Mine by Brett Battles

herself by taking a breath, and then said, “We should go back.”
    “We’re almost there.”
    “Please. I have things I need to do.”
    “We won’t stay long. I promise.”
    She wanted to argue, but worried that if she made too much of a fuss, it would cause them to ask questions she didn’t want to answer. So she settled silently back in her seat.
    A few minutes later, she spotted the camp turnoff. The sign had been painted over in dark brown, but a few of the words were still legible— RED and TURN and HAPPY . She hoped Terry would drive past it, but he slowed the truck in plenty of time and angled onto the entrance road.
    It’ll be over soon enough , Leah told herself. Nothing’s going to happen. It’ll be fine.
    The road to the camp was rougher than she remembered, and much of it now appeared to be covered with wild grass and pine needles. She closed her eyes and hoped like she’d never hoped before that a tree had fallen across the way and would force them to turn back. No such luck. Even a chain that had once been strung across the road before the parking area had been cut and was now lying in the dirt.
    Camp Red Hawk shared a similar layout to Camp Cedar Woods’. But whereas Cedar Woods looked clean and bright and inviting, the harsh winters had exacted their toll on Red Hawk. Large patches of shingles were missing from all the buildings, and a whole section of the dining hall’s siding had caved in.
    Terry parked at the midpoint between the administration building and the dining hall, near the start of the now overgrown pathway to the rest of the camp.
    “Oh, wow. This is cool,” Juko said as he and Terry hopped out of the cab.
    Temporarily alone, Todd whispered, “I’m sorry. I should have told you, but I thought you wouldn’t come if I did.”
    He was right about that, but she said nothing.
    “I, um, I just wanted to spend a little time with you.”
    Whatever warm and fuzzy feelings she may have had for him were gone. Afraid her anger might cause her to actually hurt him, she opened the door and climbed out, leaving Todd inside alone.
    Terry and Juko had wandered over to the admin building and were peering into one of the broken windows. Juko stuck his head through the opening and then pulled back out.
    “I’m too big,” he said.
    Terry shouted toward the truck, “Todd, get over here!”
    Leah heard the door open behind her and Todd climb out.
    “What?” he said.
    “I need you. Come here.”
    As Todd jogged over, Terry smiled at Leah. “Bring back memories?”
    “A few,” she said, her arms crossed.
    If he noticed her foul mood, he gave no indication as he threw out his arms and shouted, “This place is awesome!”
    Todd, with a little help from the other two, climbed through the broken window and vanished inside. While Terry and Juko leaned close to the opening so they could see better, Leah wandered toward the dining hall.
    Little things began coming back to her—walking to lunch with her cabin mates, spending an hour one afternoon on kitchen duty, eating breakfast and listening to the director read the day’s schedule. Pleasant memories that surprised her. She’d forgotten she had fun here. She’d made friends, too. Trudy and Gwen and…and Randi and Sue.
    And…
    … John ?
    No, that wasn’t it, but close.
    She meandered over to the path and down to the campfire pit. Here was the big difference between the two camps. Red Hawk’s fire pit was surrounded by a small rise that had once been tiered with log benches, though now much of the seating was missing. The campfire area at Cedar Woods was flat.
    Leah sat down on one of few remaining logs near the pit and looked down toward the lake that served the camp. Fun times had been had there, too. Canoe races and swim parties and—
    “If anyone can make a bigger cannonball splash than me, I’ll buy ’em a Snickers bar,” the counselor, Brian, had announced. He was a big guy, easily over two hundred pounds, and had a hearty