Watersports

May I join? my username is: @randomized12345

Ive been dropping in daily to check in on this thread. I hope @Reddy has just been busy. 

NOTE (08-18-2026): I'm still looking for the right tone and the right beginning. I'm not giving up. Enjoy and thanks for reading!   ---   How many more sheets would she have to tear up before she stopped? Mabel gritted her teeth, slammed the pen down on the table, and covered her face. Rather than making any progress, she had ended up right back where she started: a blank page, but surrounded by crumpled sheets scattered like stars in the space behind her. Where was she going wrong? What was she doing right? At what point did she start losing her bearings and going off track? A deluge of unanswered questions was overwhelming her. She clenched her hands into fists, digging her nails into her palms. They throbbed, just like her heart inside her chest. Faced with this dead end, all she could do was look around and think. Mabel rose from the chair, which let out a faint hum. She gathered the used sheets, crumpled into shapeless balls with a series of crackles and soft thuds, into a little pile. She’ll kill me if she sees this. From the nearby corridor, the rhythmic, muffled sound of footsteps gradually grew louder. Yes, she was definitely going to get an earful. Tamara appeared, arms folded and head lowered toward a goggle-like visor with round lenses that continuously blasted beams of colorful light at her. Her face was twisted into an annoyed grimace, as if she were about to erupt. Mabel turned to look at her for a moment. She was wearing her usual light-colored leather jacket, decorated with insignias of various shapes and colors, over her black full-body suit. It could only mean one thing: a delivery to make. “How do you turn this stupid thing off?!” the woman complained impatiently. “Is there an off switch somewhere?!” She approached, gently took it from her hands, and pressed the button on the left side of the gray frame. The loud sounds and blinding lights disappeared a few moments later. Piece of cake — unlike that cursed project. “Thanks, little gear.” Tamara took it back and ruffled her hair. “One more second and this thing would have gone straight into the shredder.” “Why do you have Bibi’s visor?” she asked curiously. “She was playing instead of doing her homework,” Tamara replied coldly, giving her an almost interrogative look. “Did you do yours?” Mabel nodded honestly, inhaled through her nose, and exhaled to keep herself calm. She had most likely seen the little pile of paper waiting to be burned, stacked on top of the table. She crossed her fingers that Tamara wouldn’t scold her for it. “All of it,” she replied, looking her in the eyes. “Do we have a delivery to make? You’re wearing your jacket and work suit.” “Can’t you tell?” Tamara spread her lips into a smile and adjusted her jacket as though she had just put it on. Then she turned serious again. “We’ll receive the coordinates from the sender before long. I want to find you both ready.” Mabel looked away, thoughtful. The usual veil of mystery, of course. Who knew what secrets their clients had to hide to be so late sending a bunch of stupid coordinates? All they had to do was copy and paste and hit send! Tamara walked past her, intrigued by the little work of art made from scraps of paper. “What are you working on?” She turned toward her and stammered something incomprehensible. A wave of embarrassment hit her instantly, followed by the relentless pounding in her chest and an explosion of heat between her legs. Silence was the only language she could speak. Her guardian picked up the little ball and unfolded it along the creases, producing a papery rustle with every movement. She turned it to one side and read it carefully. A very brief, low-pitched ringtone, like piano notes, echoed from her bracelet. Tamara rotated her left arm, glanced at it briefly, then shifted her attention back to the crumpled piece of paper in her hands. “You’re still trying to build a little robot?” she asked, her tone somewhere between surprise and bewilderment. “You certainly have a vivid imagination, making it in the shape of an ice-cream cone!” Mabel grimaced, trying to ignore the warm, damp tension between her legs. Tamara looked as though she were about to laugh in her face and suggest she channel her energy into something else instead of robots. She gritted her teeth and remained rigid a few steps away from her. At least she hadn’t found the one shaped like a toothbrush… “Y-Yes,” she replied uncertainly, “more or less.” Tamara placed it on the table beside the others and studied it for about ten seconds before turning back toward her. She parted her lips slightly, putting on a reassuring little smile. “Spit it out, gear. I’m not going to pretend I didn’t see the waste of paper sitting there like a monument on the table.” Mabel inhaled loudly through her nose and exhaled just as loudly through her mouth. In her head, an endless train of ideas, fears, and doubts was relentlessly making its way toward her mouth. Let’s see if she can give me a hand. “At school, the robotics club wants to put on an exhibition of the robots we’ve built ourselves,” she began nervously. “I’m the only one who’s never had a little robot created and built by me. All my friends have one, and they’re incredible! They can do really cool things like climb walls, squeeze into extremely tight spaces, and help someone who’s struggling or in danger!” Tamara nodded with interest, her little smile fading. “Sounds like a great thing.” “It is!” she exclaimed enthusiastically, caught up in the excitement. “They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes: tiny ones as small as a ring you can wear on your finger, medium-sized ones like a watch, and ones as big as... um... flying spheres and cubes, or ones with legs. But nobody has wanted to build one in any of those shapes.” “And you don’t know what shape to make yours,” she interrupted. “Am I right?” “Yes,” Mabel confirmed resentfully. “I helped everyone come up with ideas and build theirs, but nobody has been able to help me with mine, and I’m afraid they’ll kick me out because of it.” Tamara laughed, amused, stepped away from the table, and approached her. “Have you ever thought about using one of my laser guns to destroy a few of them so they’ll let you stay in the club?” “Tam!” “Okay,” she huffed irritably. “Do this instead: build a flying cube-shaped robot and show those idiots that you can make cool robots too.” Mabel opened her mouth, raised an index finger, and furrowed her brow in bewilderment. Amid all the discarded ideas, she had drawn a prototype. Spacious enough to house a power source, small multifunctional arms, and a gyroscopic propulsion system. Too many unknowns, but doable. The dimensions alone would drive her crazy; keeping the core stable and maintaining the thruster’s power would be just as difficult. If it wasn’t a challenge, it wasn’t worth doing. But was she up to it? She shook her head, gritting her teeth, and placed one hand on her other arm. Meticulously, she began rubbing the sleeve of her sweatshirt up and down. Maybe I really should move on to something else. Tamara placed a hand beneath her chin and gently lifted her head until she was looking into her light green eyes. No smile, no golden canine showing between her lips, just a calm, expressionless face. “Stop,” she ordered firmly, grabbing her arm. “Don’t let yourself be dragged down by doubts and the fear that you won’t succeed. You’re a little genius, gear. No one in this damn universe got where they are today without trying and failing.” “Y-You too?” Mabel stammered breathlessly. Tamara made a confused face, as though she didn’t know how to answer. Her eyes darted wildly from side to side. Typical of her — tough, but incapable of looking back. “Well, uh, of course I did!” she replied, her cheeks turning red. “I wish I’d been born this way from the start!” She stood up and took Mabel by the hand. “Come on, let’s get you two ready. We’d better be prepared. These things really are useful!” Mabel sighed as Tamara led her toward the bathroom. Their footsteps echoed rhythmically, like raindrops falling during a storm. She had given her half a hand rather than a full one, but it was still something to work with. She gave her a genuine smile. “I’ve decided. I’m going to build it.” Tamara let out a relieved breath. “Thank goodness! I didn’t know what else to suggest! I’m terrible at this kind of thing.” “And I’m terrible at peeing in the toilet!” she joked, her diaper wobbling loosely around her waist. They burst out laughing. One step at a time, together, they were growing into a real family.

It's definitely a fun dynamic to write :). Pearl and Diana definitely will stand up for Alexa where necessary, but also put Alexa in her place when necessary too. Each has their own oddities and desires though..... Thank you very much!   Miss M is definitely a fan favorite and she will keep up her pace of setting baby Eve straight. She suffers no fools.   I apologize, but I cannot speak French so I used automatic translation...Daycare may not be a permanent home for Alexa but let's just say the current situation isn't tenable   Next chapter coming in the next few days.

Hey everyone! Okay… at this point, I have to ask… am I bad writer or is there something missing in this story? I can take guesses all day long, but this has probably been one of my least liked and least read stories of all time on here. Waters of Change might be close… but that one was a slow burn admittedly and only had one chapter with diapers on a site all about diapers. But this one… ugh. I guess I’m just at a bit of a loss here. Maybe this site isn’t what it used to be but I’m not sure anymore. It’s getting harder to put in effort here when it seems like no wants to comment or like or read this thing. I will finish this story… I promise that. I might switch to only two chapters a week so I can focus my efforts on other stories for the future… but after it’s all done? I might take a break from this site for longer than normal if I don’t see things change by the end. I hate to be a bummer, but this whole thing has been an itch that I can’t scratch for the past few weeks now. For now, though… last but not least and as usual, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter of my story! Chapter 11: The Turning Time There were always two sides to the virus. The news media was full of it when all this occurred in the first place only days after Orange Day. The whole country was in chaos… and yet people still found the positives. In one story, a former retired gymnast was already contemplating the next Olympic games. Another older couple with an ‘oops baby’ now had the energy to chase their rugrat around the yard. Even the more extreme cases received a second chance at a life… a true good they could find and take with them. If one knew where to look… For my new cabinmates and I, we found ourselves breathing in and taking all the positives of the virus. We had absolutely found our stride as two weeks passed in a snap around us. To my ever-loving relief, Brian’s and I’s regression had slowed down. It didn’t mean much considering we were still shrinking and all that, but it did mean more time spent here… instead of red like some of my nightmares had been about lately. Additionally, with youthened bodies, we found we could run faster and stretch and move in ways we haven’t been able to do in over a decade now. And there was energy… loads of energy. Yes, it meant that things could get carried away if we weren’t paying attention and the 1-2-3 method had to be fully enforced, but there was a freedom I experienced with them that I hadn’t truly got to feel in years. What it also meant though was that the whole day was just however fun we wanted to make it and only weather ever seemed to slow us down. We were just old enough to be given privileges, like not being monitored all the time, but also young enough to enjoy everything with fresh young minds and youthful bodies. Some days though… I started to worry about what came next. “Hey, Miles?” Brian asked timidly of me as we gathered in the ACTS building on rainy afternoon. “Can you… can you help me get a book off the top shelf?” I blinked back at him for a second, almost not processing what he was telling me due to the heavy rain pattering down just outside the window I was sitting next to and had been reading my book at. “You… the top shelf?” I stared at the shelf now apparently out of reach for my friend. It wasn’t too far… but it seemed impossible for him now… even on his tippy toes. “Yeah, buddy,” I obliged standing up and retrieving the book he wanted before handing it to him. “Here you go…” He smiled without any embarrassment. “Thanks…” For him, it was just another day. “Yeah…” I noted, watching him as he went to sit over in the corner of the building on a big comfy chair that sadly seemed to swallow him lately. Only Tommy and Donny were that small as well. ‘Shit… is Brian going to red cabin soon?’ Despite the advantages of being young enough for blue cabin, it was still obvious that we were still regressing. Brian seemed to be at a slightly faster pace than me… but only slightly. In a week, I rationalized that I might not be able to reach the top shelf either. The door then burst open and several leaves and pine needles and large drops of rain piled in from the high winds out there. “Yikes! Storm’s brewing. Getting a little dangerous coming up that last hill!” Ms. Peachey noted, shaking off her coat as Uriah and a stranger filed in behind her before closing the door. ACTS was incredibly well-stocked with information and artifacts. From the start, it had been a factor that had bugged me for a little while now of how this place seemed to function or why a cabin out here was used for something like the finding and cataloging of local monsters… enter Ms. Peachey. Originally just giving her youthening campers something to take their mind off things and maybe rationalize their fears, the society had evolved into something even beyond her it seemed these days. “New friend?” Pedro asked, his eyes landing untrustingly on the new stranger amongst us behind the counselor and our founder. Uriah nodded. “Yes. Everyone…” He pushed the stranger forward. “This is Fred. He’s one of us now…” “What? No vote?” Tommy asked, seeming a little annoyed over the lack of procedure, while Ms. Peachy went to the corner of the room to sit and read a book. Since last week, she’s been more of an observer here than anything.   Uriah shrugged. “If you all want, then fine… but he followed me here one day, so he already knew about the cabin,” he explained. “Plus… he’s got a monster story as well. He believes like we do.” “You do?” Donny toddled over, his fear of the lightning outside previously now seeming to have waned. “Story time! Story time!” Fred blinked a few times at Donny… and I really couldn’t blame him for his shock or whatever else he was feeling. Donny was becoming more of a mascot around here than anything else. His memory was faltering more everyday it seemed and his abilities were clearly receding… even to the point where Ms. Peachey had organized to keep a diaper bag with fresh supplies and toys for him… just in case. If she was here, she would be his babysitter. Otherwise, Pedro usually volunteered. “Uh, yeah…” Fred confirmed, shaking off his coat from the rain. “I just… I went to hit the showers late at night. Then got lost without a flashlight… didn’t think I needed one really…” He grimaced at that mistake. “I guess I got lost and bam… saw two red eyes looking backing at me.” “Red?” Billy questioned, yanking out our big book of monsters. “Are you sure about that?” Uriah nodded. “Big red eyes… whole body looked like a tree stump. Swear it looked like a swamp monster… only got away because I ran back to black cabin and locked the door tight behind me.” “Well, no need to worry here,” I tried consoling him, knowing the fear he must have experienced and the self-doubt that we all felt and that that we just had to be going crazy or whatever… at least before ACTS. “We’ve all been there before.” “But he saw the Gruebody… the red-eye slasher!” Billy exclaimed, his fingers finally pausing on one page of the monster book. Turning it around, the rendered picture of the creature was exactly as Fred had described. “Says it lives near the water and preys on people who get too close and disturb its natural habitat. Uses the camouflage of its body until it’s too late!” “Aww man! Not the lake!” Brian wailed. “Don’t make me fear the water as well.” Billy shook his head. “Only nocturnal it says.” He paused and cleared his throat. “Beware the Gruebody of the muddy waters who always gives a fright, its wooded back and its long water claws will be the last thing in your sight.” “Still though…” Uriah pauses and pats Fred on the shoulder, “you should all be careful tonight when you go camping with purple cabin as well. That thing could still be out there hungry and waiting… and if I remember correctly, the campsite isn’t that far from water.” “You… you mean we’re still going?” Brian asked fearfully, briefly looking outside after a flash of lightning nearby. Seeing it as well, Pedro still nodded. “Always. Just because of a little rain during the day, doesn’t mean they’ll cancel for tonight. Only seen one cancelled so far.” “And that was because blue cabin all got hit with the 24-hour stomach bug,” Billy filled in. “Trust me… the last thing you want to do when you’re stomach’s all twisty is to go camping.” I winced. I could only imagine what kind of torture that would be, but still… looking outside and seeing the passing storm, despite my inner logic, I almost felt a shift inside my gut. ‘Something is coming… something dark… something bad…’ That night, just as Pedro predicted, the camping trip was still on. Now, when we stopped on the road to see yellow pass us by to their own minicamp just until bedtime, most of us could only shudder. I suspected that most of us had our own reasons, but personally, I recalled when I had first seen them pass me while heading on my first camping trip here. That was several weeks ago now. It was June now and I had dropped one cabin and shed several years since then. A single foot of my height might have been shaved off since and not even a tiny patch of facial hair remained on my face. Despite that deep fear though, I knew that yellow was still a long way off… But now being in blue cabin, it was also still closer than ever… ‘Please stop before then… please…’ Moving on and then setting up camp, unlike Mr. King or Mr. Nancy had been, the Brooks’ were all hands-on as our leaders. What Mr. King and Mr. Nancy had once left to our own doing, beyond a few enforcing of the rules, the Brooks’ now seemed to be directing in force. “You all go there, there, and there,” Mr. Brooks noted, directing us to our various platforms. “One tent to a platform… nothing within ten feet of the campfire.” “Tie down that pole, Preston,” Mr. Brooks called out a few moments later. “And stop running, Pierre!” Mrs. Brooks shrieked out, almost running out after the shrunken chestnut-haired preteen before her. “I don’t want to see you getting hurt.” And on top of their shouts and orders, not a single tent was put up and properly used or inhabited until they could inspect it. Even with Pedro, Billy, Brian, and I all having extensive experience with the tents by now, as soon as our rainfly was on, Mr. Brooks wandered over to check everything out. “Hmmm…” He rattled the poles and made sure to check every structural element and every peg to make sure it was in place. “Not bad… not bad.” “Thank you, sir,” Billy quickly noted. “So… can we plop our stuff in?” Pedro then asked, holding back Brian for a moment against his chest when he tried to push forward to set up his sleeping bag. “All safe to enter?” Mr. Brooks nodded. “Go right ahead. Seems all sturdy to me. Good job, you boys.” He then left without another prompt to go and help another tent. Apparently, a few other groups weren’t so successful… including Sammy and Leo’s group. “Boys?” I questioned, feeling the slight irritation with our classification once both Brooks’ were out of earshot. “Really? Of all the terms he could have used?” “Could be worse,” Brian piped up, not seeming the least bit concerned as he inflated his sleeping pad up, struggling a little more than he used to. Pedro tossed his sleeping bag and pad inside and then patted me on the shoulder, something he no longer had to raise his hand as high for anymore. “He’s right. Just a turn of the phrase anyway. Mr. Brooks doesn’t belittle us,” he reminded me. “Just friendly. So, just toss your stuff in and let’s help with the campfire. Maybe… wee can even get an extra s’more after.” I sighed and just nodded, trying to focus on a potential reward than anything else. Yes, I could’ve argued about it more, but I was already feeling a little tired from the day and fighting seemed it would take too much effort… especially with how little good I knew it would do. After our now familiar dinner was over, while Pedro and Billy stayed in our tent, Brian and I meandered back over to purple cabin tent to see our old friends again like we had done a few times by now since coming to blue. Already, we could see Leo enter just ahead of us. To my relief, when we initially dropped, like Sammy before us, only the right type of blue cabinmates were allowed in the tent for poker and alcohol and funny stories… and we were still included. Getting close I could already hear the laughter and the slightly slurred words of at least Eric. I smiled, relieved just to be unwinding after a hard day of rain and trudging through the mud around camp. “Knock, knock!” I announced before unzipping the tent. As soon as it was open and Brian and I were about to enter, the cabin grew still… something that stopped me cold. “Hey guys…” I stared at the faces of Dwayne, Leo, Eric, Sammy, Kyle, and two other newbies fresh from black cabin that had recently dropped down. None of them looked happy to see Brian or I. “What’s up?” “Oh… hey, Miles… Brian…” Sammy spoke first, seeming extremely awkward from the start. “Good dinner?” “Yeah…” I sensed the tension. The usual joy that we were ever met with here was completely absent. Sammy and Leo were still welcome, but I was getting the growing sensation that Brian and I were not. “So… anything good to drink tonight, or…?” “Ooh!” Brian surged forward. “A purple drink? I love that color!” Without even thinking, he snatched the bottle from where it was sitting in front of Kyle. And that was the point everything broke. All the glasses remained intact, but the patience of some of the members didn’t hold out any longer. “Give me that!” Kyle yelled, swiping the bottle back.  “You can’t have this, Brian!” Brian stood in the entrance right in front of me and facing all our former friends completely bewildered. “But… why?” Eric winced, I think one of the first times I had ever seen him do that when there wasn’t pain involved. “Brian… just…” He sighed and rubbed his shoulder, not as a friend but more like an elder peer or a mentor trying to let someone younger them down gently. “Have you seen yourself lately?” Brian flinched and looked down at his hands. No longer the wrinkled and sunspot-speckled mitts of a man in his 40s… but the youthful paws of someone maybe even into the single digits. It was hard to tell anymore but I knew from hearing the others and comparing ages back in blue cabin, without a doubt, he was no longer a teenager. “But… but…” Brian’s voice wobbled. His emotions had been erratic lately… another bad sign for his continued stay at blue cabin. “It’s nothing personal…” Leo breathed, once again sitting close to Dwayne. Curiously, those two always seemed to sit next to each other, and while the lighting was dim, for a second… they even looked like a couple. “It’s just… we…” “We don’t trust you!” Dwayne finally spat out, drawing a look of contempt from Leo. “You’re almost a kid and you have a big mouth and don’t know when to shut up! For all we know, you could be stumbling around drunk and blab to Mr. Nancy or the Brooks’ about what goes on here!” There was silence in the tent, only a slight flap of the outer shell flapping against the wind or Mr. King’s distant ghost stories around the campfire drew any sound. Brian quivered for a moment. “I… I…” It was hard coming to terms with your own regression. Sure, there was a mirror we all looked in and height considerations could be the most obvious, but usually, you still felt like your older self. More energy or stronger emotions or maybe you didn’t groan any longer when you stood up after sitting for an hour or that crick in your back from twenty years ago wasn’t there… but you were still you and your mind was still that old you as well. For Brian though, more every day it seemed, the person who he was and the person who he was becoming were two very different people. And Dwayne had just called him out on it. Unable to bear the notion of the two parts of himself clashing at once, Brian trembled under that weight and the insult of practically being called a kid and then turned around and ran out of the tent… not even bothering to stop and close the tent flap behind him. “Brian!” I called out. “Wait!” But it was too late and he had disappeared into the pitch-black woods around us. “Ah, shit,” Eric cursed. “Dang it, Dwayne. Now look at what you did!” “Eh… screw the little runt,” Dwayne clapped back, his words slightly slurring for a moment. He always was a bad drunk… But for me, it was the last straw. “Nice, Dwayne,” I nearly spat back at him. “Real nice… you were always a prick back in the office. Too bad that didn’t regress out of you…” I didn’t wait for a retort and stormed out of the tent as well, once again, not bothering to close the tent flap. ‘If they were going to be such dicks, they could do it themselves…’ “Wait!” I heard Samy call out from behind me from inside the tent still. “Don’t go! We…” He faded for a moment when a strong breeze rustled all the leaves around me. “Way to go dumbass…” he cursed at someone, likely Dwayne. At that point, I was too far gone to hear anymore of the conversation though. And now out of there, two things were clear to me. First, not everyone supported getting rid of Brian or I from the tent and that particular group. I will admit that we hadn’t exactly been completely grounded recently with our monster talk… but most from purple cabin or Leo or Sammy still seemed to like us on some level at least. Second though, especially with that last call, it was apparent that Brian was the real source of their problem and not me. But that just twisted the knife inside my gut even further. Brian had his flaws and he was regressing in a much larger way than I was. I wasn’t blind. He might have only been a year or two in advance of me, but his mind seemed more fragile or at least more youthful. Admittedly, I was holding onto anything I could of my past… which meant that a little of the adult version of me still lived inside. For Brian, that part only seemed to grow quieter by the day now. And that didn’t matter to me. What did was that our old group was excluding someone from something just based on because he wasn’t cool or mature enough for them to handle. He wasn’t pissing his pants or drooling on himself like some were in camp. He was just… less inhibited. A shot or two of the juice and he would have been good for the whole night. And if I had to watch over him, whatever. What’s more, to top it off, even if I was allowed and he wasn’t though and that had been made clear to us from the start, I didn’t want to be with a bunch of people who held Brian’s age against him. ‘So, yeah… screw them!’ I hated burning bridges, but they had tossed the first torch. I would still smile at them and wave or whatever to keep the peace, but it was clear that dinners and recreation and stories and card games with them were all likely now a thing of the past. But one problem now… ‘Where the hell did Brian go?’ He had run off. I knew that much, but I wasn’t exact sure where… at least until I saw he had dropped his flashlight on the ground… right near the border of the campsite, only feet away from where something had slashed at one of the trees. And between that and a few sobs I heard off in the distance, it wasn’t hard to find him after. “Hey buddy,” I said, approaching him slowly, just in case he was too emotionally instable and didn’t even trust me. “You okay there?” Brian turned to me, large swaths of tears now running down his face. “They… they called me a baby!” he wailed. “How could they do that to me? I thought I was their friend!” I sighed and walked over to return his flashlight if nothing else. “They didn’t call you that, Brian, but yeah… they suck for all that.” After a few moments, Brian finally took the flashlight and wiped his snotty nose, his old self seeming to briefly come back to the surface now that his emotions had started to level back out. “Thanks, Miles. I just…” He wiped his eyes to the point where his skin stretched visibly in his wake. “I know I’m changing but… I just can’t do anything about it. I just… my brain says one thing and my body does another. I want to be all mature and the person I used to be, but…” “But it’s hard, huh?” I guess, eliciting a nod and another sniffle back from Brian. “We’re still friends. I know that might not count for much, but…” “That means so much!” he interrupted me just like I had interrupted him. “I… I want friends and I still want you to be my friend, Miles. Even if I… regress, will you still be my friend?” I smiled and nodded before going over to him and giving him a clearly needed hug before looking back at him. “Of course I will, buddy. Just maybe… maybe do the 1-2-3 method next time before you run out crying from a situation like that, okay?” Brian nodded and hugged me right back. I smiled and hugged him like I would do for any friend in need. I was never super touchy-feely, but I could tell Brian needed this. From his ex-wife, she always thought he was too clingy. Maybe so, but she and Dwayne were the only people who ever seemed to mind that part of him… so whatever. And I might have held the hug longer… but I heard a shift in the woods just off to the side in front of me. Nothing too major… but something slithering and cracking branches and twigs, causing me to hold my side of the hug a little slack for a moment. And then I heard it… small but there. A growl. Freezing like I had, Brian quickly noticed. “Miles?” He sniffled again. “Something wrong?” “I…” I heard another growl… this one closer. “Something’s out there… something big again…” Realizing I was implying a monster, Brian started to squirm and panic… I held him tightly. “Don’t panic… don’t run.” My reading of the monster books had taught me that much at least. Acting like predators, seeing their pretty run would only cause a hunt to begin. Right then, we were close enough to the campsite border that we could be okay… if we didn’t panic and run. “Just turn and follow me… slowly.” Brian nodded, his eyes growing wide as soon as he heard the cracking branches and the low and deep growl as well. “Oh shit… oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!” “Don’t panic!” I urged. “Just keep going… just keep going…” I didn’t mean to, but my words started to go along with a tune I vaguely remembered from a movie when I was a kid. “Just keep going… just keep going…” Another growl and more slithering and the snapping of twigs. Heavy and constant… and closer. “What the hell are you two doing out here?” Mr. King then snapped at us once we were close to the border before quickly gesturing us over. “No crossing the boundary after dark!” “I’m sorry!” I really was and I should have known better… or at least Brian should have. “Brian ran and…” A loud growl echoed from the woods. His own eyes now bulging, Mr. King turned back to us. “Run!” Fully panicking that we were across the border now, as soon as Mr. King cocked his gun and entered the woods, Brian and I ran. Only steps in, I remembered something important and stopped. “Oh shit! Leo! Sammy!” They were in a purple tent and could get in trouble. “Screw them!” Brian called back towards me, stopping a few feet away. I shook my head and ignored my friend before going to their tent and popping my head back in. They were dicks… but this was danger and if caught, especially after drinking, they could be royally screwed. “Hey… wha’s goin’ on out there…?” Sammy asked me drunkenly. “And Miles?” Eric started. “About Dwayne and…” “Forget all that!” I shouted, not wanting to linger out here longer than I had to. “Something’s out there again! Mr. King has his gun. Lockdown now! Back to the tents!” “What?” Leo questioned before scrambling around, falling over Dwayne several times. “Shit!” “Hey! Watch it!” Dwayne protested after another foot stepped on his. “Can it, Dwayne!” Sammy hissed. “We gotta run!” Leo emerged first. Brian had waited outside, probably not wanting to go alone in the woods with another potential monster out there. Now though, Sammy and Leo zoomed ahead… closely followed by us. And maybe it was fear or adrenaline or whatever, but seeing that, Brian didn’t want to be last and soon bolted ahead. He ran and ran as fast as he could… past me and even Leo. But he wasn’t looking where he was going. About ten yards from the blue campground, he tripped over a root and went flying, his knee and leg skidding along the forest floor. “Ah!” he screamed in pain. “No, no, no!” He was panicking, going so far as to drag himself away. “Help me, Sammy! Help me!” He was closest and he even turned… but Sammy then kept right on running. Nearing, I saw it in his face; pure fear. He had been regressing too. Slower for sure, but still the steady march downward and lately, I was noticing more signs of that cruel fate falling over him. He was still smart and sociable… but fear. Fear got him always. There was a reason Hubert went with him most times at night after all. It didn’t make his abandonment of Brian any better though. I sighed and stopped with Leo to help haul him back to camp, right when the Brooks’ caught us. “Just what do you all think you’re doing?” Mr. Brooks asked, a walkie in one hand and a flashlight in the other. “Don’t you know we’re on high alert?” “Yes, sir,” I responded, Leo already taking off to dive headfirst into his tent before Mr. Brooks could object. “We were with our old friends when the alert sounded. Came back here and… Brian fell.” Mr. Brooks shined his flashlight down. “Oh… I see. You okay, Brian?” “It hurts so bad…” he whimpered. “Why? Why did Sammy leave me?” “Huh?” Mr. Brooks questioned the sniveling AR before turning back toward me when he didn’t get an answer. “Miles?” I sighed, hating to be a rat, but knowing Mr. Brooks wouldn’t let it go until he had his answers. And once I told him while Brian was bandaged by Mrs. Brooks, we both went to bed. All either of the Brooks’ could say about Sammy tonight was “I see…” *              *              * In the morning, there were more scratches on the nearby trees just outside of camp and seeing him while packing up the site, Mr. King looked like crap. Clearly, scratch marks from vine and overgrown foliage had not been kind to him. Chalking last night up to another bear though, I thought we were in the clear to have another wonderful day in blue cabin. But it wasn’t meant to be. Packing up, both Brooks’ confronted Sammy about the night before. Packing up my tent, I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation. “But I was trying to run away too!” he defended himself. “Don’t I have the right to do that?” “Yes,” Mrs. Brooks agreed. “But we can protect you from any animal out here. You could have walked back calmly or at least helped a fellow cabinmate out in his time of need.” “But you didn’t,” Mr. Brooks seethed. “You left someone behind. Why?” He stared daggers down at Sammy. “But the thing in the woods. It’s a…” Right then he saw me looking over at them and he immediately blushed. To the lay person or someone who just arrived, it might not have been obvious what he was hinting at. Mr. Brooks was neither though. “A monster, Sammy?” Sammy didn’t confirm or deny it. “Well… I might excuse what you did if there was a monster… but there aren’t any right?” Mr. Brooks had Sammy cornered now. If Sammy confirmed monsters, it would be another knock against him because it would have represented a change in his personality set that previously didn’t believe in monsters. If Brian or I had confirmed it, no one would think twice… but not Sammy who had previously so vocally and publicly denied monsters. Problem was though, if he said it wasn’t monsters, then it would have shown his character was lacking or that he was selfish or frightened of the dark or just some scary noises… like someone who might have belonged in red cabin instead of blue. Owing to an overly chatty Pedro and Billy questioning Brian and I about the monster they still believed was out there though, I never did get to hear his answer. From the Brooks’ faces though… it didn’t seem like it was the one they wanted to hear. And that might have been the end of it. Our days could have moved on with ACTS and a flustered but steady Leo and Sammy who were still trying to mix with purple cabin. Life would have pushed on and that would have been the end of it. But it was a B Day and that meant aquatics. “We will have a boat race today!” Mr. Mast announced as soon as we had slipped into our camp-provided swimsuits, mine of course blazed with blue stripes. “Divided into teams of four, there will be two legs. The first will take you from the dock here over to Wary Island to retrieve a flag for your team.” “You will then go to Havenswood dock where your new team members will be switched,” Ms. Fisher continued, pointing to the local map of the lake and the surrounding areas. “You will then head to Razor Ridge Island to pick up your final flag and then make your way back here.” “First one to the finish line, will win a prize,” Mr. Mast noted proudly. Just as one of the younger campers started to raise their hand, he cut them off. “And no… you won’t know about the prize until after you return.” Several grunts and other forms of discontent soon went up around us. “Now, none of that,” Ms. Fisher warned. “I will be watching you all from the water. No funny business… if I catch you, you will automatically forfeit your prize and be subject to punishment from Mr. or Mrs. Brooks.” Mr. Fisher nodded in agreement. “Yes… and we will start in ten minutes. Form your teams and get ready. Second leg of the race teams with me.” He smiled and waved his hand over as Ms. Fisher readied her boat to monitor from the water. It always seemed to be teams of two or four at this camp. Could be problematic for some of the new members whenever there wasn’t an even number, but for today, we all divided evenly. Naturally, besides me, my team was Brian, Billy, and Pedro. And because we worked well together, we had no leader… all suggestions were taken in for our plan of attack. Looking around though, that wasn’t the case for everyone. “I think I should be leader,” Leo protested in his group. “I have decades of experience, and I’ve been one of the fastest rowers when we’ve been with Ms. Fisher for weeks now.” One of the newer members of blue cabin, Winston, rolled their eyes. “Sorry, but no. That was in the past… I mean, just look at you…” He gestured to Leo’s now scrawny arms.   To me, it seemed like the proverbial shoe was on the other foot now. Now, his own immaturity was being held against him. And it was obvious to anyone who ever paid attention to him in the past week. Leo might have still been hanging around the purple cabin, but he was losing his height just about as fast as Brian had been. He didn’t have the childish emotional component, mostly, but it was becoming clear that blue cabin might not be his permanent home after all as he had once hoped. “That… that doesn’t matter!” Leo yelled, his confidence seeming to wane. “I… I can still do it! I’m going to be team leader and…” “What’s going on here?” Mr. Mast asked before looking down at his watch. “We have… yes! We need to go if we’re going to finish this before lunch. Now… you don’t need a leader…” He paused, clearly seeing the obstinate faces staring back at him and that this matter needed to be resolved now. “But if you really need one…” He paused and nodded. “Yes, Winston… you’re it.” It was like a crack in Leo’s façade. Despite his protests to the contrary, he looked like every bit of the kid that Brian had been accused of being last night. “But… but…” Winston patted him on the shoulder as Mr. Mast took off. “Good race, buddy. You just be the captain of your own boat. That would be fine with you, right Sammy?” Sammy could only limply nod. Last night’s business and this morning’s scolding had apparently also bruised his ego as well. “Then it’s settled.” Mr. Mast smiled and gestured over to the rest of us. “Everyone else… follow me!” As we took off toward the Havenswood dock, I didn’t think about it at the time, but in one boat, there were now two bruised egos and heightened emotions. Two people who had once held some semblance of power in camp were being reduced to mere children in the blink of an eye. As they walked, that bubbling resentment inside of them seemed to want to leak out at every opportunity. Now, due to the trickier waters hugging all Wary Island, Pedro knew his strength would play a key role in keeping us from lagging behind in the first leg. Razor Ridge Island was no picnic either, but if one had ever paid any attention to Ms. Fisher during our rowing lessons previously, they would know that the north, west, and south sides were all full of sharp rocks. Deadly even to the wrong boat, but the east side… totally clear. Brian and I volunteered readily for that leg… the final one. So, we then waited at the docks at Havenswood for the first leg to be finished. More for recreation and some community fishing, the docks weren’t very wide. Instantly, due to the rule of needing to touch the dock before the next crew could switch out, everyone saw that speed was critical to get in first. Potentially, a line could form behind the first three boats… pretty much ruining any chance for the back boats to even have a chance to win. Much to my elation, as planned, Pedro used his mighty strength to pull right up in second place. Not as experienced but fresh from purple cabin, Winston and Isaiah, however, were first. “Come one! Come on!” Leo shouted. “Hurry up! We can win this!” “Chill, dude. We’re still winning and we need to touch the dock.” It was clear that whatever was happening within their group, Winston was getting tired of Leo’s presence. Paying attention to my own boat though, I gestured hurriedly for Pedro to dock. “That’s it! A Little more… a little more…” “Got it!” Pedro cried out before smacking the dock, receiving the approving head nod from Mr. Mast for us to switch out. “Let’s go! We got this team!” “Yeah!” Brian cheered, getting into the back… before being stopped by Billy. “No, wait. Miles should go in the back,” he corrected before using his hands to gesture to the angle of the boat. “He’s heavier… better for speed.” “Oh… right.” Without complaint, Brian hopped neatly into the front while I took the back. Looking over, trying to be leader still, the slightly larger Leo took the front while Sammy took the rear. ‘Interesting… maybe we can win this…’ For me, though, it wasn’t always about winning, but as we sped on, with Leo and Sammy just a stone’s throw in front of us now, my heart leapt with joy. Due to a pile-up at the docks, we had been delayed leaving the Havenswood docks, but we were quickly gaining on them. And even with the older crowd in blue cabin, most weren’t as experienced as we were. Coordination and utilization of existing currents were vastly against them compared to Brian and I.   Docking at Razor Ridge Island while still in second place, Brian held the boat against the shoreline while I rushed to the crest of the island. Leo, panicking and heaving heavily now, turned around when he heard me coming as I passed beyond the tree line and up the rocky ride. “Shit!” His pace sped up but my longer legs were closing our distance fast. Coning back down before me, for a moment, he swerved right into me. “Oops! My bad!” I shook it off owing to the rugged terrain but frowned as he disappeared back down the ridge. ‘Did Leo just try to… trip me?’ I had to brush it aside though and continue the race. We were still in this… but my mind raced with the notion of him cheating. Making it back into the boat, now with our two flags, I settled in and helped Brian push off. In theory, I should have already been rowing to take advantage of the tides, but after three shoves of his did nothing but tip us slightly, I knew I had to intervene. “I think we can overtake them!” I called up to Brian a few minutes later, our oars dipping into the water smoothly as we glided along the lake and back toward the aquatic docks at camp. “Just keep going. Call out if we need to turn, okay?” Looking over, I saw a few boats piddling along… far behind us. “Aye-aye, captain!” he said, almost giggling. I tried not to let that type of stuff get to me these days with my friend. He was still Brian… just a changing form of him. He usually had his head in the clouds back at the office and that made him a brilliant designer, but now, I was seeing the downside of it. His imagination seemed to run wild with childish notions. Like now, it seemed he thought I was a pirate captain… But my mind went back to the here and now as soon as Sammy’s and Leo’s boat was in sight. “We’re gaining! We’re gaining!” Brian called out from the front. “I can almost touch them!” “Don’t!” I warned. “Ms. Fisher could be out here.” As I looked over though, Ms. Fisher was busy with the others and keeping them in line. Brian didn’t need to know that though… “Don’t want to be caught cheating. We want to win this fairly!” Immediately, I saw near daggers stare back at me from both Sammy and Leo as we were almost just about even with them. It was clear that due to their poor weight distribution, including their flags, they were more front-heavy and digging into the water. For us, we were more back-heavy, pulling our front out of the water ever so slightly… causing our speed to pick up without as much effort. “We’re winning! We’re winning!” Brian cheered as the tip of our boat passed theirs. “We can do this!” In a flash, Leo glared and then growled at Brian. In that moment, all his past frustrations… his loss of status in life… his loss of leadership even amongst his own group… all seemed to lash out. “I don’t think so!” He then snatched Brian’s oar away. Brian, in his panic and maybe desire to win or something of the sort, reached over and grabbed for the oar. “give it back, meanie! Give it back!” Being just out of his reach though and not judging the capabilities of the boat, his weight shifted us. “Wait…” I saw it all unfolding… but my voice cracked and it was too late to correct. “Brian… no!” In a second, we tipped and while I managed to stay in the boat, Brian didn’t. Panicking now, he pulled on the side… dumping more water inside… and sank us. Leo and Sammy both laughed and simply paddled away in their unobserved cheating only to be viewed as triumph. “Good luck getting back to shore!” Sammy shouted. “And watch out for the monsters!” Leo warned. “I heard they like eating losers!” More laughter followed. Brian heard… Brian panicked. “We’re dead! God, we’re alive but we’re so dead!” He splashed around where the boat was partially submerged. “The Gruebody will kill us for sure! We’re so dead! We’re…” I splashed him right in the face. “Enough!” Brian floated, bobbing along in his life jacket, stunned. I took a deep breath, knowing my level head was going to be the way to get us out of this mess now. “Sorry, Brian. Just… we’re not dead… and we’re not dying.” “But… but the Gruebody!” he wailed. “Yes, the Gruebody… is nocturnal…” I pointed out. “I…” He didn’t blush but I swear he looked like he receded into the water from shame. “Oh… right…” “Yeah…” I looked around and sighed. The other boats were still far behind and from Ms. Fisher’s previous guidance, I knew how to be okay. “Okay… we lost for first but maybe we can still get second place. Our boat is still floating with the front and rear flotation tanks, and we still have our flags. Let’s get inside, dump some water and paddle back to shore.” If nothing else could be said about Sammy and Leo, they had at least left Brian’s oar floating by us. “I… okay…” Brian nodded gloomily and with my instruction, he got back in, we collected his oar, bailed out more water, and managed to paddle back into shore. It was slow work and several boats had closed the distance… but a victory of a kind was still ours. “Congrats on second place you two,” Mr. Mast congratulated before seeing our still partially submerged boat. “Uh… but what happened? You two have an accident?” I glared over at Sammy and Leo, now both enjoying their first-place prize of a certificate for extra desserts at the dining hall for the next week. “You could say that…” Brian was less diplomatic. “They stole my oar and shoved me in!” he accused both of them, pointing directly at the pair as if he had just accused them of murder. Mr. Mast blinked for a moment. “Uh… boys?” he called over to Sammy and Leo and got them to join us. “Brian is saying you stole their oar and then tipped them over. Is that true?” Both quickly shook their heads. “He dropped his oar,” Leo lied first. “Then he went out and reached for it,” Sammy continued, “but he pulled too far and dumped them in.” “Yeah,” Leo agreed before shrugging his shoulders. “Not our fault he’s such a baby and panicked and tipped them over…” At that point, already tense from everything else, I lost it. I lunged at him, ready to defend Brian. I didn’t care about the prize. Between last night and this, I was done with the pair of them. “You lying sack of…!” Mr. Mast lurched forward and stopped me before I could take a swing at them. “Miles! Stop that! We do not hit here!” “But they’re liars!” I accused, now pointing to them myself. “They just lie and lie and lie!” “But did Brian tip you two over?” Mr. Mast asked next. I stopped struggling with him and broke off. I then saw Leo and Sammy smile at me, knowing that Mr. Mast was choosing the wrong part to ask about. “I… no. That was true, but…” “Well then…” He sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that happened, but it seems to me that they won…” At that point, likely seeing the commotion, the Brooks’ and the rest of the first leg of the race gathered over. “What’s happening here?” Mr. Brooks questioned first. Mr. Mast rubbed his temple and shooed it off. “Nothing. Just some bad luck out on the water. Accusations of lying… stuff like that. Nothing I can’t handle…” “Oh?” Mrs. Brooks looked at me with sympathy then with as much scrutiny as possible as she could toward Leo and Sammy. “Is that so?” Leo and Sammy didn’t respond, but seeing the Brooks’ faces, it was immediately clear that neither believed that the pair were completely innocent. Despite believing in monsters, Pedro, Billy, Brian, and I were upstanding members of the cabin. We helped others in need and assisted wherever and whenever we could. For Leo and Sammy, rumors were circling them about their late-night activities with purple cabin tent, and they never lifted a finger to help… only join in on whatever joke occurred at the expense of others. They cursed and insulted and were just overall disruptions to daily activities within the cabin. There wasn’t proof of their guilt, but between their story and ours… doubt already seemed to wrap itself around theirs. But with nothing to be done without evidence, the crowd dispersed and Leo and Sammy could only smirk with their prize firmly in hand. Pedro and Billy then made their way over to us. “What the heck happened out there?” *              *              * That afternoon, at Havenswood, our group stayed far away from Leo and Sammy. At dinner, the divide was even more apparent. Now, the rumors of what had happened spread quickly throughout blue cabin and looking around at the angry glares being exchanged, purple, red, and even black as well. Apparently, some members in the second leg of the race had seen it all go down and had quickly come to our support. Those who didn’t or didn’t believe the word of ‘babies’ or ‘unreliable witnesses,’ sided with Leo and Sammy. As they ate their extra dessert, it seemed like the whole dining hall was staring either at them or at us. Some seemed to show sympathy, others disgust, and even others straight-up anger… at both of us. “Geesh. Looks like you all are the talk of everyone in here…” Pedro noted as he sparsely ate his cherry pie in order to draw out the experience as much as he could. “Looks that way…” I sighed. “I just wish that someone would believe us.” “We do,” Pedro noted, speaking for Billy as well while he was in the restroom. I nodded. “Yes, and thank you… but I was hoping for…” “An adult,” Brian added, failing to realize his terminology choice, despite our cringed looks back at him. “Yeah… them…” I didn’t feel like making him feel even worse than he already did about overreacting to his oar being taken today. “Still frustrating and I just wish those two and others like them wouldn’t take us down so much. I mean… I don’t think they even scratch five feet anymore. We’re young, but… name calling?” Pedro nodded. “Agreed…” Brian hesitated… something I noticed quickly. “Brian… you okay?” “I… maybe you’re not a kid, but…” His gaze dropped to the floor. “I… I forgot how to tie my shoes this morning…” He paused and the air seemed to sit still for a second. “Just for a moment, but…” Pedro, being the good and supportive friend that he was, quickly wrapped his relatively large arm around Brian for comfort. “Hey. That’s okay. Happens to the best of us!” Brian looked up to him with hope swimming in his eyes. “Really?” “Really, really…” he grinned back down at his friend. It seemed to be all the push that Brian needed to hear to go back to normal, eating his own cherry pie with the ravenous appetite that never seemed to leave him anymore. As he did though, I saw Pedro’s look back at me and I could tell we both knew. We would never judge Brian, and he was still our friend, but forgetting to tie your shoelaces, even for a moment… was a big deal. Before I could say anything though, Billy hurriedly sat back with us. “Guess what!” “What?” I indulged him, seeing it was almost out of character for Billy to ever be this excited. “Sammy is leaving blue cabin tomorrow!” he almost shouted before lowering his voice. “Heard about it directly from the Brooks’. They didn’t see I was coming out of the bathroom, and boom! I heard them talking.” “But… why?” I looked over and while Sammy had been regressing, it was slow. He had been in blue cabin for a month or even more by now. Briefly, panic struck me that blue cabin needed more beds and the criteria for red cabin had lessened recently as a result. “Did they say?” Billy nodded. “Said last night and today was a sign,” he informed us, much to the partial enjoyment of at least Brian. “Apparently, they’ve been considering it for a while. And… they said Leo might go too…” That was a shock to me, but when I looked over to the pair… I saw both glaring right back at us. ‘I guess they know then…’ It was hard to know how to feel after that and we all took the news in our own ways. Still frustrated and embarrassed from earlier, Brian seemed to be delighted in it. Billy hated the injustice of everything and felt that it was the consequences of how they’ve acted toward us lately. And Pedro just seemed to mark it down as another loss in the blue cabin toward red. Being stuck in an age for longer than the others meant he was one of the more protective sorts in the cabin… but it also meant he had to continually say goodbye to people, either because they had regressed more or had eventually bounced. For me though, I saw it as a sort of turning point in our time at camp. Before, camp life was stressful and scary and even frustrating at times… but it was manageable. You lost a privilege here; you gained an ability back there. For example, more rules you had to follow but maybe you got more energy as well… it balanced things out so that losses and sour times didn’t feel so bad forever. But between the rejection at the purple tent the night before and the confrontation of the lake, a new turn seemed to be unfolding in our lives. Heights would continue to dwindle. Muscles would be lost. Memories would get fuzzier and personalities more erratic… childish. We might gain here and there… but losses would be our world now. It was a truly frightening world we seemed to be stepping into now. And for me, seeing two people I knew pretty well in my same cabin now get bumped, or soon bumped, into the next lower cabin didn’t sit right with me. Maybe they deserved it or maybe it was best for them… but it was also a sobering reality of one factor no one seemed to mention… If it happened to them, it could happen to us as well.