Post by Teddy on Oct 30, 2013 19:53:34 GMT -5
That night after the meeting at the Ping Pong room in The Big House, I laid in my bottom bunk bed in the Apollo Cabin, exhausted after a day of camp activities. I listened to the soft breaths of my cabin mates, who were sound asleep in their own beds as I thought about the plan to destroy a hole in the barricade for the Satyrs and Nymphs. I turned to my side and stared at my new violin case. (I had crafted it in arts and crafts earlier that day.) The violin hung from a hook I had nailed to the wall, completely exposed. I had made sure to make the violin easily accessible. The case was basically crafted like a guitar strap, clear plastic lined the edges of the violin to keep it in place, a separate holder for the violin bow was attached to the side. It was easy to access and wouldn't delay me in turning my violin into a bow and quiver. I patted myself on the back and gave it a soft strum so that I wouldn't wake my fellow cabin members. I turned over to my opposite side. I was wide awake, not tired at all. Come on, Fletch. You need to sleep. Big day tomorrow, I told myself. I turned over to lay on my back. I closed my eyes tightly and rubbed them with the palms of my hands. I let out a deep sigh and let them open again. I lay in silence, tapping my fingers along to the beat of a song that I had unconsciously stuck in my head. Toxic by Brittany Spears. Agh, there's no use. I can't get to sleep. I thought to myself in a frustrated way. I thought about sneaking out of my cabin and going to The Big House to see if Roxy wanted some company. She would be there taking care of over night campers. I then thought about going to see if I could find Casper. Where would he be sleeping? There wasn't a forest anymore... Dionysus cabin maybe. My mind and my body seemed to be having an internal battle. My brain said come on! Get up and walk around! But my body said Nah, man, let's stay here. I decided I'd listen to my body. Walking was too much of a chore right now anyway. I considered going over to Luke's cabin to see if he could knock me out with an electrical shock, then I figured that wasn't a good idea. Besides, if I wanted to be knocked out, it would probably be smarter to go to Gary. I started to think about my grandparents, and how when I was little and couldn't sleep my grandmother would sing me old Hawaiian songs and play the violin like my grandfather played the Ukulele, which at the time, 5 year old me would find hilarious. A pang of homesickness hit me with the force of what felt like being thrown out of a train, and I knew what that felt like. I realized how long it had been since I had seen or spoken to my grandparents. They probably wouldn't be too happy about an Iris Message at 1:00 in the morning, but I decided to see if they'd pick up. I got up and walked over to my dresser as quietly as I could. I routed through my sock drawer and tried to find the jar of Drachma's I saved just for calling my grandparents. I picked one out and put it in my pocket. I reached into the very back and grabbed a flashlight and a spray bottle. I stepped out of the cabin, careful not to make a noise. Where could I go now? Where was empty? Where was quiet? I considered going to Deans cabin, but I wasn't sure if it was done, and I wasn't about to venture off to his cabin without him there. I didn't want to make my grandparents watch me being eaten by a random monster. I thought about going to Roxy again, but then I figured that making a call to my grandparents wouldn't be very respectful of the sick people. I sat on the steps of my cabin in my ducky boxers and a white v-neck t-shirt stumped. Then, I got an idea. I sat up quickly and bolted around the U shape of cabins until I stood in front of Cabin 1. Zeus's cabin. Luke was probably sound asleep, but I figured if I was going to wake up anyone at this camp to make a call to my grandparents, he'd be the only one sort of cool about it. Hey, maybe he'd even want to meet them. I imagined they'd be pretty happy to hear I was finally making human friends at camp, as much as they loved Casper. A warm memory of Casper baking cookies with my grandmother while my grandfather and I joked around and had 'music battles' sneaked up on me. My grandfather and I would challenge each other to what we called a Music Battle. He would grab his Uke, I would grab my grandmothers violin, and we would jump on the couch and make a mess, throwing pillows around and pretending they were lightning beams shooting out from the head pieces of our instruments. My grandmother and Casper had laughed and enjoyed the show from the kitchen while they mixed cookie dough that later Casper and I shared in licking the spoon. I brought myself back to reality and found myself grinning wildly at the foot of Luke's cabin. I realized how creepy I looked, so I walked up the stairs and opened the door. This time I wasn't so quiet. Luke sat up with a look of panic on his face, and in a flash he had his sword. I raised my hands in surrender.
"Dude," I said.
"DUDE," he exclaimed. "What the fuck?"
"I gotta make a call," I answered, holding up the drachma, spray bottle and flashlight.
"Why do you have to do it here?" He asked as he put his sword away.
"Didn't want to wake up my siblings, and there was no where else," I said. Luke was quiet, like he was thinking.
"Fine," he finally said. "But who in Hades would you be calling at this time of night?"
"My grandparents," I confirmed. Luke looked at me like I had three heads. "I'm home sick, okay?" I said, more quietly than I intended. Luke pursed his lips and sighed. He sat up and moved over, patting the spot beside him.
"Alright, Haiku Face," he said. I gave him a grateful smile and sat beside him. "You know, you could have just told me you wanted to spend the night together," he joked. I smirked, but couldn't find a snarky remark to reply with. I felt slightly flushed, and I wasn't exactly sure why.
"Hold this," I told him, handing him the flashlight. He held it and pointed it to a wall. I sprayed the stream of light until I made a rainbow, and right as I saw one I threw my drachma into it. "Oh Iris, Goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Malana Kealoha." I recited. The rainbow I was spraying rippled, and the image of my grandmother came into view. She was sitting on a bench in a hallway with slightly dimmed lights. Her head was in her hands, her silver hair was messy, like she had been running her hands through it. My heart sank to my stomach, I looked at Luke who looked at me with flashes of worry through his green eyes.
"Tutu?" I asked. My voice was shaky. She looked up from her hands, her deep, wise brown eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were sparkling with tears.
"Fletch!" She exclaimed, desperately trying to wipe her tears as if she thought she could cover the tracks. "Fletch, darling, what are you doing up at this hour?" Her strong Hawaiian accent would have made her hard to understand. She hugged her frail frame. "Who's this?" She added as her eyes trailed to Luke.
"I- I couldn't sleep. This is Luke. He's one of my best friends," I said. My voice cracked with worry. "Are you okay?"
My grandmother seemed to brush off the question. "Hello, Luke," she said with a smile. "Nice to meet you." Luke waved and returned her smile.
"Hi, Mrs. Kealoha," he replied. My grandmother chuckled, but it sounded forced.
"My dear, call me Malana. Mrs Kealoha is so formal."
"Alright, Malana," Luke said. I choked back tears as I repeated my question.
"Tutu, are you okay?" I said. Her eyes met mine.
"... Hiwahiwa," she said, fresh tears streaming down her face. That was her pet name for me. Direct translation would be 'Precious' in english, like I called her Tutu, which was Hawaiian for 'grandmother'. "Tutu Kane is very, very ill." She continued.
"Wh-what?" I said. I felt Lukes hand sit reassuringly in between my shoulder blades. I did nothing but stare at her in disbelief.
"He had a heart attack, Fletch," my grandmother said quietly. I felt like there was a lump in my throat. My heart was racing.
"What are the doctors saying?" I finally managed. There was a long pause. My grandmother tried to get a hold of herself.
"They say he won't last the night, hun," she finally replied. Finally, I couldn't hold it in anymore. Tears streamed down my face. I sat there, my only movement being the squirting of the spray bottle. Just then, a doctor came up to my grandmother. In a desperate attempt to hide the iris message she swatted it away so he wouldn't see it. I was about to break down when the scene changed. It was charlie. He was sitting in a forest, grinning up at us.
"Bad news, Fletch?" He asked with a voice coated in fake sympathy.
"Fuck you," I managed.
"Jeeze, Fletch, who died?" He asked.
"Stop it, Charlie or I swear to all of the gods," Luke said through gritted teeth. His fists were balled up in anger.
"You swear what? That you'll... Oh, topple a whole building on me like you did your 10 year old friend Justin?" he said. Both Luke and I were silent with fury and sadness. Charlie just laughed.
"You won't win, Flemming," he said. "Soon all of the forest people at your camp will be mine, and I'll be one more step closer to destroying that hell hole." Luke yelled in anger and swatted the iris message. Charlie disappeared, and Luke slowly sat back down. I continued to cry. Luke sat with me and comforted me. I cried until I was too exhausted to stay awake, eventually, crying myself to sleep.
"Dude," I said.
"DUDE," he exclaimed. "What the fuck?"
"I gotta make a call," I answered, holding up the drachma, spray bottle and flashlight.
"Why do you have to do it here?" He asked as he put his sword away.
"Didn't want to wake up my siblings, and there was no where else," I said. Luke was quiet, like he was thinking.
"Fine," he finally said. "But who in Hades would you be calling at this time of night?"
"My grandparents," I confirmed. Luke looked at me like I had three heads. "I'm home sick, okay?" I said, more quietly than I intended. Luke pursed his lips and sighed. He sat up and moved over, patting the spot beside him.
"Alright, Haiku Face," he said. I gave him a grateful smile and sat beside him. "You know, you could have just told me you wanted to spend the night together," he joked. I smirked, but couldn't find a snarky remark to reply with. I felt slightly flushed, and I wasn't exactly sure why.
"Hold this," I told him, handing him the flashlight. He held it and pointed it to a wall. I sprayed the stream of light until I made a rainbow, and right as I saw one I threw my drachma into it. "Oh Iris, Goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Malana Kealoha." I recited. The rainbow I was spraying rippled, and the image of my grandmother came into view. She was sitting on a bench in a hallway with slightly dimmed lights. Her head was in her hands, her silver hair was messy, like she had been running her hands through it. My heart sank to my stomach, I looked at Luke who looked at me with flashes of worry through his green eyes.
"Tutu?" I asked. My voice was shaky. She looked up from her hands, her deep, wise brown eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were sparkling with tears.
"Fletch!" She exclaimed, desperately trying to wipe her tears as if she thought she could cover the tracks. "Fletch, darling, what are you doing up at this hour?" Her strong Hawaiian accent would have made her hard to understand. She hugged her frail frame. "Who's this?" She added as her eyes trailed to Luke.
"I- I couldn't sleep. This is Luke. He's one of my best friends," I said. My voice cracked with worry. "Are you okay?"
My grandmother seemed to brush off the question. "Hello, Luke," she said with a smile. "Nice to meet you." Luke waved and returned her smile.
"Hi, Mrs. Kealoha," he replied. My grandmother chuckled, but it sounded forced.
"My dear, call me Malana. Mrs Kealoha is so formal."
"Alright, Malana," Luke said. I choked back tears as I repeated my question.
"Tutu, are you okay?" I said. Her eyes met mine.
"... Hiwahiwa," she said, fresh tears streaming down her face. That was her pet name for me. Direct translation would be 'Precious' in english, like I called her Tutu, which was Hawaiian for 'grandmother'. "Tutu Kane is very, very ill." She continued.
"Wh-what?" I said. I felt Lukes hand sit reassuringly in between my shoulder blades. I did nothing but stare at her in disbelief.
"He had a heart attack, Fletch," my grandmother said quietly. I felt like there was a lump in my throat. My heart was racing.
"What are the doctors saying?" I finally managed. There was a long pause. My grandmother tried to get a hold of herself.
"They say he won't last the night, hun," she finally replied. Finally, I couldn't hold it in anymore. Tears streamed down my face. I sat there, my only movement being the squirting of the spray bottle. Just then, a doctor came up to my grandmother. In a desperate attempt to hide the iris message she swatted it away so he wouldn't see it. I was about to break down when the scene changed. It was charlie. He was sitting in a forest, grinning up at us.
"Bad news, Fletch?" He asked with a voice coated in fake sympathy.
"Fuck you," I managed.
"Jeeze, Fletch, who died?" He asked.
"Stop it, Charlie or I swear to all of the gods," Luke said through gritted teeth. His fists were balled up in anger.
"You swear what? That you'll... Oh, topple a whole building on me like you did your 10 year old friend Justin?" he said. Both Luke and I were silent with fury and sadness. Charlie just laughed.
"You won't win, Flemming," he said. "Soon all of the forest people at your camp will be mine, and I'll be one more step closer to destroying that hell hole." Luke yelled in anger and swatted the iris message. Charlie disappeared, and Luke slowly sat back down. I continued to cry. Luke sat with me and comforted me. I cried until I was too exhausted to stay awake, eventually, crying myself to sleep.
