Survival

Chapter 8

I woke up enthusiastic. It was second day of camp, so everyone was busy getting ready. It was quite early, but the sun had already shone brightly. During my research, I discovered that the sun shone early in this area.

Mariyam said she saw something in the kitchen, yesterday. When I saw her, she was still terrified and shivering. I didn't know what to make of it. A part of me believed she really saw "it" while another part of me thought it was her pills talking. I warned her a lot of times to take them as prescribed by the doctor, but she was too stubborn. Now, Mr Cameron was thinking of returning her home. As for other students, they said she made it up. For attention, in Dan's words. But I knew better. Someone else, yes. But Mari, no. She would never do that. I couldn't do anything except pray. So that was what i did. In the middle of the night, I prayed the Nafilah. I felt so nice. Everywhere was so quiet and serene -- peaceful. In the morning I woke up refreshed and energized. Mari insisted on going with me everywhere. As for Sarah, she was silently sobbing, except for the I told you so that she kept on repeating.

I got ready in a haste, then ran outside. I felt like a small girl getting all giddy over a box of chocolate. We were less worried about the signal stuff. We just wanted to have fun for a while. I was quite good at tennis, so I stayed in the tennis section with Sara who looked quite frightened. I knew it was because she still had it in her head, that we were in grave danger or something. I simply rolled my eyes and grabbed two rackets. We played for a long time. At last, Sara won. She was very good at tennis, even at school. At home, her Dad had set up a tennis court for her. He hoped she would be the 'next Serena Williams'.

"Wow. That felt good," she laughed.

"Yeah, sure did. Seeing that you won. Betcha next time, I will win."

Sara laughed harder, "I always win. O ye of so little faith, don't doubt it don't doubt it..." We broke into the song together, "victory is in your veins. Don't fight it. Don't fight it. And I will not negotiate. But still I rise!"

We sat, this time on lawn chairs we’d dragged up to the playing ground. Sweat streaked my forehead as I blinked dirt away.
We watched Joe play Archery. I didn't know how it was played, but I followed his facial expressions, when he laughed, I laughed and congratulated him, and when he didn't, I told him to try again.

Now and then, I would turn to see Alessio, who was organising a swimming competition for the swimming students. He looked exceptionally handsome, in his white shirt and black trouser. He caught me looking and flashed me a smile. His sea coloured eyes glittered and shone in the sunny weather. I smiled back. 

Our first day at camp was marvellous. It went by smoothly. Different games were played, competitions were held. We were very enthusiastic about every single thing. Fun activities ensued, photos and videos were taken. Alessio brought out a timetable showing what we would do for our entire stay at camp. It contained the time we would wake up, which was at 7:30, eat and engage in different activities. We would have games - archery, swimming, competitions, trekkings, and quizzes. I was very excited. Everything was going to be fun, InshaAllah. The problem with me was I had a condition that made one believe that when they were very happy, when life was going on perfectly for them, something horrible would happen. That was how I felt deep down. I was happy but I was also scared. Scared that something bad was waiting just round the corner.

*****

The sun shone brightly, throughout the day. As if it was in line with our plans. In the afternoon, I took a stroll around the camp, taking in every single detail. I noticed the swimming pool was a bit wierd, when I first ran my hand in it, the water was cold. But when I dived into the pool, it was deadly hot, causing me to scream. The location of the camp was quite interesting. It looked like a scene from the movie. Quite spectacular.