Newcomers: Arrival

The woman at the microphone introduced herself as Tania, the Camp Leader. She was in charge. All of the counselors sat on the stage behind her in a long row that made me think of the first Harry Potter movie when the students were sorted into houses. I myself would soon, it seemed, experience some magic. Tania went over the rules, also on goldenrod paper in our folder, our general schedules, also on baby blue paper, the bi-weekly field trips on mint green paper, and all emergency procedures on hot pink paper. I hadn't seen so much paper since kindergarten. Then she said, "I know most of you have seen your cabin assignments. If you haven't, pull out your teal-colored paper and find your name." She gave us a minute because apparently some kids hadn't gotten to that yet, which was a complete mystery to me, then continued, "You'll see that we have 20 cabins total. There are 220 of you, and you are divided among our 15 student cabins, all named for famous writers. We have Shakespeare, Rowling, Twain, Poe, Bronte, Angelou, Steinbeck, Wordsworth, Verne, Austen, Joyce, Hemingway, Lee, Frank, and Shelley. The remaining 5 cabins are for all camp staff and groundskeepers. As your parents have been assured, we are all trained in first aid and CPR should the unlikely need arise for it, and there is a firehouse 5 miles down the road with fully trained EMTs, firetrucks, and ambulances. We want you to have fun, learn, and be safe, but we are prepared for anything, so don't worry. You've already been told about our limited access to internet and cell phone tower signals. This is intentional on our part. Our job this summer is to support and improve the natural writer in you using mostly your brain and pencils and paper. Without the basic skills, even all the access in the world won't help you be the writers you want to be, so there will be no browsers, no notes apps, no spellcheck, etc." Feeling important and older after that, I sat up and reached in my backpack for my newest, this time yellow chevron striped, journal, and I almost missed what she said, so casually, next. "As you are all aware, our world has changed in marvelous and mysterious ways over the last year or so. We learned, first, that we indeed are not alone here in our universe; then we learned that extraterrestrials from another planet needed safe harbor here on Earth because their planet was dying. We've all been pleased and yes, very relieved, to learn they are not so different from us. The leaders of our world would not have welcomed them without round-the-clock research resulting in the knowledge that they were who they said they were, they really didn't mean us any harm, and that they could, in fact, help us as much as we could help them. You, campers of this year's Young Writer's Camp, are uniquely situated to benefit much more from this new relationship with the Newcomers than you realize. Each of your parents was contacted and gave their blessings before it became so, and we are absolutely thrilled to tell you now that among you at camp this summer will be 30 Newcomer adolescents the same ages as you." At that, the room started buzzing and scraping as everyone drew in shocked breaths, began whispering, and moved around in their chairs to look around the room. I couldn't BELIEVE it! They were here! My parents must have KNOWN. Tania gave us a minute because, Lord knew we needed at least one. Then she demanded our attention again, "Ok, ok, listen up. LISTEN UP, PEOPLE!" We quieted, mostly, falling into a stunned silence. "I know this is beyond exciting, maybe even a little scary, for all of you, Earthlings and Newcomers alike. There are a few things I want you to know. First, rules apply equally to everyone. These Newcomers are much like new students from other states or countries who arrive in your schools. They won't know everything you know; they will need your help. We expect you to be kind, gracious helpers. Imagine, if you even can, if you had had to move to Eliyso instead of them moving here. It would be sad, scary, exciting, and so very overwhelming. That's exactly how they feel. There will be 2 Newcomers assigned to each cabin. There are also 5 Newcomer adults, teachers on their home planet, who are here for their support if they need it. They are in the cabins with the rest of the staff. Tonight, at Bonfire, you will be introduced to everyone. Of course, you will meet your cabinmates in just a few minutes when you head there to unpack." "Before we go, let's remember why we are all here. We want to be better writers. This is true for Earth-born campers and Newcomer campers alike. Across the country right now, Newcomer youngsters are at all kinds of camps: sports camps, dance camps, church camps, science camps, and on and on it goes, because their interests are very similar to yours. As THIS is Young Writer's Camp, when you are unpacked, I want you to write at least a page in your journal, given to you at check-in, about your experiences arriving here today. Write what you saw, heard, thought, and felt in any format you choose. Bring it with you to Bonfire tonight. As we are opening our month together, let us part with the opening words to the novel, The catcher in the rye, as an incentive to get to know one another, 'If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all that..' Let's go get to know each other, writers!"