I was a young summer camp counselor. We were about 3 weeks into the summer and relationships were growing among the counselors. I had been running around with a couple of girls but nothing had gotten serious.
We were on a trail ride, the overnight kind. The trail ride was a special trip for campers who had been there 3 years. This trip was overwhelmingly girl campers, something like 20 girls to 4 boys. And the counselor ratio had to reflect that of the campers. It was me and one other boy counselor and 5 girl counselors. Two of the girls had started to become good friends with me, heading for a summer romance.
It was a long day on the horses, riding for hours, way back into the mountains. We arrived at camp, took care of the horses, got the campfire started and cooked, and set up for the night. I picked my spot, a nice quiet grassy spot with a nice view of the valley below. It was a little ways from where the campers usually set up but close enough to do my duties to watch over them. The other boys set up under a canopy of juniper trees, not the best spot at all. Little piles of raccoon poop decorated the sloping ground under the trees, but they thought it might provide good cover if the rains came that night.
There was a quick migration of sleeping bags coming my way. First it was Lisa, a girl counselor who had taken her first day off with me. We enjoyed the day and each other and had been hanging at breaks and after lights out. Lisa laid her sleeping bag just inches from mine, I thought that was a good thing. Well, then a group of girl campers dragged their bags closer to us. That would put a damper on some things that evening. Then before too long, every girl on the trail ride had set up their sleeping bags in tight formation near me.
The night turned very dark, there was an electrical storm miles away. Lightening would flash without the roll of thunder. The sound of hobbled horses, crickets, and the crackling fire picked through the night air. The ... Læs hele novellen
