The Holne Girl

Part 2.

 When it all began...

*****

It was an early bird-chirping, last day of school morning, Marilyn was busy preparing breakfast for her 36 year-old father. She was pleased to know that her father had granted her permission. Finally I can go visit Cornelia's house! We will get to play games and stay up half the night!

Marilyn and Cornelia were walking to Cornelia's house when a storm poured down upon them, causing them to raise their heads in shock while the latest secret hung in the air "Tom likes Sophia!" Mercifully, Cornelia's house was less than a quarter block away and both sprinted to keep them from getting too soaked.

After taking refuge from the downpour in the kitchen, munching on chocolate chip cookies, Cornelia's mother shooed them out since she needed to proceed with dinner preparations.

"We better get going on setting up the tent!" exclaimed Marilyn.

Cornelia peered at her curiously "How in the world are you going to do that? Its raining cats and dogs!" as she glanced out the window, she blushed, "well not really but..."

"But why-ever would you want to miss the excitement? Its part of the fun of the real outdoor camping experience. Not everything goes great right away." Marilyn dragged her out the door with the blankets and the rest of their light sleepwear ready to begin the beautiful summer off with the best camp-out ever. Little did they know it would become one of the worst camp-outs in the history of Canada.

The two perfectionist friends worked industriously for two hours setting up camp in the most precise way. After the tent was set 30 paces away from where the fire would be placed, perfectly linear with the edge of the garden, and yet angled away from the bathroom window, they both plopped down and sighed in unison.

Marilyn and Cornelia looked at each other, giggled and burst into laughter, rolling on the ground for no apparent reason other than "I don't know, but I can't stop laughing" was heard in between all the giggles, sobs, chuckles, and snickering. After being called to dinner by Cornelia's father, they ate speedily, hurriedly sidestepping dishes inside by sneaking outside, they both raced to the tent and once inside, almost shouted with glee.

"I can't believe we skipped that. That was a great escape. Hopefully we don't-