The Grizzly Girls (Pt.1)

Maryn Fales, Nicola Johnson, and Jocelyn Nguyen had signed up for Girls Grizzly Summer Camp. It was their thing to do every summer since they were all seven years old. Now, they’re all seventeen and still get excited for a month at summer camp. They looked forward to s’mores by the campfire, archery lessons with the cute camp counselor, Jake, and sharing a log cabin with friends. The typical summer camp adventures. But this year they had no idea that everything was going to change for them.

The day before camp, the trio was gathered in Nicola’s bedroom, helping her with last minute packing.

“Should I take the pink t-shirt or the red t-shirt?”, ventured Nicola.

Maryn put her hand to her chin, in mock concentration.

“I think the pink one, it matches your red hair a lot.”, said Jocelyn.

“Good choice, don’t want Nic looking like a tomato.”, joked Maryn.

Nicola swatted her with the red shirt and Jocelyn giggled.

The girls laughed like that, until Mrs. Johnson came into the room. She was wearing a look of despair. Her green eyes were remorseful.

“Girls, I have something for you.”, she said, handing the phone she held to Jocelyn.

“What is it Mom? You look worried.”, asked Nicola.

“It’s a voicemail from Grizzly Summer Camp.”, answered Mrs. Johnson quietly.

Jocelyn pressed play on the voicemail, and a familiar voice filled the silent room.

It was Mrs. Kaitan, the owner of the camp for 30 years.

“Hello Grizzly Girls and Grizzly parents, I am deeply pained to tell you that Girls Grizzly Summer Camp has been burned down. The night before, there was suspected to be an arson in the woods that reached the camp. The cabins are burned, the mess hall is profoundly damaged, and the food is charred and in ashes. There was the question of cancelling camp for this year, but I fought against it and made it to where all girls who are still interested in coming to camp this summer can attend. If you choose to come back to camp this year, you will need more supplies. I sent an email, but for those who didn’t receive it, be sure to bring a tent, preferably a cabin tent, extra bug spray and sunblock, and if you have breathing difficulties, bring your medication. There is still a strong scent of smoke in the air. We'll spend most of our time outdoors. Have a good afternoon Grizzlies!”

And that was it. A single voicemail that put their entire summer in perspective.

After a moment of silence Jocelyn spoke first.

“The camp burned down.” It was almost a question, when she said it, but really she was in disbelief, like everyone else.

“Mrs. Kaitan said it was arson. I wonder who could’ve done it.”, said Maryn, twirling her dirty blond locks in thought.

“So, Mom, are we still allowed to go to camp this summer?”, asked Nicola.

Mrs. Johnson sighed deeply, her brows creasing her pale forehead, “I will leave that up to you girls. I already spoke to your parents, Jocelyn and Maryn. They agree that leaving the choice up to you is only fair. After all, you’ve been going there since you were in second grade.”

She smiled, as if she was imagining the girls when they were younger. 

Meanwhile, Maryn, Nicola, and Jocelyn all exchanged a look. They were all thinking the same thing. We have to go to camp. 

The next morning, the girls were all packed for camp with their new tent and an eight pack of Bug Off bug spray. There were other Grizzly Girls in their neighborhood too. As usual, they waited in front of the bus stop saying their goodbyes to their family. Jocelyn hugged her mom and little brother, Quinlin, tightly. Quinlin tried to wriggle out of the embrace, but Jocelyn and Ms. Nguyen pulled him in tighter. With that he yanked on Jocelyn's long black ponytail and they all laughed. Maryn was performing her special handshakes with all five of her brothers. Max, who was twenty one and majoring to be a scientist in college, Myles, fifteen, aspiring the dream of being a baseball player, Mitchell and Micheal the eight year old troublesome twins, and of course little Mason, who was about to be four. Last, there was Nicola. She had no siblings to do special handshakes with or deeply embrace, but she had her mom and dad, so she gave each of them a peck on the cheek and said her farewells. But, as Nicola pulled away, her mom whispered in her ear.

“Timothy Grayson. Find him.”

What did that mean? Questions filled Nicola’s mind, but her mom gave nothing away.

The bus game screeching to a stop, like always. It smelled of smoke and gasoline. Maryn breathed in deeply and Max whacked upside the head.

“It’s not chocolate, stop inhaling so much of it, you dimwit.”, he said playfully.

Maryn smiled and whacked him back and before he could respond she grabbed her bags and raced on to the bus.

Jocelyn, Nicola, and the other Grizzly Girls followed her. They said hello to the bus driver, Heath, and took their usual seats. Everything was so accustomed to the girls. A ritual to them, almost a religion. But this time, things were going to be very different. The air of fun and carelessness was now polluted with an eerie atmosphere. The bus which had always smelled of gas, now smelled of something putrid, raw, and scary. The girls of Grizzly Summer Camp had no idea what was in store for them.

As Heath parked the rusty bus into the parking lot, he let out a sigh of relief. Maryn noticed and she knew this was because of last year. The year before, the bus kept breaking down every hour in the middle of the road. Getting to camp was a miracle this year, after what happened last summer. On the other side of the bus, the other girls from across Maine unloaded their bags. There were fewer girls this time around. Probably the arson talk. Maryn thought. She knew most parents wouldn’t let their daughters come to camp if there were to be an arsonist on the grounds. The ones who did come back to camp were lucky. Almost the chosen ones. The girls all got off the bus, now saying goodbye to Heath and thanking him for the ride. He smiled a wry smile and said it was biggie. As always. When it was Jocelyn’s turn to get off the bus though, his barely there smile faded.

“Timothy Grayson. Watch out for him, child. He’s dangerous.”, he said in a hushed tone.

Jocelyn shuddered and nodded. She raced off the bus and gulped a breath of what she always remembered as fresh air. She coughed, for the stale taste of smoke was still in the atmosphere, just like Mrs.Kaitan said it would be. As she wondered who Timothy Grayson was, she met up with the rest of the Grizzlies. Normally they would be surrounding the fire pit, but the pit had perished in the fire. This summer, the girls gathered around the picnic tables. The chairs and tables were charred and covered with soot and ashes. It was horrible for everyone to see, yet here they all were. Returning to their summer home away from home. 

Mrs. Kaitan stood at the head of the table with Jake. He was her grandson. He was also the only guy on camp grounds. It could be the reason why pretty much all the girls fell for him. Mrs. Kaitan cleared her throat and instead of starting with her usual cheery welcome back speech, she began camp with this:

“Girls, as you may know, the camp has burned down. Most of our normal activities are out of the question. There will be no rock climbing, zip lining, and rope course. The Lone Wolf hiking trail was also burned in the fire, but luckily the Aspen Brook trail is still available. If you got my messages, you will be sleeping in tents and if you didn’t bring your own, then you’ll share with a friend. Thankfully, the food wasn’t delivered here until after the fire, so we have more than enough, but cooking some foods will be hard to cook.”

Mrs. Kaitan decided to pause and let her words sink in.

“With that being said, we have twenty emergency lighters and about fifteen packs of matches. We’ll only be using fire to cook food and if the nights are super cold.”

The few Grizzly Girls that were surrounded around the table kept quiet, waiting for Mrs. Kaitan to finish.

“With all that’s been said, do any of you have questions?”

The girls looked at each other and a concerned buzz filled the picnic area.

“Has the arsonist been found?”, asked Lauren, a short brunette.

The buzz grew louder and Mrs. Kaitan tried to calm the girls down.

“The officials suspected there to be arson, but no hard evidence was found. It is safe to assume there is no arsonist running around the woods.”

The nervous chatter dialed down, just barely, but the tension was still there hanging with the obvious question:

Was it a forest fire or an arson?