The Mailgabber features writing by members of the Camp Family. This month, we present a chapter of current camper Charlie Gilligan’s novel about Terry, Camp Nebagamon’s Director, foiling the plans of a prankster trying to sabotage camp. Charlie wrote this book as a part of the NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program, an annual, national novel-writing challenge. You can read the whole novel here. Interested in writing for the Mailgabber? Send submissions to Louis.
Chapter Four
The hotdog competition was a huge success! The campers loved it. After the competition, the next crisis happened. I heard Bob approach as I was cleaning up bits of hotdog, relish, and buns from the ground. He cleared his throat to get my attention and had a worried look on his face when I noticed him. “Umm, Terry, are you busy?” Bob asked. “No, not at all,” I was just about to head to the Big House to write my update for the parents when he came in.
“The showers in the Logger bathroom, sorry JOP, are clogged and the water has backed up a couple of feet high already.”
“A couple of feet?!!?” The JOPS had been known to overflow, but never this much!
“Yeah, do you want to come see it?
“Yes.” We rushed over to the Logger JOP and I saw the water drizzling out the door.“We opened the door so the water would flow out, and we turned all the showers off. Nothing seems to help the water drain! “First the s’mores, and now this?” shouted Bob in a frenzy. I went over to the drain and saw paper down in it. I opened the drain and saw the paper was from a hotel. The Dragutin Braňka hotel.
Immediately, I knew this was not a coincidence. “Bob, I think Sandra is behind these pranks.”
“Why?”
“First, the marshmallows were arranged in S’s, and now this paper is from the Dragutin Braňka hotel, which is where Sandra kidnapped me.”
“Why would Sandra start pranking the camp?”
“To get back at me? I don’t know.”
“We should alert the staff and the campers. Have them look out for any suspicious activity. Sandra is very sneaky.”
“Yes, but that won’t stop Sandra.”
“What will?”
“I don’t know.” It was clear that the situation was getting worse and we needed to act fast. Bob and I quickly gathered the staff and campers to let them know about the situation. We explained that we suspected Sandra was behind the pranks and that we needed to keep a close eye out for any suspicious activity. The campers were understandably concerned, but we reassured them that we were doing everything we could to keep them safe. We then split up into groups and began searching the camp for any signs of Sandra or her accomplices.
As the day progressed, tensions were high and everyone was on edge. But despite our best efforts, we found no evidence of Sandra or anyone else involved in the pranks. At the end of the day, we held a meeting with the campers and staff to discuss what had happened and to come up with a plan for preventing any future incidents. We decided to increase security measures, including installing cameras around the camp and increasing the number of staff on duty at all times. While we still didn’t know what Sandra’s ultimate goal was, we were determined to prevent her from causing any more trouble at the camp. It was clear that we had a long road ahead of us, but we were ready to face whatever challenges came our way. Despite the chaos, the campers still had a great time at camp and made memories that would last a lifetime. As for me, I knew that the experience had made me a stronger and more capable leader, and I was ready to take on whatever challenges came my way in the future.
All is (kind of) well in the North Woods…
