Cindy at Music Camp By Teek © 2019 Chapter 17 New Day, New Challenges

“Time to get up Cindy,” Mrs. Elks stuck her head in the room.

“Okay,” Cindy stretched, while still holding on tight to her panda bear.

Mrs. Elks left Cindy to get up and dressed. Cindy was disappointed, but not surprised, that her Goodnite was wet. She got cleaned up and dressed for the day. On the top of her dresser was the outfit that Samantha had borrowed from Ciara. It was the same outfit that Cindy had worn on Monday when they were introducing Cindy to Mr. Elks. The only thing she couldn’t borrow were the shoes. If George’s Dad was correct, he would bring a pair of Lucy’s shoes for her to borrow. Mrs. Elks would need to help her with the bow. Cindy just couldn’t get it right this morning. It always looked wrong when she looked in the mirror.

Cindy thought about the phone call with George’s parents. His Mom had problems with her being a girl, but George’s Dad stopped her. Before the call, George said his Dad was probably a stronger believer in the God stuff and hating transgender people, so why did George’s Dad stop his Mom from attacking? Cindy tried to figure out why George’s Mom wouldn’t even allow borrowing Lucy’s shoes. Even harder for Cindy to figure out was why Lucy couldn’t play with Samantha and her. Well, Lucy could now, but only because George’s Dad made George’s Mom accept that. It was all very confusing to Cindy.

Cindy knew she was a freak. Her Mom made that very clear in Wal-Mart to the whole store before camp. The way she was yelling and explaining things, everyone in that store knew Cindy was a freak. So, what if she was a freak, why wouldn’t Lucy be allowed to play with her? Why was that George’s Mom’s decision, not Lucy’s?

Another strange thing kept coming back into Cindy’s mind. Mr. Elks said twenty-two kids had gone home because of Cindy. This didn’t make sense. Thursday morning after Ariel got sent home, it was only twelve kids. When and why did the other ten kids go home? Either Marcus or Mike had told everyone that they could leave if they didn’t like having a transgender kid at camp. Did that mean that ten more kids left because they didn’t like Cindy. With a big hug to Molly and her panda bear, she put the panda on the pillow.

“Good Morning Cindy,” Mrs. Elks said as Cindy walked into the living room. “Did you sleep well last night?”

“The Goodnite was wet,” Cindy glumly replied.

“I am sorry dear. When you took it off, did you remember to wipe with the baby wipes?”

“Yeah, don’t want to smell like pee. Just wish I didn’t crinkle when I walked. Everyone is going to know I am wearing diapers.”

“That was a very big girl decision of you to wear a Goodnite today. I know you won’t believe this, but other people rarely hear a diaper or Goodnite. Even when they do, on a kid your age they don’t think of those things causing the noise.”

Cindy squeezing Molly tight, “Mrs. Elks, can you please fix my bow, I just can’t get it on right.”

“No problem Cindy, but you might want to change clothes for the morning. Most kids don’t put on their concert clothes until just before the concert.”

“Oh,” Cindy blushed. “I didn’t think about that.”

“Go find something fun to wear for playing with Samantha and Lucy. I washed all your clothes last night and put them in your suitcase.”

“Suitcase, uggg. I have to go home today.”

The next time Cindy came out, she was wearing the yellow waistless dress, with patches of pink roses, and white three-fourth length sleeves with black stripes. She had on yellow socks and her Frozen sneakers. For the hair, she put in a hair clip with a yellow bow.

“Very nice outfit Cindy,” Mrs. Elks commented.

“Thanks,” Cindy said trying to smile.

“Hunter has already left for his office. I’ll take you over to breakfast this morning. We have some time so let’s talk some before the day gets too hectic. At Breakfast, you will get your copy of the camp group photo that was taken the third day of camp. It will be in a book with a bunch of blank pages, so you can get it signed by kids if you want. There will be an hour after Breakfast for just play and socializing. A lot of the Littles usually hang out at the Playground during that hour. After that, all kids are sent back to their rooms to finish packing. I don’t know about the other kids, but Samantha was planning on being over here with you as soon as she could. If you wanted, you could go help her finish packing and then the two of you can come over here to play. The current plan is that you will stay over here until you have to perform at the concert. Hunter said that he took you out of the Woodwind performance, so your first time on stage will be with Jessica’s mini orchestra group.”

“Probably a good idea,” Cindy had to admit.

“Hunter also wanted me to tell you that you will be performing three songs at the concert. First will be doing Jessica’s composition. Then during the Best Performer Prize Presentation, he is going to have you and Samantha perform something together. He is leaving it up to the two of you. Then, the last performance will be a solo performance by the Best Performer Winner, which is you.”

“Oh,” Cindy was trying to process that she was now going to be playing two more pieces at the concert. For the solo performance she was flipping through songs in her head. There were so many possibilities. It would be easy for her to go with her favorite Friedrich Kuhlau flute solo, or one of the famous composers. Mozart, Bach, and many others had good flute solos. Part of her wanted to do something fun, maybe a Disney song. She could think of a few songs from different movies; Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Frozen, Tangled, Moana, and even one from Mulan. One of her favorite Flute players on YouTube was Emma He. She does an amazing performance of Scarborough Fair which is some old English ballad, made popular by some old guys great grandpa’s age called Simon and Garfunkle. Cindy couldn’t get the performance by Emma He out of her head. It was a piano and flute duet, but it was lovely. Emma He was nine-years-old when she did it, just the same age Cindy is. Would Mr. Elks let Jessica and her do a duet or maybe Marcus since he came in third place? Marcus might do a duet with her with the song, Yesterday. It is some old Rock’n Roll song by a group called the Beatles. How in the world could she decide?

Breakfast was full of emotion. Between the mini-orchestra and the Protection Squad, Cindy knew everyone at the table very well. Cindy knew what was coming. As others were talking about returning next summer, Cindy was quite sure she would never be allowed to return to Music Camp. Her Mom would never risk the chance for Frank to dress as Cindy again. This was good-bye for good. She would never see these people again.

Cindy bangs her fork on the table until everyone at the table starts looking at her, “I want to say thank you to everyone at this table. You all made it possible for me to be Cindy this week and have the best week of my life. I will never forget any of you. Although I would love to come back next summer, I know it will not be allowed. As some of you know, my Mom is going to be super-duper mad once she finds out I have been Cindy this week. She will never let me be Cindy again. She will never let me come back to a place where I could possibly be Cindy. This is the last day I will ever have in my life to be Cindy.”

Tears started to roll down Cindy’s face, “Thank You everyone, and I am very, very, very sorry for what my Mommy is going to do at the concert. If you want me to be Frank today, so Mommy doesn’t mess up the concert, I will.”

Eleanor was the first to respond, “Cindy you are the amazing flutist. Frank was good, but you are outstanding. All those professionals were stunned by you. If today is your last day to be Cindy, then be Cindy. We are all here to support you, just like we have been all week.”

“Frank left camp for good on Monday,” Jessica said. “He may be forced back by his Mom, but until she does that, Cindy is here to stay.”

“Listen Cindy,” George said. “No matter what anyone says or does, inside you are a little girl named Cindy. I know that, and everyone at this table knows that. Don’t let anyone tell you who you are or who you should be. You have to decide that yourself. At the moment, you know you are a girl named Cindy. So, today you are a girl named Cindy and we are not going to make you be somebody else. We have no right to do that.”

“Listen to George Cindy,” Axel says. “Be yourself and never hide away who you are on the inside. My mom insists I put on a costume and act like a ‘normal’ person when around her. I never forget however, who I am on the inside. I am a Rock’n Roll drummer, and ready for adventure. You Cindy, are a little girl. You’re more girly than my little sister, and she is way to girly for me to handle. If wearing a dress and carrying around a dolly is who you are on the inside, then be that on the outside for as long as you can.”

Cindy was in tears. Samantha was next to her and whispered in her ear, “Don’t even think about being Frank.”

While Cindy tried to get herself together, those at the table that didn’t know about Cindy’s Mom, got a crash course in what she had done. Then some of the plans to protect Cindy today were explained.

“So, we can expect the Woodwind performance to be disrupted,” Eleanor stated.

“No,” Cindy said. “Mr. Elks took me out of the Woodwind performance.”

“What? But we need you. Well I guess I see why, but . . . but . . . Okay.”

“I am sure the Little’s orchestra is not happy to not have Samantha or Cindy, but they are managing,” Marcus said. “Not having Cindy show up until the last piece of the concert makes the most sense.”

“I know,” Eleanor said. “We will just miss her.”

“Thanks,” Cindy said. “I didn’t know until this morning that I had been pulled out of that performance. That reminds me, after breakfast, Samantha, Marcus, George, and Jessica I need to talk to you.”

The meal continued until the food was gone, and then the camp pictures were handed out. Everyone at the table sent their picture around the table to get signed by each other. Cindy wrote little personalized notes for each person. She really was going to miss them all. On the first one she almost signed it Frank, but then for the first time in her life, she wrote her name. The second time she wrote it, she put a little heart in place of the dot on the ‘ i ‘ in her name. From then on that is how she signed her name. With each writing of ‘Cindy’ her smile got bigger and bigger.

Slowly the people at the table dwindled down until it was just the mini-orchestra.

“So, what’s up Cindy,” Jessica asked.

Cindy looked around. There were not many people left in the room and no one close enough to hear them talk. Taking a deep breath, “Mr. Elks took me out of the woodwind performance, but now, instead of two pieces, I will have to do three pieces in the concert.”

“What do you mean Cindy,” Jessica asked? “You were going to perform with the Woodwind class and in our orchestra. Occasionally, the winner of the Best Performer Competition plays a piece, but that would only have you doing two pieces.”

“Yup, our orchestra, Best Performer Winner, and a duet with the second place winner,” Cindy said looking at Samantha.

“Hay, that is me,” Samantha said. “We are playing a duet?”

“That is what Mrs. Elks told me this morning,” Cindy explained. “I think Samantha and I should do a piece from one of the Disney movies, something all the Littles would enjoy.”

“Awwwww, great idea Cindy,” Samantha said. “We play a piece for the Littles, by Littles.”

“I bet Mr. Elks would like something more classical,” George added. “But knowing him, he will fully accept his two Little winners to play a little kid piece. It is probably why he is having the two of you do a duet. Two Littles in the top three has never happened in the history of the camp.“

“I keep running possible pieces to play as the winner of the Best Performer Competition,” Cindy explained. “Would Mr. Elks let me do a Duet with either Marcus or Jessica on the Piano?”

“Don’t think so Cindy,” Marcus explained. “The reason the Best Performer Winner gets to play a piece is to show everyone why they won. I won for my Rock’n Roll guitar playing one year, and I couldn’t do a piece with the band. Just me and my guitar. It is annoying, but a good way to show off your talent when it is just you on the stage.”

“Too bad,” Cindy sighed. “I thought with you on the piano, we could do Yesterday, by the Beatles. That way the 1st and 2nd get to play together and the 1st and 3rd get to play together.”

“Yesterday?” Marcus replied. “I would love to do a Rock’n Roll song with you Cindy. Too bad we don’t have another Open Mic.”

Cindy smiled, “Thought you would like that one. Part of me really wants to do Scarborough Fair, but that is also a piano/flute Duet.”

“Wonder what that sounds like as a piano/flute duet,” Jessica inquired.

Cindy asked to borrow Marcus’ phone and she pulled up the Emma He’s performance on YouTube.
Link to Scarborough Fair on YouTube

“Oh, you two should do it,” Jessica said after watching the video.

While they discussed somehow getting Cindy to play Scarborough Fair, Cindy pulled up Yesterday and started playing it to get everyone to stop discussing the impossible.
Link to Yesterday on YouTube

“That would also be a good one,” George said. “I can see why you thought of those two, but honestly Cindy, you need to play the piece that one you 1st place.”

There was general agreement over George’s statement. If Cindy could play it so good that Mr. Frances, the silent judge, talked to her, then she should play it at the concert. Cindy could see the logic in this, but part of her still wanted to play either Yesterday or Scarborough Fair.

The group parted ways, with Cindy and Samantha heading to the playground. When they got there, they were immediately mobbed by almost everyone asking them to sign their camp memory book.

“Two Littles in the top five,” Suzy said. “You two are famous. You show all those big kids that Littles can be good too.”

“It doesn’t matter what size we are,” Little Ellen said. “I am a good violin player. Not as good as you Samantha, but I am good. You two showed those big teenagers that Littles can be better than them. Thank You!”

Ellen went up and gave Samantha a big hug and then gave Cindy one too. With her being so small, Her hands hit Cindy’s bottom.

After the hug, Ellen made Cindy get down to her height and then she said, “I think it is cool you are wearing a pull-up, I have to wear one for the concert too.”

“What . . . I . . . I,” Cindy looked at Ellen. She looked so cute and still looked so much like a little baby. She may have been six, but Cindy could easily picture Ellen running around in a diaper and sucking on a pacifier. No matter how much Cindy wanted to, she just couldn’t lie to Ellen. “I started having accidents after Ariel attacked me.”

“I have accidents when I laugh too hard,” Sarah said. “So, there is a strict no tickling rule in my house.”

“I have them when I get scared,” Patrick said.

“I still have to wear a big girl pull-up at night,” Elizabeth said.

“Cindy,” Oliver said. “I want you to sign my book, even if you do wear Pull-ups.”

Cindy wanted this line of discussion to stop. She quickly grabbed Oliver’s book and signed her name, “Thank You Oliver.”

Oliver smiled and went off to the slides.

“Looks like we have a lot of books to sign,” Samantha said. “Let’s go over to the picnic table.”

The crowd of kids followed Cindy and Samantha to the table. The two of them signed a lot of books, and a lot of kids signed their books. When done, they went over to the see-saw.

“I can’t believe you are two years older than me, but we are the same size and weight,” Samantha said as they tried to balance the see-saw.

“Strange, isn’t it.”

“So, what piece do you want to play,” Samantha asked?

“I don’t know,” Cindy said pushing off the ground. The two were silent as they went up and down for a while.

“Let It Go, is out,” Samantha said.

“Definitely,” Cindy agreed.

“Probably not one of the old princess ones either,” Samantha said. “The boys may not know it.”

“The Lion King has some good pieces of music,” Cindy commented. “Moana has some good ones too.”

“We could do Moana, How Far I’ll Go,” Samantha suggested.

“No, I’ve got it,” Cindy said getting up and flinging Samantha to the ground. “The Lion King, Can You Feel the Love Tonight. We may need Marcus or Jessica on the Piano. Come on, let’s go find Mr. Elks.”

“Cindy,” Samantha screamed standing up and running after Cindy. “Cindy, slow down.”

Cindy was half-way to the Administrative Offices before Samantha caught up with her, “Cindy! Why are you running off like that? I didn’t even say yes to the piece yet?”

Without stopping, Cindy looked at Samantha, “Well, after the outburst by my parents, there will be a lot a people there supporting us, and we need to let them all know that we understand that and appreciate it. The piece is perfect for that.”

“Yes, but How Far I’ll Go from ‘Moana’ better represents the two of us and the future in front of us.”

Cindy walked into the administrative offices with Samantha right behind. They went up to Mrs. Stillman. Cindy smiled as she remembered her first day here at camp, when Jessica dragged her through this office telling Mrs. Stillman to call her mom.

“Mrs. Stillman,” Cindy said. “Is Mr. Elks here?”

“Yes sweetheart, but he is in a meeting,” Mrs. Stillman smiled at the two young girls standing at her desk.

“It is important Mrs. Stillman. We need to talk to him about the concert. It has to be now. If he says yes, we need to practice before the concert. Please Mrs. Stillman, please,” Cindy slightly tilts her head, smiles, and blinks a few times.

Mrs. Stillman smiles back, “Nice try little one, but that cute little girl trick doesn’t work on me. You do it pretty good though. You look familiar, and you seem to know me, but I can’t recall your name.”

“We met on the first day Mrs. Stillman when Jessica wanted you to call her mom. I’m Cindy and this is my best friend Samantha.”

Mrs. Stillman looked at Cindy with confusion and then a realization of recognition, “Oh you are Cindy. The little girl who has made my job a lot more fun this summer. Usually being a secretary at summer camp is boring, but you have kept me very busy writing up new policies, calling parents, and several rewrites of the concert schedule. Nice to finally meet you. Are you about to make me redo the agenda of the concert again?”

“Please Mrs. Stillman, it really is important for us to talk with Mr. Elks.”

“Okay,” Mrs. Stillman said picking up her phone. “I’ll let him know you want to talk to him.”

Cindy and Samantha stood there listening as Mrs. Stillman talked to Mr. Elks. When she hung up, she smiled at the two of them, “He said you could go right in.”

“Thanks Mrs. Stillman,” Cindy and Samantha said together.

When they entered Mr. Elks’ office, there were two guys in there talking with Mr. Elks. One of them had a Police Officer uniform on.

“Daddy!!!!!” Samantha screamed and ran up to her dad who was wearing his uniform.

“Hello, Sammie Pooh,” Samantha’s Dad said giving her a big hug. “So good to see you. Mom will be happy to know that sending you to camp for two weeks didn’t cause you to forget us.”

“Oh Daddy,” Samantha giggled.

“So, this I assume is Cindy,” Samantha’s dad said while looking over to Cindy.

“Yes sir,” Cindy shyly said.

“Nice to finally meet you Cindy,” Samantha’s Dad said.

“Girls,” Mr. Elks said gesturing towards the unknown man in the room. “I want you to meet Officer Miller. He will be helping keep our concert a safe place for everyone.”

“Hi Officer Miller sir,” Cindy said. “I am sorry you have to be here.”

Officer Miller got down on his knees in front of Cindy, “I am honored to help out Cindy. Don’t ever apologize for needing the police. We always love protecting cute little girls. Makes us feel like a knight saving a princess.”

Samantha and Cindy smiled.

“Cindy,” Officer Miller said. “A lady named Mrs. Stone and I have a few questions for you before your parents get here. Mr. Elks thought a good place to ask them would be at his house, so we will be over later to talk to you.”

Cindy looked at Mr. Elks and Samantha’s Dad. It was very clear to everyone in the room that Cindy wasn’t sure what to think about this.

“Cindy,” Mr. Elks said. “It is okay. I will be there, and Barbara can be there too if you want.”

“Cindy,” Samantha’s Dad added. “My partner and I will also be there. There is . . .”

“Patty is here?” Samantha interrupted.

“Yes, Sammie Pooh,” Samantha’s Dad smiled. “She is over at the Concert Hall trying to figure out everything we need to do to keep the two of you safe. The two of us will be over to Mr. Elks house once Mrs. Stone gets here.”

Cindy looked straight into Officer Miller’s eyes. He seemed nice, but could she trust him? She wasn’t sure. He was a Police Officer. She was supposed to trust Police Officers.

“What’s wrong Cindy,” Mr. Elks inquired while he looked at her closely.

“I,” Cindy started but hesitated. “I . . . I’m scared.”

“We understand Cindy,” Samantha’s Dad said. “It is okay to be scared. There are scary things going on in your life. We want you to focus on your performances in the concert and your friends. Mr. Elks told me that you find the concert the easy part of today. He says that playing music calms you down.”

Cindy weakly smiles, “Yes sir.”

“Then Cindy, I want you to play as much music as you want today. Find toys and games to play with Samantha and play music on your flute. Do what you can to take your mind off the other things happening today.”

“Okay sir.”

“Mr. Elks,” Samantha said. “Cindy said that Mrs. Elks told her that me and Cindy would be doing a duet at the concert.”

“Yes,” Mr. Elks smiled at the girls. “I was hoping you would do something like that Mozart piece you did yesterday, but you can do something different if you want.”

“We are Littles Mr. Elks,” Cindy said. “We are in First and Second Place. We want to do a piece for the Littles by Littles.”

“I see,” Mr. Elks put his hand up to his chin.

“We came up with two different pieces that we think will be good. From the Lion King, Can You Feel the Love Tonight, or from Moana, How Far I’ll Go,” Samantha explained.

“I see,” Mr. Elks considered. “They are both good pieces and I see you are trying to send a message. Both send strong messages for two little girls.”

“But we have a problem sir,” Cindy said. “Both would be better if we had a piano playing with us. Can we have Jessica or Marcus play the piece with us?”

Mr. Elks pondered the proposal, “I was really hoping to have something with just the two of you. If someone is needed on the piano, I can see why you might want Jessica since she is not a teenager, but Marcus won 3rd place in the competition. I can see the top three putting on a performance. I will let you do a piece with three of you, but use Marcus, not Jessica. Okay?”

“Thank you, Mr. Elks,” Samantha and Cindy said in unison.

“Just remember girls,” Mr. Elks said. “With the two of you performing, it is two Littles on stage showing they are the best at camp. If you bring in Marcus, there will be a teenager on stage, not just two Littles.”

The girls contemplated that until they were interrupted by Mr. Elks, “It is about Packing to Go Home time. Everyone is going to be sent to the dorms to pack in a few minutes. Why don’t the two of you go over to Samantha’s room and pack her stuff up and bring it over to my house.”

“We will Mr. Elks,” Samantha said. Before leaving, she gave her Daddy a big hug.

“Sammie Pooh,” Samantha’s Dad said. “I’ll see you in a little bit. Make sure you pack everything up. I don’t want to drive all the way back to camp like last summer, because you forgot your blankie.”

“Don’t worry Daddy,” Samantha said as she grabbed Cindy’s hand. “We will check everything two times.”

With that, the girls skipped out of the office on their way to Samantha’s room.