I extend a grateful, 'thank you', to my beta reader for her time and energy in assisting me, and for believing in me.
*********
The large brown and white dog barked repeatedly, trying to gain her master's attention. Finally the tall lanky woman cut the engine off on the weed-eater as she noticed her faithful companion. She watched her best friend sit and cock the furry head to one side. "What?" she asked.
"I couldn't get you to hear me over the noise of that damn thing," an older gentleman stated, from behind, with a chuckle as he stepped up to the duo. "How's it going over here?"
With a smile, she looked over her shoulder and said, "Just fine Uncle Jim. I've got two more cabins left to weed around."
"Well that's great. I sure do appreciate your help around here, Regan. It's not easy for an old man like me to do this by myself."
The young woman offered a toothy grin. "You're not old yet."
"Yeah, well..." he scratched at his bearded chin. "Sometimes I sure feel old. Why don't you take a break from that and come help me unload the truck. I've finished splitting the wood, so there should be plenty for at least the first half of the summer."
"Sure Uncle Jim."
**********
Regan worked as the grounds-keeper and maintenance person for the summer youth camp that her aunt and uncle have owned for fifteen years. She and her faithful furry companion knew their way around the thirty acres of land in their sleep because this is where they practically grew up. As a military brat, her father believed the base wouldn't be the best place to raise a child especially when his wife, and Regan's mother, died of Lupus when Regan was barely three years old. Lieutenant MJ Lawless was very grateful that his brother Jim and wife Nora agreed to raise Regan as their own especially when they found out Nora was barren.
After Regan's mother died, her father was so distraught that he immersed himself deeply into the military's work so that he didn't have to think or feel. It took five years for him to accept his wife's passing, and it took a good jostling from his brother to get him to realize he had been neglecting his only daughter. In the end though, it worked out for the best to have Jim and Nora raise Regan.
Regan grew into a strong and independent young woman. She worked hard on the grounds for her aunt and uncle, loving everything about the outdoors. For her labor, Jim thought it right to pay her a monthly stipend with the hopes that she would use the money for college. Regan was very artistic, and had a penchant for doodling while in high school. The doodles soon turned into artistically flamboyant caricatures that she excelled at. A bit of a rebel and troublemaker due to her very independent and strong spirit, she was never one to complacently accept the norms of society. A lover of nature and animals, Regan spent most of her time not in the company of people and therefore appeared as antisocial and introverted.
*************
Now with the summer season beginning, Regan and Jim were preparing the grounds once again for the influx of teenagers and counselors. For the past four years, a group of three churches took to renting the grounds for their youth camps. Regan was all too familiar with these groups and their views, so she did her best to keep her distance and remain professional. As Regan returned to weed-eating, after helping stack the wood at the shed, she thought about relaxing at the lake before nightfall. The nice size lake was used for swimming and canoeing, and there were hiking trails everywhere. The building on the property included a dining hall, recreational hall, and twelve cabins that could house up to twelve people in each one.
Working her way around the cabin, Regan's mind wandered to the one and only summer she had attended the camp functions, at the encouragement of her aunt and uncle, only to learn very quickly how she was shunned and considered a disease when she plainly stated she had always been gay. Hating the hypocrisy, the jeers, the gossip, and self-righteous attitudes from her own peers and the camp counselors, she pulled away and withdrew into herself. Aunt Nora and Uncle Jim did their best to console her, always reminding her that she was fine as she was, and how much they loved her. If others could not see that then they were not worth her time because they were very proud to raise her as their own.
****************
Madelyn gazed out the window of the school bus as it came to a stop. She was just as excited about summer camp this year as her peers, but for different reasons. This was her final summer here. In a few weeks she would turn nineteen and once camp was over, she would be heading off to college and the adult world. Technically she should not have even attended camp this time, but knowing it was her last one she wanted to be in the place she had grown to love and enjoy for the past four years.
Maddy glanced over at her younger brother, Liam. "Are you ready for this?" she playfully asked.
He pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose, and smiled shyly. "As ready as I can possibly be."
At age fifteen, this was his first year attending camp. The both of them had always been close, and even though Maddy was grateful for their relationship, she hoped that this summer would be an opportunity for Liam to grow into himself as a person as he tended to be so shy and introverted.
Maddy patted her younger sibling's shoulder encouragingly as everyone began to shuffle off the bus. Most of the teens almost immediately gathered in groups happily shouting their greetings to one another and to talk about what adventures they would tackle first this summer. Maddy walked straight to the registration table. She decided that she would catch up with any of her friends after she was settled in.
***************
Regan placed her well-worn brown leather tool belt in the back of the pull cart. With a quick single whistle to her best friend, she hopped up on the four-wheeler. By the time she turned it on, the large St. Bernard mix had sprinted onto her spot at the front of the cart. Azure blue eyes silently watched a young woman with shoulder length strawberry-blonde hair leave the registration table. Her heart rate increased, and breathing suddenly became a chore. Turning her gaze away, she kicked the four-wheeler into gear as she took off, trying in vain to clear her head.
For three summers now Regan watched, without a word, the shorter blonde go from a shy teenager to a blossoming young woman. Even though Regan was not involved in any camp activities, it was still part of her job to make sure there was always firewood available and handle routine maintenance throughout the summer. There were numerous occasions Regan would see the short blonde laughing and conversing with her friends. Something about the young woman made Regan's heart thump, and then she'd find herself unable to shake off the feelings.
**********
The first week of camp flew by quickly, and the weather seemed to only get hotter. Madelyn was in the process of taking a shower after her swim in the lake, when she overheard a couple of her bunk mates come into the bathroom.
"Ugh, this humidity is killing my hair. Hey, did you
see her
stacking that wood by the pit?"
"Yeah, she is such a dyke."
"How can you say that? Do you really know?"
"You know she's not allowed to attend camp, even though her uncle owns the place. She's a bad influence, and we're not supposed to associate with her kind."
"Well, I just don't understand how someone could be such a freak like that. Especially when boys are so cute and easy to manipulate."
Madelyn heard them laugh as they exited, and she knew who they were talking about. It saddened her to hear the people she called friends think that way. She remembered the tall dark haired groundskeeper that she saw every summer.
Regan is her name.
She silently thought.
