Caleb could hear his parents' argument from his room.
He had just shown his parents his result. He was very brilliant and got an 'A' in all subjects except one- Physical Education. His parents encouraged him to make friends and socialize before leaving. Once they got outside the room, they started blaming each other for not being there when he needed him or her. But Caleb knew the truth; his twin sister's death caused him to be isolated.
It had been 10 years already, and Caleb still couldn't let go of Emma, his dead twin. He silently blamed himself for her death; he was the person who made his parents send her to summer camp. She left, angry, and never returned. Not her body, not her belongings, not anything. She was so unfortunate to be in the camp the forest fire took place in. The camp counselors claimed that all the kids were dead. He, of course, didn't believe it. The camp was near the forest, not in the forest, and there was a river you needed to cross before you would see the forest. The parents of all the children that died filed a report, and the counselors were arrested. This was the talk of the town for years, and many summer camps were shut down, until this new camp opened the previous year: Camp Pinebrook. It was a healing and counseling camp. Some people attended and came back alive- and healed. So, it wasn't a shock that many would attend the camp this year.
Once Mrs. Winslow heard of the camp, she signed her son up for it. Perhaps it would help his social life."Caleb, come and see this!" Mrs. Winslow called out. Caleb came out to meet his mother. She was holding a flyer in her hands. She handed it over to her son excitedly, waiting for his reaction. Caleb read the flyer. It was talking about a healing and restoration program. It read:
"Teens who have experienced trauma are invited to bond with nature and reconnect with joy."
"Mom, I don't need this..."
"Yes, you do. Remember Aria, our neighbor's daughter? She went there last year, and she's now a new person, healed from her past trauma. I'm sure yours wouldn't be different."
"I don't know. I don't want to go."
"Think about it, Caleb. It would be nice. Now get prepared, I'm driving you to school."
---
"Hey, freak," a boy said, walked up to Caleb, and pushed the innocent boy, who was collecting his books from his locker, onto the ground. The children around him hailed the boy and laughed at Caleb. Someone picked up a trash can and dumped everything inside of it on him."Trash belongs with trash," someone said, while others took pictures and jeered at him.
Caleb's life in school wasn't the kind where someone would rush up, help him, and then they'd become best friends forever. Here, even the so-called helpers were much worse devils than the bullies. It wasn't always like this for him. His sister was the outspoken twin among the both of them. She had many friends and well-wishers in school, and she didn't hesitate to pull him along. He had always been a bully target, but he had his sister then to protect him. With her around, he had high self-esteem, a close companion, and protection. Now she's gone, and everything is gone with her; the happiness, joy, self-esteem- gone.
He tried doing it all by himself; being the meaning of his name and practicing fighting skills his sister had taught him, but it seemed like the more he fought back, the more they attacked him. He'd sometimes go to detention in another person's stead, help them in tests, give up his seat at the lunch table, share his homemade lunch and snacks, but nothing worked. The whole school kept being against him- bullying him. He was no different than others, just quieter and self-reserved. Many called him a psychopath and wrote nasty rumors about him on toilet walls, lockers, and social media. It was like the world was against him.It would be better if he just died.
---
"Hey guys, have you heard of Camp Pinebrook? I'm going there this summer. You guys should come, it'll be fun," Caleb overheard someone talking at the lunch table during lunch period.Great! he reasoned sarcastically. They're coming too.
As they talked further, Caleb took note of the address of the campsite:
137 Hollow Pine RoadMillersville, PA 17551
That was the campsite where his sister vanished in 2015! He could finally find out the mystery.But hold on a minute- why are they hosting the camp at that dreaded site, and why does no one remember that that's where up to 20 kids vanished?
Caleb scrolled the internet, trying to find news relating to the forest fire event in 2015. There were news articles about the fire, but none mentioned a nearby camp or missing kids.
"What? How?" he mumbled.Was he imagining all this, or had everyone just lost the memory?
"Mom, I'm going to Camp Pinebrook this summer," Caleb announced as he got home.
"I knew you'd eventually agree," his mother said. Caleb hurried to his room to write down a list of things he would need.Maybe, just maybe, this summer won't be like the boring ones he had experienced over the past 10 years.