Chances and Changes: My Journey with Molly

We all put our hands over our hearts as the counselors lower the flag and we sing the Camp Gowonagin song:

  God bless Gowonagin!
  Camp that we love!
  Raise the flag high,
  Never say die,
  While the red, white, and blue flies above!

Standing next to Molly as the flag is lowered, I can tell everyone at camp loves this song and loves camp, too. Even though I’ve only been here for a few hours, I like it a lot. Everyone seems happy here.

After the flag lowering, we head to the Dining Hall where we stand in line to get dinner. I’m always hungry and ready to eat after swimming. They serve us meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Molly explains that all the vegetables will be from the camp’s Victory garden. We don’t use any canned vegetables. The soldiers need them more.

After dinner, everyone heads down to the lake. As darkness falls, the counselors build a fire on the shore and we sit around it in a circle. We sing songs like “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” We manage to get all confused, which makes me laugh until my stomach aches. We eat s’mores as Miss Archer tells us a ghost story. We squash close to one another to keep warm. I feel as if Molly and the girls at Camp Gowonagin have been my friends forever.

Later, we’re in our bunk beds and I put my pin underneath my pillow to keep it safe. The bugler plays “Taps” softly, and everybody quietly sings along. After our song, everyone says good night to each other and Betty unhooks the lantern in the middle of the tent and turns it off.

While Betty goes to a meeting with the other counselors-in-training, everybody starts to fall asleep. It’s very dark in the tent without the lantern. I pull my blanket up to my chin. Then, my throat aches and I don’t feel like falling asleep. Maybe it’s the funny sounds of the bullfrogs and the chirping crickets that make me long for home. Or maybe it’s the sweet swish of the wind rifling through the trees, but it reminds me of my window at home. I sniffle.

Linda, who’s lying in the bunk next to me, asks me what’s wrong. She flicks on her flashlight and shines it on me. Then, the top half of Molly appears as she hangs upside down from the bunk above mine. Her long braids are dangling. She asks if I’m homesick.