Commotion 2005

Remar, summer, 2005
mini-update

Johan sat down on the grass of Yellow Lake Isle Summer Camp. He tried not to think about the grass stains that would now be on his pants.

"There are no rules, right?" Johan's son, Naraj, asked. Johan groaned. He had explained to the boy over and over again that there would be rules at camp.

"Well, if there were not any rules, do you think camp would be fun?" Si'Enya asked.

"Yea, we could do whatever we want!" Amanda piped up while her twin brother, Abel, nodded. The twins were attending camp to give their parents a much needed break. Bewteen hospital visits and caring for the twins, Rebecca and Julio were getting a bit overwhelmed.

"But what about the other campers? Do you think they would like us doing whatever we wanted?"

"It doesn't matter, we don't know them."

Johan shot his son a warning glance.

"I guess not, but rules suck." Veronika said staring at the formation of the clouds above as her mind's eye created the perfect composition. She didn't want to be here, she rather be painting. However, her parents had insisted so she was here along with her cousin, Laci. Laci was one of the few children who wanted to be there and had begged her parents to let her attend camp.

"Sometimes," Johan chimed in. "But rules are important. It helps us have fun and not get hurt."

"Yea, I guess so, but they still suck."

After the short lecture of camp rules, the children had a few moments to explore the campgrounds.

"Where are the tents?" Myra asked, Abel not too far from his crush.

"Um, there are no tents." Si'Enya explained the obvious.

"What kind of camp is this? Aren't there supposed to be tents?"

"We sleep in cabins at this camp," Si'Enya explained to her young charge.

"That sounds boring."

"Don't worry, we'll do lots of other fun things like hiking and fishing."

"Fishing? I want to catch a bunch of fish!"

"I bet you will."

Si'Enya stepped out the way and watched her young charges play a game of catch. She so desperately wanted to explore the camp and the surrounding area of Yellow Lake Isle. Maybe she could find her spider.

"So there's no video games here?" Naraj asked.

"No, silly." Veronika explained. "Besides, you don't have video games at your house, so why would you want to play with them here at camp?"

Good question, but Naraj didn't have an answer just yet.

*****

Johan watched as the children sleepily climbed into the large van. They were going to the Lumberjack Training Grounds. It was the off season, so the kids couldn't see the lumberjacks train and compete, but at least they would be able to try their hand at some of the sports.

If Johan had done his research he would have realized that perhaps the Lumberjack Training Grounds wasn't the best place to bring children. Most of the sports required the participants to be at least 13 simyears old, for good reasons. Especially the ax-throwing event.

You definately didn't want children to be throwing sharp objects about.

The only thing the children could participate in was the log-rolling competition which only allowed two sims on at a time. That meant that most of the children had to find something else to do. Which isn't always the best idea.

"Fight!!! Fight!!!"

Si'Enya and Johan took off running to the commotion just in time to see the dust clear. Johan took Veronika aside while Si'Enya took Amanda aside.

"What was that all about?" she demanded.

Amanda remained silent, staring at the ground, her ego bruised as well as her knee. Johan came walking sternly to the young girl followed by a sad faced Veronika.

"Si'Enya, perhaps you and I should get the other children their flapjacks now and let these two talk."

Si'Enya nodded and walked the short distance to the flap-jack stand where she could still see the two girls.

Veronika looked at her cousin, her face sad. Amanda just started to bawl, her tiny body racking with her sobs.

It wasn't fair, her little sister was in the hospital and she had to be at stupid camp instead of watching the Llamas opening season and Danny Vito's fast pitch.

"I'm...I'm sorry," Veronika offered. She was sorry and it had very little to do with the stern lecture she received from Mr. Shazad or her mommy on the phone.

"Please forgive me." She pleaded.

Amanda nodded, "ok."

"Friends?"

"Friends."

*****

The little drama behind them, the rest of camp was fairly uneventful. The children went fishing, much to Laci's delight.

"I always wanted to go fishing," she giggled as she baited her hook. "I'm going to catch a big fish for my daddy and mama. Mama isn't my real mommy, my real mommy died when I was a baby, but mama married my daddy and now I have two little sisters. They're still little though, but I like them."

Si'Enya nodded as the little girl rambled on, until her pole tugged.

"You got one, Ms. Si'Enya!" Amanda yelled. "Pull it in! Quick, quick!"

Si'Enya followed the little girl's instruction and quickly reeled in a nice sized fish. "I bet this would taste yummy for dinner, huh?"

Johan nodded from his perch by the pond.

"Eww! You can't eat it!" Veronika screamed. "It's alive."

"We'll have to kill it."

"Don't kill it!" Myra screamed. "Throw it back!"

"Throw it back! Throw it back!" the children chanted.

Si'Enya unhooked the fish and threw it back in the pond with a shrug. Where did they think fish came from?

After that little episode, each child insisted on a photo with their fish before they threw it back into the pond. Since Si'Enya had a camera, she happily obliged. 

"It sparkles!" Laci cried in delight.

"Mine's a bass and it's huge!" Myra squealed.

"I got one too!" Veronika joined.

"Mine's bigger," Naraj bragged. Johan sincerly hoped that this wasn't an indication of his son's teenaged years.

"We got fish too!"

"And they're twins-just like us!"

" 'Cept mine's bigger," Amanda bragged.

"Not bigger than mine!" Naraj yelled from his spot. Johan sighed again. Please don't let this be a sign. He begged.

After a day of fishing, the group enjoyed their last day at camp with a marshmallow roast around the fire.

"This was a lot of fun. I hope I can come back," Laci whispered to Ms. Si'Enya.

"It is a lot of fun."

"Do you think I can be a camp counselor like you?" The girl asked grinning up at the young woman.

"Maybe not next year, but in a few more years, sure."

---

I have no idea why they were fighting. I didn't even know kids could fight. I didn't know who it was until the dust settled. Let's just say that I bet Fiona chewed a new one into Veronika via the phone.

Amanda and Abel caught the rainbow trout at exactly the same time, imagine mirror animations going on at the same time and then seeing the exact same fish. I thought it was too cute.

Laci was the only child who was there that I thought would actually enjoy camp-seeing that she's a nature person. The Wilsonoff twins came because of their parents, the Shazad twins came because daddy was leading camp and since Laci wanted to go, cousin Veronika was signed up as well.

So, help me out. What do you think Veronika and Amanda were fighting about?