camp

a little girl splashed along a shiny, tar-black sidewalk up near the lake

flip-flop-flip-flop-flip-flop

she bent over awkwardly to scratch at a cut on her knee but then had to regained her step hurriedly before getting run over. she walked, pony-tail wagging back and forth. she walked, nose first, with the kind of confidence she wished she had when she wasn't just pretending that her parents weren't following along right behind her.

flip-flop-flip-flop-flip-

she saw her friend charles on the swings and tore off in that direction, indeed now forgetting really all about her parents' presence.

"Jessica!" her mother reacted. jessica didn't hear. her mother saw charles and realizing the situation, dropped it. there was no danger.

"Jessica," yelled charles, his voice piercing through the open park, as she came to a stop next to him. though it wasn't really a stop. all of her body parts continued to move. up on one leg then up on the other, both arms swinging and balancing.

"Come see what i have," he said excitedly and ran his self off towards his family's camp.

Jessica stumbled to accelerate, caught rocking in the opposite direction charles had taken off to.

"Wait!" she said, her eyes widening as if she were horribly worried - a look she'd picked up from her mother apparently.

Charles shot onto the path through the woods, freaking out a bunch of dark birds which fluttered out of the bushes.

Maybe later in life Jessica would grow to appreciate the lifeforce of the universe. decide to pay attention to its omens. maybe wear a lot of black. but being so young, all she knew was fear and surprise and that was how she reacted and when it was over it was as if it had never been, at least for the present.

All those birds Charles had scattered had taken off towards the sky as usual. but one of them stayed low to the ground. Jessica fell back as if shot. as she reached up to feel the scratch on her face she realized she had just screamed. she was shocked at the soft sensation of the bird's feathers on her face. shocked at its warmth that she had felt. but she didn't put the moment into those words, ideas. she just lied on her back looking at the clouds floating over the trees. she was a child and had too much energy to think. and not nearly enough doubt to begin to think about how if things are inherent they are true until proved false.

Jessica thought she heard a dog and her neck flung up from the ground in the direction of the noise. she didn't see one. however now she was up, forgetting everything except that she needed to run. and before she knew it she was off on the woods path towards charles' family's camp site.

He had tired of waiting for her and was drinking something red and surely full of sugar, looking down at his dad who was starting to make a fire.

Jessica stood looking around for a moment before letting herself into their camper, clanging the metal door behind her. Cat, charles' older sister sat on a bed reading a magazine her back propped against the curtains on the window.

"Need something?" Cat snarled.

"No." Jessica plopped herself down on the opposite bed and began swinging her feet so that they pounded against the side of the bed. She looked at Cat. Jessica admired her. she wished she was old enough to read magazines like the one Cat had. she'd pretended before, but she could never sit still long enough. Jessica didn't think about that. she just sat still, alternately looking out the window and at Cat's long hair. she got bored suddenly and began swinging her feet again.

"What are you reading?" she asked Cat

"Get out of here!"

For a split second the thick hatred in Cat's voice made Jessica cringe with sadness, her eyes almost filling with tears. but she recovered quickly and just simply stuck out her tongue and clanged the door on her way out.

She yelled for charles who was sitting in a folding chair, swinging his feet alternately, still watching his dad. he didn't pay any attention to her. his mother saw her though. she was peeling corn in the screen tent and thought she'd be nice by asking Jessica to help her. Jessica didn't want to but knew that she was supposed to help if asked, especially by strangers.

"Ok," she said half-heartedly and bent over beginning to zip open the screen.

"Jessica!" charles screamed, saving her. "I have to show you something!" and he ran past her down towards the creeks. Jessica ran after him the best she could almost jumping after him in her flip-flops. she managed her way eventually down through the dirt and stones to kneel down beside him. he was turning stones over at the edge of the creek.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

Charles let out a long, exasperated grunt. "I just saw one this morning," he said through a clenched jaw, and moved his way out further into the water so that his ankles were immersed, still flipping rocks, now with more emphasis on splashing however.

"Jessica!" charles' mother was yelling down to her. "Your parents are here for you"

Jessica abandoned charles and walked slowly back up the hill, stepping carefully whenever she could so that the thick roots she targeted would press through her flip-flops and deep into the arch of her feet. it was like a massage, she felt.

Jessica saw her parents waiting for her in a car, her mother holding a small jacket out towards her.

"Let's go!"

Her father yelled.