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Authors: Sarah Wendell
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his
hands. But when he helped her on with her own coat and reached out
toward her, she put her gloved hand in his and followed him out the
door to plan more adventures.
Chapter
Four
Thursday, December
18, 2014 — 27 Kislev 5775
Third night of Hanukkah
The rest of the day
passed in a series of white and blue blurs. There were sledding
races and obstacle courses built out of snow and sports equipment,
with bridges to cross, tunnels to wiggle through, and flags to
collect. Both teams finished the day exhausted, but very happy. The
chatter of the room as they gathered for dinner — unfortunately not a
silent meal — was more electric and exciting than it had been the night
before. Color war made camp more exciting during the summer, and it
seemed to have the same effect during the winter, too.
They ’ d lit the candles for
Hanukkah before dinner, saying the blessings together as a group.
The first night the group had been quiet and unsure, but that
night, as they lit the three candles, it had been difficult to keep
everyone quiet. The happiness and energy were so palpable, the
flames had danced on the myriad air currents from everyone talking,
laughing, and moving closer together.
So far, so
good , Genevieve thought to
herself. But now the hard part began — setting up one long
competition that involved everyone and took up enough hours in the
day that she and Jeremy wouldn ’ t need to create
additional activities to fill the time before Shabbat prep
began.
Jeremy had a few ideas, but in the end, hers had
been better. It would be worth the effort, she thought as she
followed Jeremy through the late-evening darkness, even if it was
going to take nearly the same amount of hours to set up as it would
to complete.
And even if Jeremy argued with her the whole time
they were working.
“ No,
listen. What if we dye some of the talcum powder
blue? ” Jeremy stopped suddenly in the knee-deep snow and prevented
her from going around him. She latched onto his parka to keep from
falling, and he grabbed her arms. They were trying to keep their
tracks as minimal as possible, and if she fell down, that would
leave a big, person-sized clue as to where they ’ d
been.
“ Let
it go, dude. ”
“ But, blue! We could make them blue! ”
“ No
way. The powder wouldn ’ t dry in time. It
would be like a paintball battle. ”
Jeremy ’ s head lifted, his eyes widened, and his smile grew
wider.
“ No. ”
He harrumphed loudly,
but turned and started marching forward again. He pulled a camp mug
he ’ d
taken from the kitchen out of his backpack and stashed it under the
bark of a fallen tree. Gen wrote down the GPS coordinates on the
device she held. Then they stomped through the snow to another
potential hiding spot. Gen looked up, moving her head to see more
of the stars peeking from behind the dark branches that tried to
hide the endless sky.
“ I
hope we finish in time, before the snow starts up
again, ” she said, trying to change the subject.
“ Me,
too. The sky is so clear right now. It doesn ’ t look like a
storm ’ s coming at all, despite what Scott said this
morning. ”
After dropping a coil
of rope hooked to four carabiners in a hollow tree stump and
tucking a spool of neon-green lanyard behind a branch, they marched
farther through the forest, Gen close on Jeremy ’ s heels as they
headed toward the horse paddock. The sky was barely lit by the
moon, and they didn ’ t want to use flashlights. Their plan was to
surprise the color war teams with a camp-wide, GPS-enabled
scavenger hunt that should take everyone a couple of hours to
complete. Not only would it
fill time and make everyone, parents and children alike, very
tired, but it would show off the GPS equipment that had been
donated to Meira and highlight the science programming Scott wanted
to develop. Summer sleep-away camps competed with summer learning
programs, as Scott had reminded them as he ’ d handed them each a
new
hands. But when he helped her on with her own coat and reached out
toward her, she put her gloved hand in his and followed him out the
door to plan more adventures.
Chapter
Four
Thursday, December
18, 2014 — 27 Kislev 5775
Third night of Hanukkah
The rest of the day
passed in a series of white and blue blurs. There were sledding
races and obstacle courses built out of snow and sports equipment,
with bridges to cross, tunnels to wiggle through, and flags to
collect. Both teams finished the day exhausted, but very happy. The
chatter of the room as they gathered for dinner — unfortunately not a
silent meal — was more electric and exciting than it had been the night
before. Color war made camp more exciting during the summer, and it
seemed to have the same effect during the winter, too.
They ’ d lit the candles for
Hanukkah before dinner, saying the blessings together as a group.
The first night the group had been quiet and unsure, but that
night, as they lit the three candles, it had been difficult to keep
everyone quiet. The happiness and energy were so palpable, the
flames had danced on the myriad air currents from everyone talking,
laughing, and moving closer together.
So far, so
good , Genevieve thought to
herself. But now the hard part began — setting up one long
competition that involved everyone and took up enough hours in the
day that she and Jeremy wouldn ’ t need to create
additional activities to fill the time before Shabbat prep
began.
Jeremy had a few ideas, but in the end, hers had
been better. It would be worth the effort, she thought as she
followed Jeremy through the late-evening darkness, even if it was
going to take nearly the same amount of hours to set up as it would
to complete.
And even if Jeremy argued with her the whole time
they were working.
“ No,
listen. What if we dye some of the talcum powder
blue? ” Jeremy stopped suddenly in the knee-deep snow and prevented
her from going around him. She latched onto his parka to keep from
falling, and he grabbed her arms. They were trying to keep their
tracks as minimal as possible, and if she fell down, that would
leave a big, person-sized clue as to where they ’ d
been.
“ Let
it go, dude. ”
“ But, blue! We could make them blue! ”
“ No
way. The powder wouldn ’ t dry in time. It
would be like a paintball battle. ”
Jeremy ’ s head lifted, his eyes widened, and his smile grew
wider.
“ No. ”
He harrumphed loudly,
but turned and started marching forward again. He pulled a camp mug
he ’ d
taken from the kitchen out of his backpack and stashed it under the
bark of a fallen tree. Gen wrote down the GPS coordinates on the
device she held. Then they stomped through the snow to another
potential hiding spot. Gen looked up, moving her head to see more
of the stars peeking from behind the dark branches that tried to
hide the endless sky.
“ I
hope we finish in time, before the snow starts up
again, ” she said, trying to change the subject.
“ Me,
too. The sky is so clear right now. It doesn ’ t look like a
storm ’ s coming at all, despite what Scott said this
morning. ”
After dropping a coil
of rope hooked to four carabiners in a hollow tree stump and
tucking a spool of neon-green lanyard behind a branch, they marched
farther through the forest, Gen close on Jeremy ’ s heels as they
headed toward the horse paddock. The sky was barely lit by the
moon, and they didn ’ t want to use flashlights. Their plan was to
surprise the color war teams with a camp-wide, GPS-enabled
scavenger hunt that should take everyone a couple of hours to
complete. Not only would it
fill time and make everyone, parents and children alike, very
tired, but it would show off the GPS equipment that had been
donated to Meira and highlight the science programming Scott wanted
to develop. Summer sleep-away camps competed with summer learning
programs, as Scott had reminded them as he ’ d handed them each a
new
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