Watching out that window
got boring.
So I slept, too.
Eventually, Joplin shook me awake.
"Look!" she said
when I'd opened my eyes.
She pointed out the window.
A sign there read:
WELCOME TO CAMP WALLUMWAHPUCK,
A HAVEN FOR GIRLS SINCE 1958.
The bus was bumping
down a gravel road
with bushes and trees and weeds all around.
This isn't beautiful,
I thought.
This is creepy.
I missed sidewalks full of people
checking their phones
and walking their cute dogs.
I missed paved roads, too,
filled with taxis and bike riders.
Finally, the bus turned
and stopped in a dirt lot.
"All right, girls!" the head of the junior unit shouted,
walking down the aisle.
"Step outside and find your counselors!"
"But we don't know who our counselors are,"
I said to Joplin.
"They'll be holding signs," she told me.
Sure enough,
when I stepped off the bus,
I saw teenagers holding signs:
GYPSY MOTH, DRAGONFLY, HONEYBEE, CICADA,
DOODLEBUG, MONARCH, PRAYING MANTIS,
HISSING COCKROACH.
"I'm glad we're not in Hissing Cockroach!"
I told Joplin.
"That one's fake,"
she said.
"The counselors make up a cabin name every year.
Last year it was Seed Head Weevil.
I still think they should use Seed Head Weevil
instead of Doodlebug.
Doodlebug is stupid."
I thought about that.
Doodlebug was babyish.
But still.
I wouldn't ever want to be
in Seed Head Weevil.
"Come on," Joplin said.
She started walking toward the Gypsy Moth sign.
I followed her.
We kicked up dust with every step.
And flattened weeds, too.
It seemed too quiet on that lot,
even with the sound of girls talking and laughing.
After a second,
I realized why:
no cars honking,
no sirens wailing,
no truck brakes squealing.
Just girls.
And a whole lot of birds,
chirping.
I didn't like it.
The Gypsy Moth counselor started waving
as soon as she realized we were walking toward her.
"Hello!"
she called.
"I'm Hope!"
She was wearing sunglasses
and red sneakers.
"I don't remember her from last year,"
Joplin muttered.
"She must be new."
"You're the Gypsy Moths
from Brooklyn!" Hope said
when we stood in front of her.
"So, one of you is Joplin,
and one is Eleanor."
We told her who was who.
"I am so excited to be
your counselor!"
she said, grinning.
She had a swinging ponytail
and freckles
and a pretty smile.
"I love Wallumwahpuck,"
she said.
"I was a camper here for seven years!
Then I spent a summer in Vietnam,
and last summer I went to Thailand.
Now I'm back!"
I looked around that dirty, weedy, too-quiet lot
and figured there must be a different,
more spectacular part of camp.
The part Hope and Mom both loved so much.
"Come on!" Hope said, smiling her pretty smile.
"Don't worry about your trunks;
someone will drive them over soon.
Let's get you both settled!"