sun was
setting as she started looking for the trail.
I wonder if anyone will notice that I
disappeared.?Tonight抯 the last night
here; we all go home tomorrow.?Or
everyone else goes home and I wander around in the forest for the rest of my
life.?If I ever get out of this, I never
want to see that damn camp again.
As she explored her
surroundings, searching for a familiar landmark, paranoia set in.?God, I
hope there aren抰 any real grizzlies around here.?That抯 all I need right now, to be eaten by
a?/i>
A low growl made her jump.??span class=SpellE>Eep!?span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>?A few seconds later, she calmed down enough to realize that the sound had been her stomach.?揋ood.?I抦 getting a head start on starving to death.?o:p>
She trudged on,
nervously eyeing the darkening sky and slapping the occasional mosquito.?It抯
almost night and I抦 getting hungrier.?I抎 even be willing to eat a greased watermelon at this point.?
Suddenly she
stopped, listening.?She could hear
footsteps on gravel, and they were close.?Don抰 think about urban legends.?Don抰 think about urban legends.?Don抰 think about. . .
Following the sound, she emerged from the woods and saw a house.?She walked around it to see a general store on the other side.?A fifty-something year-old man was unloading groceries from a truck.?揌ello there, miss,?he greeted her.?揧ou抮e kind of far from Camp Grizzly, aren抰 you??o:p>
She glanced down at
her blue T-shirt.?揧eah.?I got lost.?span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>?Daria normally didn抰 make a habit of talking to strangers梠r to anyone,
for that matter梑ut she needed directions and he seemed nice enough.?He kind
of reminds me of Mr. Potts.?I never
thought that would be a good thing.
揗y name抯 Earl,?the man said.?揗y wife, Barbara, and I own the store here.?span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>?He noticed the way she was eyeing his groceries and smiled.?揥ould you like to come inside and have a snack while we help you figure out how to get back??o:p>
Daria nodded and
followed him inside.?She sat at the
table, making small talk as she ate some delicious homemade soup Barbara had
heated up for her.
揘ow,?Barbara finally declared, 搘hat were you doing so far away from your friends??o:p>
They aren抰 my friends, Daria thought.?Out loud, she said, 揑 went for a hike by myself and couldn抰 find my way back.?o:p>
揥ell, that抯 all right.?Earl can give you a ride as soon as you finish your soup.?o:p>
揙kay.?o:p>
After Daria and Earl had ridden in silence for several minutes, he turned to her.?揝o what抯 so bad about camp??o:p>
Daria stared at him in surprise.?揥hat??o:p>
He smiled.?揑 saw your face when Barbara asked about your friends.?So what happened??o:p>
揥e don抰 get along,?mumbled Daria.?揟hey think I抦 weird.?o:p>
揌mm.?span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>?Earl drove on in silence for a few more minutes, then continued.?揧ou know, a lot of folks think my wife and I are weird.?o:p>
That friendly old couple??Daria turned and listened.
揃arbara and I are plain folk, but we抮e no fools.?So when people are rude to us, we play tricks on them.?My wife serves them bizarre food and I put on a 慴ackwoods hick?persona to annoy them.?I lay it on pretty strong, but you抎 be surprised how many people fall for it.?My point is, there抣l always be people who judge you based on what they see on the outside.?So you know what??o:p>
揥hat??o:p>
揝crew ?span class=SpellE>em.?o:p>
Daria smirked.?揟hanks.?o:p>
Earl dropped her
off in front of the 揥elcome to Camp Grizzly?sign and waved as he drove
away.?As Daria walked toward her cabin,
she could see some of the campers drifting in from the other direction.?They
won抰 even know I left camp, she thought.
She climbed into
her bunk and lay down.?Shortly after,
she heard Amelia抯 voice nearby.?揇aria??she whispered.
揧es??o:p>
揝kip told me you didn抰 want to come tonight.?I wish you had.?It would have been really great if you had been there to tell him off.?Why didn抰 you come??o:p>
揘o one invited me.?o:p>
There was a long pause.?揙h.?I would have asked you about it, but Skip said I shouldn抰.?o:p>
Baaaaa, thought Daria.
揇aria??o:p>
揥hat??o:p>
揑抦 glad we抮e friends.?o:p>
Daria rolled over
and said nothing.
When Helen and Jake came to pick their daughters up the next morning, Helen抯 first question to Daria was, 揥ell, did you make any friends??o:p>
揓ust one,?she
replied.?And he was full of country wisdom.
Thanks to Mr Orange, Ranger Thorne, and RLobinske
for beta reading.