Broken Hands and Weathered Souls: a Holes Fanfiction

Dig It

"Aaaah!" An icy splash of water jerked me awake. I was pulled by the ankle out of my cot, and onto the mess of tangled sheets on the floor.

I heard everyone laughing themselves awake. Armpit, and Magnet had given me my official camp wake up call, with Armpit holding an empty glass, and Magnet with one of my blankets in hand.

"You guys are psychotic!" I rubbed my head. "Ugh. What time is it?" A dark sky greeted us, and a trumpet blared through the camp.

"4:30, doll." Squid gave me a hand off the floor. First day of camp, let's make this one count.

A mass of sarcasm flooded my mind as I absentmindedly pulled on a white t-shirt, and prison jumpsuit. I tied the sleeves of the hideous orange monstrosity around my waist, and braided my dark hair. When I was finished I flipped the plait over one shoulder.

I popped a piece of chocolate in my mouth, and tossed one to Squid. "Thanks," he gave me a half asleep smile. We followed the rest of the guys out of the tent. We walked groggily to where the rest of the camp had gathered. Mr. Sir unlocked a shed marked "Library" to reveal an enormous collection of shovels. We each grabbed one, and headed out into the seemingly cool Texas desert.

After trudging for a mile through the sand, we stopped at our digging site. "Start here." Mr Sir pointed to the ground. "Now if you find anything interestin' you give it to me or Pendanski. If the warden likes what you find, you'll get the day off."

"What am I looking for, Mr. Sir?"

"You're not looking for anything," he told me. "You're building character. If you take a bad boy, make him dig holes all day in the hot sun, and it turns him into a good boy. That is our philosophy here at Camp Green Lake," he finished. "Now start digging."

I thrust my shovel into the soft sand and hard earth underneath it just to have it bouce back, barely making a dent.

"One down, ten million to go," said Mr. Sir as he sauntered out of the digging site.

I kicked the blade of my shovel into the ground, and pulled it back up again. After getting through the first layer of the dirt, the digging wasn't as difficult. The sun began to peek out from behind the mountains as my digging fell into sync with the boys and my mind could freely wander.

I was pulled out of my head by the sounds of Zigzag shaking dirt off of his shovel, and Zero's fast paced digging. "Hey, Zig. Can you do that again?"

He shifted his shovel back and forth, and I tapped mine on the ground so we got a nice rythm going. I sang softly enough for only me, Zigzag, and possibly Squid, and Zero to hear.

"Well this is how it starts Two lovers in the dark
On the run, from the one That they called Sheriff Spark
Six guns by their side and bullets around their waist
Two shots to the sky
Signal sound for the chase
The safe was nearly empty and They were nearly free
But were seen by the Good eye of the mean Billy Green
And he screamed at the top of his lungs They're on the run
It's the two outsiders Grab your horses and your guns

I said I wish that
We could stay here,
But I fear our time has come
We could ride out in the darkness
Chasing the rising sun
We gotta pack our bags this instant,
We're heading south-bound to the next town
And if we all arrive there so safely,
Baby you can lay me down."

I ended our little jam session with all the boy's eyes on me. Apparently my singing had grown a little louder, and I had drawn more attention to myself.

"Sorry," I blushed. "I got bored." X-Ray shushed me with a wave of his hand. "Don't apologize. It was kinda nice having something to listen to. I haven't heard music in the six months I've been here," he shrugged.

"Besides," added Magnet. 'You got a nice voice, Chica."

"Thanks." It would definitely help with the boredom that I was sure to be faced with when digging a huge hole every day.

The water truck drove up to us about two and a half hours later. Everyone hopped out of their holes and got in line. I placed my hands in front of me, and swung my legs over the top of my hole. "Ow! Ugh," I groaned. The shovel had rubbed my hands raw, bloody, and red. The dirt slicing imyo my palms didn't help at all.

"Got any blisters, Johnson?" Mr. Sir asked me as he was filling X-Ray's canteen. "Yeah, and they hurt like a bitch," I groaned. "Well, everything turns to callous eventually," said Mr. Sir. "But, that's life." He spat a couple of his precious sunflower seeds in the dirt, and drove away.

After the water truck left, we were out in the scorching sun. Better dig fast. I took a swig of my water out of the heavy plastic canteen, and thrust my shovel back into the sand. "Augh," I grunted when feeling the shovel dig at a sharp angle into my palm, irritating my already irritated skin.

"Hey, guys?" I asked everone while keeping my rythmic digging going. "Why is Mr. Sir always chewing on sunflower seed?"

"He's tryin' to give up smoking," answered Armpit. "How long ago did he quit?" I asked while tossing a shovel of dirt weakly out of my hole.

"Last month."

"He used to walk around with a cigarette every single day. Every time I saw him he was puffing on a cancer stick," added Squid. "He had a smoker's cough worse than my mom's," he laughed.

We all snickered, and resumed digging. I had about two and a half feet done by 12:30. The sun was growing hotter, and I knew it would just get worse from here. My face grew red in the scorching Texas heat, and I felt as if I would pass out if I didn't get some shade. If I dig a little farther down, maybe I can take a break in the shade.

A little pair of arms reached out of the hole next to Magnet's, and hoisted a tiny curly haired digger out of the sand. It was Zero. He stood, and gripped his shovel, which was about a head taller than him. The little boy spat in his symmetrically perfect hole, then walked away from us, shovel over his shoulders.

"Done already?" I called after him. He said nothing, and just kept trudging through the desert back in the direction of camp.

"He's like the fastest digger in the camp," Magnet informed me. "He's a mole. I think he eats the dirt!" Squid laughed. "Yeah, he's a weird dude," added Zigzag absentmindedly.

"Kid's a good worker," I said, while returning to my digging. My comment was ignored as X-Ray turned to Squid. "Moles don't eat dirt. Worms eat dirt, dawg."

I rolled my eyes and smiled. Always worried about the important details, these guys. I let out a tiny laugh. An hour later Barfbag hopped out of his hole, then Armpit, then Magnet, then X-Ray, Squid, Zigzag.

Then finally me.

I was exhausted, frustrated, and dehydrated. I didn't finish long after Zigzag, so I ran to catch up with him. It was a long walk back to camp, and after what had happened last night with those two guys I was not going to take any chances. I caught up with him quickly, and walked next to him.

"Hi Zig,"

"Hey there," he smiled. "How'd you like the digging?"

"Hated it, but I think I'll get better by the time my sentence is up."

He smirked. "First hole's the hardest, right?"

"Definitely."

"How are your hands?"

"They'll be okay."

"Lemme take a look." I held my blistered, bloodied hands for him to see. He traced his long fingers in circles on my palms. "Does that hurt?"

"A little." He continued to take a look at my hands. "How about this?" He pressed gently on the edges of my hands.

"Ow!" I wrenched my hands out of his grip quickly. "Sorry."

"It's fine. Your hands will callous over eventually. For now rinse them off, and wear gloves or something tomorrow."I smiled at his efforts to help me out. "Quite the doctor, aren't you?" Zigzag grinned, "Just a few things I've picked up since I got here."

We walked back to camp talking about the most random things. Zigzag was a very easy person to talk to, and I could already tell that we were becoming good friends.