He woke up suddenly. His heart pounding out if his chest. Reality was distorted and the world was spinning. Everything seemed dark, the only source of light was the moonlight seeping through the crack in the tent opening. A gentle breeze flowed through the tent, sending a shiver down Max's spine. It was horrible. He had a nightmare about his parents again. Sure he hated this camp, but he hated them more. Way more. There was nothing he hated more in this pathetic world then them. He stumbled out of bed, still feeling bruised from the places he thought he had hit them. He left the tent, making sure not to wake up Neil. He only had one place he could go, the counselor cabin.
He traipsed through the quiet night time forest and towards the counselor cabin. The forest ways looked so calm and peaceful at this time of night, even though he knew it was far from it. He passed the activity camps, left messy as usual and towards the counselor cabin.
He arrived at the cabin. The old oak door loomed over him. It was threatening in its height; it seemed to stare down at him, questioning him. It reminded him that no one would care enough to come out anyway, but he was already here so it was worth a try. The cabin was visually ancient and tired, it seemed to wonder why this camp hadn't been shut down yet. I mean, it had, but never properly. It was old and tired, yet the glow from inside made it look happy and alive, welcoming and warm, something he never had at his old home. He knocked on the door. The knocks echoed through the silent forests and through the old trees that had been living for hundreds of years, the wisest beings in the forest. The door seemed to shiver at the knocking, repulsively. There was no answer. No stir of life from the actual cabin, so he knocked again. 3 long and loud knocked that echoed through the empty forest. The wind grew stronger around him, making him uneasy.
Suddenly there was a bright light, glaring from where the oak door had been moments before. "Max? Are you ok?" A soft and welcoming voice replied. It was David. The most smiley and optimistic person in the whole world. Max didn't understand how somebody as happy as him could exist. "I... I had a nightmare" Max sheepishly admitted. "Hey, it's ok Max. Come inside for a while if you want."
Max followed the tall cheery man into the cabin, slowly and quietly. "Want anything? A hot chocolate maybe?" David asked. He had a small look of concern in his eyes. It was clear he cared. Something his parents had never done. "Sure" replied Max, hesitantly. He hated admitting his feelings, and admitting that he was scared because of a stupid nightmare was just as bad. David carefully placed the hot chocolate Infront of max, who was now sat on the chair that was beside a small round table. David sat next to him in the empty chair. It was green and stripy, has several holes in it, nothing more to be expected at this camp though. It did shut down every other week because of not enough funding. "Do you wanna talk about" David said, his voice had a tone of concern and worry in his voice, that he had tried to muffle. Max went quiet for a moment, debating whether to tell David what he had a nightmare about. "It was about my parents again" he slowly replied. "They.. they were shouting at eachother.. and me.. and then they..." He paused for a moment. His voice shaking and visable tears forming in his eyes. "Hey it's ok.." replied David, his hand now on Max's shoulder. He had a reassuring look on his face as he looked at Max's trembling body and weary eyes. "They hit me.. multiple times..." He couldn't hold it anymore. Tears started gushing out if his eyes, he was pretty quiet but he was crying heavy. David could tell not only that this dream was reoccurring, but it was also based on true events.
David tried to calm him down, repeating the same "hey it's ok" phrase, like a record that kept on skipping. What he wasn't expecting was for Max to reach out and hug him. Max had only ever hugged him once before, after parents day.. he never forget that moment and it made his heart warm whenever he thought of it. He really cared for max and knew he deserved better parents than those monsters who hurt him. David hugged max back, making him feel safe. They didn't let go until max finally stopped crying, which took a few minutes, David didn't mind. He was helping Max feel better. That's all that mattered. David sat back up straight, looking at Max. His face was red and his eyes were still glazed. "Hey.. for what little it's worth.. I care about you" he said, once again following it up with a reassuring smile. "...you do?" Replied Max, his voice still shaking though it had calmed down a lot since. "Yeah I do. Hey.. if you don't want to go back to your tent, we have a spare room in the cabin if you want to stay here tonight.. it's all made up, it's supposed to be a counselor room but this camp doesn't have enough money for more counselors so it's just a spare room at the moment"
"Yeah, I'd like that"
David lead Max to the spare room, it was dusty but it was warmer than his tent. David tucked Max in for bed and brought him a glass of water for if he got thirsty in the night. "You know where I am if you need me," David softly spoke. "Don't be afraid to wake me up, ok?"
"Ok." Max seemed a lot happier now. His voice had stopped shaking and his face was less red. He was smiling, for once and he looked happy.
"Goodnight Max"
"Night David"
Max woke up the next morning, happier than the night before. His nightmares was shadowed by the pleasant memories from the night before. When he went to turn on his side, he felt something. Something that wasn't there the night before. He looked to his side to see something, it was a teddy. It looked shiny and brand new. It's fur was soft and clean and it had a note attached to it
"Hi Max, I was planning on giving you this at a later date, however I think I should give you this now. You've changed a lot this year Max wheather you like it or not, and I'm proud of you. When camp ends, I want you to remember how great of a kid you are, and to never become like your parents. I'm always thinking of you, and hoping for the best, even if you're not at camp. You're a great kid, and you're gonna do great things. David~"
Max smiled to himself, nobody had ever done something like this for him.. he found himself tearing up at the note too... Maybe he didn't hate this place as much as he originally thought.
