“The day dawned like most any other, but the end had already begun. The campers and staff of Camp Starfall were like most any other summer camp: excited for the day to come yet always aware of time slipping through their fingers. There was never enough time to do everything a camper wished. Too many were the options, too short the stay.

Time is a funny thing. While having fun and staying busy, time flashes by in the blink of an eye. When bored, time slows to a crawl.

Camp Starfall soon would learn, however, that when your life is on the line…

Time stops altogether.”

“You do realize you have to have this ready by tonight, don’t you? You’re running out of time, Jay.” Jeremy Hawkins wiped his brow, squinting as he checked over the lashings, Mike hovering over his shoulder.

“Mike, if you’re so worried about finishing on time, why don’t you do something useful and help out? We could always use the extra hands.” Jeremy replied, picking up the coil of rope at his feet. Mike shook his head.

“I’m already late for a meeting with Chris, I’m just checking up to make sure the campfire will be ready. You know how big a deal this is, he wants to make sure everything is set.”

“Yeah, well just talking about it isn’t going to get this gateway built any faster- Hey, Gavin! Knock it off and get back to work!” The young man in question rolled his eyes, throwing the stick he had been brandishing like a sword into the firewood pile and stalking off to rejoin the other boys. Jeremy sighed, turning to face the Program Director head on. “Mike, have I ever let you down? Let Chris know everything will be ready on time.”

“All right, Jay. I’m trusting you-”

“Jay, can you come check this, I’m not sure I did it right.” Jeremy turned to look at a heavyset boy in a red shirt standing next to an upright pole, a tree limb hanging loosely from the rope ties he had just put on.

“Be right there Harry. Got to go, Mike. See you later!” Jeremy turned, hopping over several limbs in a pile on the ground.

“The campfire starts at 8:00 PM sharp, Jay!”

“I know! We’ll be ready!” Jeremy waved Mike away, then turned towards Harry. “I see where you went wrong, you forgot to do the frapping turns to tighten it, which is why it fell apart. Here, try this.” Jeremy quickly undid the loose rope, motioning for Harry to hold the limb in place as he re-did the lashing, pointing out to the teenager where he had messed up.

“And with that...See? Now you try on the other end.” Harry nodded, taking a length of rope to the other end of the limb. Jeremy watched him for a moment, then turned to look at the other campers.

Preparations for the annual Starfall Campfire continued all around him. Campers from several cabin sites were working together to finish the last pieces of the set-up. The gateway into the amphitheater was almost complete, and within a few hours, the bonfire would also be ready. If the preparations around the rest of the camp were going as well, it wouldn’t be too long before everything would be ready. At least he’d have the afternoon to take a bit of a break before the festivities began after dinner, which promised to last most of the evening till the campers were required to return to their cabins for the night. Jeremy was sure that, despite invitations from other staff members, he’d end up collapsing into bed that night instead of taking part in the afterparties.

It was a warm, sunny day on the banks of Lake Horicon. A light breeze whispered through the trees, mixed with the chirping of birds and buzzing of insects. The sharp scent of maple and pine sap arose from the fresh wood chips a group of campers were spreading on the packed dirt pathways.

Jeremy let himself breathe it in for a moment, wiping away the beads of sweat accumulating on his forehead. It was the little moments like these, in between the constant leadership meetings and trivialities of work, that Jeremy reminded himself why he decided to work at the youth leadership camp in the first place. It was a huge change of pace from life in New York City, and getting away from the city for the summer in the Adirondack mountains has quickly become the highlight of the year for the past few years.

This year was different though. The added responsibilities of being the Team Leader for the Wilderness Survival staff ate up his time, something he was acutely aware of. His years at Camp Starfall were coming to an end as he was heading into his final year of his Master’s Degree, and although his chosen field was inspired by his five years working at the summer camp, knowing he would likely not be back again put him in a melancholy mood. The thought of not coming back to where he had so many fond memories of working alongside friends, discovering his passion for outdoor education, and met his fiance…

Jeremy shook himself out of his thoughts for the fifth time that week alone. Spiraling down that rabbit hole wouldn’t accomplish anything, and would just ruin what precious little time he had left. It was already the fifth week of the summer, and with just three weeks left in the season, every moment counted.

Jeremy looked over the preparations taking form in the amphitheater. His Wilderness Survival team was supervising the various groups of campers buzzing around getting the area ready. A large contingent of campers from the Pegaus and Leo cabins were searching the forest for firewood with Louis, the boys and girls appearing sporadically to dump off their armfuls of firewood before disappearing back into the trees. Jennifer was supervising the girls from the Orion cabins as they raked and shoveled the new wood chips along the pathways, as Dennis and the boys from Gemini brought them in wheelbarrows from the parking lot. The gateway was taking shape as the boys from the Virgo cabins were lashing the various limbs they had found in the forest together. Once the bases were finished, it would be up to Nathan to take over and instruct them on how to raise the crossbar and the sign that would hang from it, welcoming the campers into the amphitheater for the annual Starfall Campfire. As always, sprucing up the amphitheater seemed to be left to the last minute, but with over half of the campers working on it, progress was coming along quickly in the few hours they had left. The pathways and gateway would probably be finished before lunch, and it wouldn’t take too long for the bonfire to be put together afterwards.

Jeremy understood Mike’s anxiety over the preparations. Despite plenty of planning in advance, it always came down to how well the campers were willing to follow instructions and do the manual labor required to get everything ready. The added significance of it being the centennial celebration of the foundation of the camp was lost on no one, and tensions had been high for the weeks leading up to this day in order to ensure that everything went well.

“Jay! I think I got it!” Jeremy’s attention drew back to Harry, looking up at him with a nervous smile on his face. Jeremy looked at the lashing Harry had completed, giving it a quick tug.

“Perfect! Great job, buddy!” Jeremy gave the boy a high-five, an excited grin breaking out on his chubby face. “All right, who’s next? Jake? How about you do the next one? I know you’ve been working with Nathan on your lashings.” Jeremy waved over one of the other boys, who broke off from the small huddle around Nathan as Harry took his place.

“Nathan was just getting to the good part. I’m gonna miss getting to use the saw.” Jake grumbled.

“Jake, you’ve gotten to use the saw before. Besides, I know you’ve been looking forward to helping with this.” Jeremy gestured at the half-completed stand. Jake rolled his eyes, immediately crouching down and grabbing the bale of twine on the ground. He moved swiftly, coiling a long length around his hand and elbow before flicking out a pocket knife and cutting it. “Diagonal lashing, right?”

“You got it.” Jeremy and Jake hoisted the half-complete tower off the ground, spreading out the legs. Jeremy grabbed a new pole off the pile, holding it against one of the legs. Jake immediately got to work, his hands deftly tying a clove hitch around the leg before beginning to wrap the twine around both poles.

“Is the Poker Club meeting tonight after the campfire?” Jake asked after a few quiet moments.

“Not tonight, the campfire goes for about two hours, so it’ll be back to the cabins afterwards. You’ll just have to wait till tomorrow night to lose all your chips to me again.”

“Last night was a fluke. And I’m pretty sure that Morgan is a card shark, there’s no way she could have won every single hand she dealt.”

“No accusing other players of cheating, unless you can prove it. Besides, far as I know, Morgan only learned how to play this year. She wasn’t in on the staff poker nights last year.”

“Doesn’t mean she couldn’t have learned it since last year.” Jake grunted, pulling the lashing tight as he began frapping. The twine creaked around the poles as it was bound tighter around the wraps.

“True. But staff don’t cheat in the Poker Club, not against the campers. We save that for staff poker night.” Jake looked at him, eyebrows raised.

“So you admit, you do cheat.” Jeremy grinned at him.

“It’s a game within a game among the staff. If we can catch each other cheating, and prove it, whoever cheats loses the round. High-risk, high-reward. But don’t go thinking you can try that in the Poker Club. All the staff have learned what to look for, so if you pull anything, we’ll know and shut it down. Poker Club is there for a good time, not to get campers riled up at each other over cards.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it. Too bad there’s no game systems allowed, or I’d show you how good I am in Halo.”

Jeremy laughed. “What, you want to fight me in PVP?”

“I’m the best at my entire school, you wouldn’t be able to touch me.” Jake smirked.

“How long have you been playing then? You must be pretty good at it.”

“I got Halo 4 when I was twelve, and I’ve been playing ever since.” Jeremy laughed again, and Jake frowned. “What’s so funny?”

“You’ve got a long way to come. I’ve been playing Halo since the original came out. I’ve got an extra ten years experience on you.” Jake’s jaw dropped, his eyes wide.

“You play Halo? But you’re, like…You’re always outdoors and stuff!”

“I wasn’t always, I was just a kid like you once. And don’t worry, if we ever did play a round, I’d go easy on you.” Jeremy teased. Jake smiled predatorily.

“You’d regret it.” Jeremy laughed.

“Hey Jeremy! You got a second?” Jeremy turned, the smile on his face dropping for a second as he looked across the amphitheater. Chris Coldwell, the Camp Director, stood at the entrance, but that wasn’t what made Jeremy hesitate. The slight frown on the man’s face was, and the fact that he hadn’t called on the staff radios.

“Sure thing, be right there. You got this, Jake? Finish up and head back to Nathan, all right?”

“You got it, I’ll be done in a minute. Are you in trouble?” Jake asked, his voice low.

“Nah, he’s probably just seeing how things are going. I’ll be back in a minute.” Jake nodded, his attention back on the lashing. Jeremy stepped away, heading across the clearing to where Chris stood.

“What’s wrong, boss? I don’t think I’ve seen you frowning since last year when Connor caught those kids messing around behind the Archery Range.” Jeremy asked. Chris turned, looking out towards the lake. Jeremy came alongside him, subtly positioning the two of them to be facing away from the campers working behind them.

“I’ve been informed of another incident that happened this morning. A rattlesnake nearly bit one of the girls in Draco, cabin A when she went back to grab something after breakfast.” Jeremy frowned, his eyes tight on Chris.

“The camper’s all right, though?”

“She’s shaken, but fine. Here’s the thing though, it was inside the cabin.” Jeremy’s brow furrowed, staring hard as his mind raced.

“Inside the cabin? We haven’t had rattlesnakes on property for years, especially that far into camp, let alone inside a building. How did it get in there? Those cabins are some of the newer ones, I have a hard time believing it found its way in by itself.” Chris nodded.

“That’s my thought as well. We’ve got maintenance checking the entire cabin, just in case. Maybe there’s a piece of siding loose, or part of the floor… We’re talking to each of the other girls in that cabin as well, hopefully they may be able to tell us if they know how it might have gotten in. One of them might have left the door open or something. In any case, we’re keeping it on the down low as much as possible, but I’m sure word will get around the camp sooner or later.”

“Anything you want me to do?” Jeremy asked, his hand subconsciously running through his short, dark hair.

“Tell your team members to keep an eye out while you’re on your programs. This seems to be an isolated incident, but if rattlesnakes are coming back into the area, your team and the Nature staff will likely be the first to run into them. We’re ordering an extra shipment of antivenom beyond our usual few doses just in case.”

Jeremy was silent, digesting the information.

“Strange things happening this year. I don’t think I’ve been called around campus quite so often in the last decade. Still, it gets me out and about, which I should be thankful for. I’ve spent entirely too much time cooped up in that office.” Chris groaned, his posture loosening as he turned back towards the amphitheater. The frown disappeared from his face as he looked around at the busy campers, a wry-half grin that more suited his face taking its place.

“You should join us on one of our orienteering treks, that’ll keep you out of the office for a while.” Jeremy joked. Chris laughed.

“More like all day, it’s a good thing you had the kids pack lunches that day or you might have had to carry some of them back.”

“It was a good learning exercise, they gotta learn to check each other’s work and not just assume whoever’s leading is correct. An extra few miles is something they won’t soon forget.”

“Isn’t that the truth. Well, looks like you’ve got things well in hand here. I’m looking forward to the campfire tonight. I’ve heard rumors that the Boathouse and Waterfront staff have teamed up again for something really interesting to show off.” A sly grin overtook Chris’s face as Jeremy laughed.

“Don’t they always? I’ve heard the same about the Craft Shop.” Chris shook his head, an exasperated sigh passing his lips.

“Always have to try to outdo the other, don’t they. Well it’s sure to entertain the kids at least. Hopefully they learned their lesson from last year and won’t have to spend all of tomorrow cleaning up.”

“Water balloon pieces everywhere.” Jeremy shivered.

“Well, nothing but the best tonight for the centennial. All the other events this week have gone well, so I’d say it was a big success already.”

“We’ll make sure we cap off the festivities right, Chris. You can count on us for that.” Chris clapped Jeremy on the shoulder.

“The comet is supposed to be pretty bright tonight, if you see him, you might want to warn your brother to be on the lookout for any stragglers that may try to stay up past lights out. Keep up the good work, Jeremy. I’m off to see how the Dining Hall is doing and to let Bobby know about the snake. I’ll see you later.”

“Later!” Jeremy watched as the Camp Director walked out of the amphitheater, his mind racing.

A rattlesnake, inside a cabin? If he didn’t know any better, Jeremy might have suspected someone put it there on purpose. Except that each cabin was keyed only to staff and the current cabin occupants, so unless it had somehow snuck in without anyone noticing, one of the girls living there had to have brought it inside. A prank gone wrong, possibly? He didn’t want to think that any of the campers could be so mean-spirited and willing to subject someone else to harm, but sometimes teenagers didn’t think through the consequences of their actions.

Jeremy looked around at the campers bustling around the amphitheater, shaking his head. There wasn’t any use getting worked up over what-if scenarios. Chris and the upper admin would get to the bottom of it, just as they had every other incident over the years so far.

Still, Chris’s comment about the frequency of strange incidents just this past week had the hair on the back of his neck standing up. Something was going on-

“Jeremy! We’re ready for the sign!” Nathan called from the entrance, pulling Jeremy out of his thoughts. Shaking his head again, Jeremy sighed to himself. As Yasmina would say, stop going down rabbit-holes, and focus on the present.

“Coming!”