“Good afternoon Columbine girls.” A friendly voice sang from the door to the cabin. In stepped a young woman with copper hair, twisted up and clipped to the back of her head. Her fair skin was dotted with freckles and her green eyes were warm and sparkling with merriment. She was wearing shorts, flip-flops and a lavender Camp Kumoniwanalaya T-shirt that clashed with her warm coloring and orange hair.

“Is everyone here?” She asked looking around taking a head count. She nodded to herself and plopped down on the bed next to the door. “My name is Phoenix and I’ll be your counselor for the next two months.”

The girls all greeted her with smiles and a murmur.

“I hope you like this cabin, I had to fight to get it, it’s further away from the boys, and close enough to the showers that we don’t have to hike to them, yet far enough that we won’t hear them every morning and night.” Phoenix smiled. “As my name is Phoenix, I like to give my cabin-mates the opportunity to ‘burn’ their past and be ‘re-born’. So shed who you were before you got on that bus this morning. Toss it aside and think of the next few weeks as a time of change so that you can emerge a new person."

In more ways than one... Erika thought to herself.

The bus was winding its way up into the mountains. The large broadleaf maple trees gave way to firs, pines and cedar trees. The rolling grasslands were replaced with scrub brush and shrubs. Rhododendron’s, their blooms already replaced by light green new growth fought for space alongside groupings of ferns, dogwoods, scrub oak and thickets of barberries. The anticipation on the bus was thick enough to feel. Giddiness abounded as girls started looking around out the windows at their surroundings, or at one another and sharing smiles and thoughts.

The bus pulled off the main road and rocked side to side as it drove down a long curving gravel driveway. Butterflies started swirling in Erika’s stomach. Would the counselors at the camp see right through her facade? Would Eric be the laughing stock of the camp, forced to enter the boy’s cabins and endure the ridicule of the entire camp….. The plague of Camp Kumoni.

A hand on her arm, snapped Erika out of her dark thoughts as the bus came to a stop. “Stop that.” Samantha gave her a tight-lipped smile.

“Stop what?” Erika was starting to sweat.

“Worrying.” Samantha told her. “We’ll be all right.”

“You might be.” Erika said. “I won’t, if I’m found out.”

“Alright ladies.” The counselor in front called. “Settle down. You have all received e-mail from your cabin counselors informing you where you are to go. If you haven’t received an e-mail or are having difficulty, I’ll be able to assist you after you retrieve your luggage.” She paused for a breath. “You have twenty minutes to find your cabins.” With that said, she hopped off the bus and greeted an older woman wearing a whistle around her neck. A few words passed and the woman began greeting everyone as they disembarked the bus.

“Welcome to camp Kumoni…… Welcome……. Glad to see you.”

Erika and Samantha found their luggage and looked around them and down the dirt path towards the lake which could be seen peeking through the trees. The smell of fresh mountain air, pine needles and earth was pungent in the air. The sunlight filtered by the trees danced on the ground.

A large, steep, metal-roofed log building stood like an enormous boulder among the trees. From the sounds and smells, Erika quickly made it out to be the Mess hall. Rough-hewn lumber cabins dotted open areas between the trees and spattering of Rhodies and ferns. The guys bus was unloading at the same time. The boys and the girls openly ogled one another, before heading in different directions of the camp.

Erika slung a small duffle bag over her shoulder and lugged her old suit case while Samantha wheeled hers next to her along the packed earthen paths.

As it turned out, Columbine cabin was the last one along the path, half hidden in the trees and underbrush. Two steps led up to an open door. That had a note taped to it.

“Cool, you guys in Columbine too?” Victoria voiced from behind them.

Erika froze in her place as a chill ran down her spine. Victoria was to be sharing their cabin. This wasn’t going to work. Maybe she should just go down to the office and spill her guts, it couldn’t be too bad. Maybe they would send her home.

“Wow, what are the odds that we would be sharing a cabin.” Samantha turned and smiled at Victoria. “Who would have thought it possible.”

I would! Erika screamed in her head. I knew this would happen! I just knew it and I told you! She stared daggers at Samantha.

“What does the note say?” Victoria asked looking past them.

The three girls crowded around the door, still with their suitcases.
 
 
Hey Girls!

Come on in and pick out your bunks and start getting unpacked. I have business with the director and will be along in a bit. NO FIGHTING over the beds or who gets the top. Rock, scissors, paper works just fine. ; ) Besides, we will have time to trade later.
 

A rough figure of a bird engulfed in flames was sketched at the bottom.

“Hey there, are you all in this cabin?” a voice called from within.

Samantha, Victoria and Erika all stepped into the cabin so that they could get a look at who the voice is from. Their eyes quickly adjusted to a dim cabin and saw a very tall, beautiful young lady smiling nervously at them.

“Hi, I’m Katie.” She smiled.

Introductions went around the room.

Victoria looked Katie up and down “Wow, you’re really…..”

“Tall.” Katie finished with a shrug. “My father is six foot eight. My mother, six foot four.”

“I was going to say pretty.” Victoria interjected. “Do you model?”

Katie was a bit startled by the question. “Model? Me? Most people ask me if I play basketball.” She blushed. “No, I don’t model, or play basket ball.”

“Which beds are still open?” Samantha asked.

“I think that one next to the door belongs to Phoenix’s “ Katie deducted. “That way she can hear anyone coming or going. I grabbed the top bunk over here, I figured it would be easier for me to get in and out of than some of you short people.

“Oh great, you’ve started short jokes and I haven’t even put my stuff down.” A voice called from the door. The four girls looked over to see a short blonde girl in the doorway. A very short, blonde girl.

“I’m sorry.” Katie turned beet red, “I didn’t realize….”

“Realize what? That I had a pretty smile, or beautiful blue eyes.” The blonde dwarf pulled her suitcase up the final step and dragged it into the room. She stood and looked at them. “Oh. You didn’t realize that I was short. You know, that one always slips by them.” She threw them all a sarcastic, but warm smile.

Erika covered her smirk with a hand.

“Don’t worry, beanpole. No harm, no foul.” The dwarf smiled and looked around the room. “By the way, my name is Danielle. Any beds left?”

“We were just getting to that ourselves.” Victoria started across the room. “Mind if I take this one?”

“Hey, Long-legs, is anyone bunking under you?” Danielle asked.

“Not yet.” Katie was thrown off guard by the small woman.

“Do you snore?” Danielle craned her neck up to look at the tall girl.

“No.” Katie answered.

“Then I’ll take it.” Danielle heaved her suitcase onto the bed beneath Katie’s.

Erika and Samantha quickly chose their beds, and then introduced themselves to Danielle.

“So what did the note say?” Danielle asked. “It was a bit high for me to see clearly.”

Samantha read it to her from the doorway.

“Hello Columbine!” a voice called from outside.

“Come on in.” Danielle called out.

A tan, athletic girl with brown hair cut in a short bob, entered the cabin with a large duffle bag. She surveyed the room glancing briefly at each person there. “I’m Rachel. Is this bed taken?” She tossed her duffle bag onto an empty bottom bunk.

“Not anymore.” Victoria quipped.

The girls made small talk, while awaiting Phoenix’s arrival, trying to fill the awkwardness of strangers coming together who are going to spend a lot of time with each other.

Under the bottom bunk of each bed were two sets of three drawers that pulled out. The back of the room had a roughed in closet without doors. It had a closet rod, but no hangers, a broom and small trash can. Next to it was a door that Erika assumed led to the bathroom.

“Have any of you been to this camp before?” Rachel asked the room

Mutters of ‘no’ and heads shaking were her answer.

“Has anyone met Phoenix, yet?”

“Katie was first here.” Victoria stated. “Did you meet her?” she directed to the tall girl.

“No.” She sat on the edge of her bunk allowing her long legs dangle. “When I arrived, I saw the note and came into an empty cabin.”

“Where are you from, Katie?” Rachel inquired.

Katie explained that she was from a small town out in the middle of farm country. Rachel then prompted each girl in turn around the room. Only Samantha had known Victoria and Erika before reaching Camp Kumoni.

“Good afternoon Columbine girls.” A friendly voice sang from the door to the cabin. In stepped a young woman with copper hair, twisted up and clipped to the back of her head. Her fair skin was dotted with freckles and her green eyes were warm and sparkling with merriment. She was wearing shorts, flip-flops and a lavender Camp Kumoni T-shirt that clashed with her warm coloring and orange hair.

“Is everyone here?” She asked looking around taking a head count. She nodded to herself and plopped down on the bed next to the door. “My name is Phoenix and I’ll be your counselor for the next two months.”

The girls all greeted her with smiles and a murmur.

“I hope you like this cabin, I had to fight to get it, it’s further away from the boys, and close enough to the showers that we don’t have to hike to them, yet far enough that we won’t hear them every morning and night.” Phoenix smiled. “As my name is Phoenix, I like to give my cabin-mates the opportunity to ‘burn’ their past and be ‘re-born’. So shed who you were before you got on that bus this morning. Toss it aside and think of the next few weeks as a time of change so that you can emerge a new person."

In more ways than one... Erika thought to herself. She kept secreting looks at Victoria, wondering if she had figured her identity.

“I believe I heard that you all have introduced yourselves to one another, but we are going to do so again, but in that really embarrassing way. For instance, I got stuck being named after my grandmother, Opal. The name never really fit me, so I go by Phoenix. I am a student at the University studying psychology and sociology, and am spending this summer to further my studies. I like people, obviously with what I’m studying, and love swimming. My goal, or if you will, secret agenda, is to help you have a great summer and make you take a deeper look at how incredibly wonderful each one of you are.”

The Cabin was silent.

“How about you go next.” Phoenix nodded to Victoria.

“My name is Victoria I go to Kennedy high. My family is originally from Mexico City, and immigrated here, legally, before I was born. I am a writer, for the school newspaper and hope to use my time here at camp to gain new experiences and ideas to use in my writings.

“Wow, a writer.” Phoenix smiled. “How about you?” She pointed.

“My name is Katie. As I told you, I’m from a very small town. My dad is a cattle rancher, my mom is a dentist. I don’t play basketball, like everyone thinks. I just really want to blend in better, and not stand head and shoulders above everyone else.”

“Wow, with legs like those, you should model.” Phoenix greeted. “You’re next.” She nodded her head.

“My name is Danielle, but everyone calls me Dani. I live on the outskirts of the city and yes, I am a midget, dwarf, small person, all of those things. Just because, I’m short, doesn’t mean I can’t do anything. I love to play softball, dance, and swim although I’m not very good at it.” She looked to the owner of the dangling legs above her. “Too bad you can’t give me a few inches, so that we would both be happy.”

Katie smiled down. “In a heartbeat, if I could.”

“Please don’t assume that I can’t do something, and then do it for me. I’ll ask if I need help.”

“Cool.” Phoenix looked to the next.

“I’m Rachel. My friends call me Ragel, because I have a temper. I live south of the city. My dad is a work-a-holic and sends me to this camp every summer to keep me out of his hair. I am on the wrestling team in school, and won three quarters of my matches last year, and I took second in the javelin at the state track meet.” She paused. “As for what I want to get out of this summer?......... I just want to beat the boys at all of the competitions.”

Phoenix’s face was quite serious. “Everyone keep long sharp objects away from Rachel and don’t piss her off,” A smile lit up her face. “Unless you want to find yourselves lying face down pinned to the ground. I like that you’re competitive, Rachel.”

“Next?” Phoenix looked at Erika. Erika’s heart hit her ribs so loud that she was sure everyone in the cabin could hear it.

“Um….. my name is Erika, and I’m from the city. I am a bit of a computer nerd and like to draw.” Erika gulped. Do they know? She asked herself. Why is Victoria smiling at me that way? Say something Samantha, help me out!

“What do you want to get out of camp this summer?” Phoenix prompted.

“Uh……..” Her heart was pounding in her ears. Her stomach churned noisily. “I would really like to just fit in.” Erika smiled weakly.

“What do you like to draw?” Phoenix tried to get the shy, blushing Erika to open up.

“I draw comic strips.” She shrugged.

“They are really good too.” Samantha added.

Finally! Erika's mind directed it towards Samantha.

“How do you know, Erika?” Phoenix asked.

“Erika and my sister used to be friends.” Samantha stated.

“Used to be?” Phoenix inquired.

Samantha was quiet. It still hurt to talk about what happened to her sister. It was stupid she knew, it happened a while ago. She shouldn’t still feel this way.

“Her sister took her own life.” Victoria explained softly.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Samantha.” Phoenix blushed. “So Samantha, tell us about you.”

Samantha smiled a bit weak. “I go to the same high school as Victoria. I am on the cheer squad and like to watch football games. I love to shop bargains and hang out.” Samantha paused. “My sister ……… committed suicide a year and a half ago, and my goal here at camp is to come to terms with losing her.” She gave Erika a look of longing as she bit her lower lip.

“I hope we can help you do that,” Phoenix smiled. She heaved herself off the bed and pulled a box from under it. Opening it up she pulled a pile of Lavander T-shirts out of it and started tossing them to each of the girls. They were all identical to the one she had on. “I hope no one wears anything larger than a large, because that is all we have. Go ahead and change into those and then we’ll go over the camp rules, and expectations.”

Change? She wants us to change in front of each other? Erika’s heart beat a bit faster. She had only changed as a girl in front of Samantha. Maybe she should go change in the bathroom. No, Samantha warned that I would have to do this! So let's make it as painless as possible. She took one of the shirts, quickly slipped off her Ramones shirt and quickly pulled on the lavender camp shirt. Her heart fluttered a bit as she glanced around as the other girls changed their tops.

“You’re riding high.” Samantha whispered next to her.

“What?” Erika whispered back.

“Adjust your breasts.” Samantha stuck her hands up under her top and inserted her fingers under the bra and adjusted her breasts. While looking at Erika to make sure she was watching. Erika copied her and found that one of her breast forms had slid up a bit while she had changed. A quick flick of the finger and a cupping of her bra brought her back into alignment.

Phoenix picked up a thick notebook and stood by the door. “Let’s go find a secluded spot. Shall we go down by the lake or into the trees?”

A quick ascension indicated that the lake was preferred. Phoenix lightly stepped down out of the cabin and headed to the lake followed by the Columbine girls.

“How are you doing?” Samantha leaned in to whisper to Erika as they walked down the path.

“I’m still scared to death.” Erika admitted. “I feel that the others are looking right through this façade. Did anyone notice my breasts being out of place?”

“They don’t have a clue.” Samantha encouraged. “You’re doing really well. Just watch me and the others and do as we do.”