Day Two
Monday 12:30 pm
We had just finished lunch and I was hanging out with Tails in the general area. We were discussing what time we would schedule our horse ride for when my stomach growled. Tails was laughing uncontrollably and fell onto the ground.
"Oh my God! Tails! Are you okay?" I asked, trying to suppress my own laughter. Tails got up.
"I'm fine," he replied.
"Uh, Tails. . ." I said, blushing, "I'm kinda hungry. Would you come with me to get a snack?"
"Yeah, sure. We need to pay for our horse rides anyway."
We went to the bank window where we were greeted by the Burnett cat I'd seen the first day.
"Hello," she sweetly said, "How can I help you?"
"Hi," I replied, "My name is Sonic Hedgehog. I should have about 40 bucks in here and I'd like to take a few dollars out." The cat typed away on a keyboard. She gave a puzzled loot to the computer screen before her, then looked at me.
"I'm sorry," she said, "You're not showing up on the list. You have no money." My eyes shot open with shock.
"What?" Tails pushed me out of the way and stood at the window. "I should have about 60 bucks here. May I take a few dollars out?" Tails was given the money without question and he bought two Hershey's bars, one of which he gave to me.
"It's okay Sonic," Tails assured me, "I'll share with you." I smiled and hugged him tight.
That evening, I came to the dining hall from the archery range on the other side of the camp. As the cabin groups filed in, I got behind Tails and followed only for an arm to block my way.
"Hey! What gives?!" I snapped at the Marshall. He gave me a hard glare and replied, "Sorry kid, but you ain't going in and you ain't the only one." I turned to find eleven other boys I had never seen staring me straight in the face. I growled, frustrated, and went back to my cabin only to be rejected and forced to pack up my things and move to the old run-down cabin at the edge of the residential area. Apparently, the eleven boys I had seen earlier at the dining hall suffered the same fate.
The cabin we were forced to move to was drafty and only wished it was suitable living quarters. There were only three bunk beds lined up against the wall by the swamp cooler that didn't even work. As the evening eased into darkness and midnight creeped upon camp, the guys and I got to know one another by talking in a circle around an oil lit lantern.
Derek is a dark Burnett hedgehog, Cameron is white, Ash is gray, Blaze is red, Ren is gold, Cinos is dark blue, Mako is half black and half white, Scout is light Burnett, Dan is pink, Duke is black, and Brick is dark red. All of us had the same story of how we'd been denied money, dinner, and proper shelter. As one told his story of rejection, we would sit and listen attentively. Soon, the subject of childhood arose. I didn't say a word about my childhood; my past contains too much heartache.
The boys looked at me, waiting for me to tell my story. I took a deep breath. "I was" -- I swallowed hard-- "Sexually molested." The boys stared at me in disbelief. I continued, "I was rented off as a sex slave, and I was neglected. . .I also was starved." We all held hands and closed our eyes. There was a minute of silence before I began speaking a prayer.
"O Lord, Father God, I pray that you help us through this hardship. I pray that Derek, Cameron, Duke, Ash, Blaze, Ren, Cinos, Mako, Dan, Scout, Brick, and I get to go home to our families unharmed and leave this experience in Your hands. I pray that we will stay friends for as long as we live" --my stomach growled-- "and that we get to eat in the morning. Amen." We giggled softly before my last request, but then again, we were all hungry. Mako, Duke, Ren, Ash, Cinos, and Dan crawled into the bunks as I shared the floor in a warm dogpile with Derek, Blaze, Cameron, Scout, and Brick.
