Firefly (Old old story stuff)

In the dead dark, at 4:56 in the morning, the residence of Hilltop were awoken by the call of the native wildlife echoing through the valley.
“I SAID DON'T THROW THE CRAWDADS!”
In Hawk cabin, an awoken Seren groaned. “The nature people are awake.”
Firefly rolled over and covered her head with her pillow. “Someone yell at them.”
In the distance, another call answered. “GO BACK TO SLEEP YOU VAMPIRES!”
“Ha! Someone beat us to it.”
“Should we go check on them”
“Nah…”
And that is how the first day of fall started at camp.

The first day of fall officially started three hours later, when the first breakfast bell summoned them.  The other cabins started their morning routine. For most, it started with the counselors. They would rise -one way or another- and with all the energy they could muster, they would get dressed and manage to herd a whole cabin of campers down to the dining hall. How they did it was beyond Firefly.

Formally, the campers were to get up, get dressed, brush their teeth, brush their hair, make their bed, and run to the dinning hall. In truth though, no one had the optimism to tackle such a list at seven in the morning, and no one cared what head staff thought of their appearance. So the real morning routine was to get up, make yourself as presentable as you cared to be, and shamble down to the food.

The dinning hall was a massive covered bridge, half of such was screened in, and the other half open. The outdoor half was a bit like a porch. It had two bathrooms, a few rocking chairs, and most importantly, the mail.
The indoor side was the dinning hall itself. It contained the kitchens, the coffee, and enough tables to make cleaning alone a punishment. A bell hung from a tree just outside the door on the far side of the dinning room, and it could be heard for miles when sounded. I was always wrong three times: Ring 1 meant the staff were cooking, ring 2 meant it was time to gather, and ring 3 meant come get food- or that you were late.

Over three hundred campers filled the bridge until there was standing room only, and then the picnic table outside, and then the water front. They meandered around and chatted with friends from other cabins, all waiting for the last bell to wring again.
The group was a frightful sight to anyone concerned with looks. Hair was tangled,  flattened, matted, and standing up in all detections. Most campers were only half dressed, still wearing pajama pants or yesterday's shirt. Very few campers were wearing shoes, and one was walking around in two different colored socks.
The worst part was the multicolored powder smeared all over everyone.
Last night's evening program had been the color run,. It had ended early due to thunder, witch gave the whole camp extra flashlight time, but also no showers.

Morning was different for Hawk cabin.
Elfin was the only two story cabin, and it sat all alone at the very top of the old hill. It had AC, a fan, a tv, a microwave, and real windows. This was the privileged cabin of the special activity counselors. Firefly and her co's were toggled off cabin duty and on activity duty.

For them, morning started at the second breakfast bell. there were no campers to rouse, and they didn't need to be at their activites for another two hours.
Firefly sat up in her hamock and stretched. “Mornin.” She mumbled.
Her bunk mate stirred over her head and a few of her pictures fell off the wall again. Fig watched them fall, then threw herself back down, making the metal mesh under her mattress screech. "Not yet."
"Fair enough." Firefly slowly stood and grabbed a hoodie, shedding sparkles everywhere. She covered her day old shirt with it and made her way to the porch. Swinging the screen door wide, she stopped and looked back at her sleeping cabin mates.

Firefly parted her beak in a big ole bird grin. “It's Friday ya know? The new coffee filters and creamer are in today."
She threw her head back and laughed as counselors exploded out if their beds, then turned and took off.

Running from Hawk to the dinning hall was like running down a cliff.
The massive steps that connected them were made from blocks of granite. They had been placed on the hill to make a huge natural stair case that was just as dangerous as it was old. Firefly leaped down from one step to the next, gaining momentum with each leap. She was falling as much as she was running, and she loved it. As she reached ground level her pads hit the gravel on the only road in camp. She barreled past nurse on his way to the infirmary as she crossed the road.
"Pardon me!"
“Slow down!“
Firefly sped up.

The last set of steps were the hardest. They got smaller and close together, and there was always a bit of gravel on them. She could have slowed down and taken each step, but who has time for that? Firefly jumped from the top and vaulted over the stair case, wings spread and tail waving to keep her balance. She landed perfectly on the gravel at the water front and went strolling into the crowed as if no one had seen her.
 
As she made her way through the crowd, she heard he other running down the steps and smiled again.
Someone tugged on Firefly's sleeve. “Early bird!”
She turned and held out a hand out a hand for a high five. A very small flaplet ran up and smacked it.
“Leo!”, Firefly said in her counselor voice, “ how are you this morning? Are you ready for tribe day?”
Leo, who was a very small eastern wyrm and the cutest thing Firefly had ever seen, bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. “Ready as EVER! I’m on the volleyball team!”
“Awesome! Well good luck!”

As if on cue, the third breakfast bell wrong. Her eyes got wide with excitement, “Run Early bird!”
Firefly turned and ran into the dinning hall along with the first wave of campers. She wove through tables all the way to the counter and snatched up the pumpkin spice creamer.
She calmly sat down at her table and started mixing her coffee. Beside her, a chair slid away from the table and creaked as if a ghost had pulled it out and sat down.
Firefly helped out the creamer. “I got the pumpkin stuff.”
The air next to her took it. “Yasss…” It groaned.
Firefly snorted. “You sound like a zombie.”
“Do I look like one?”
“I can't tell.”
“Oh. Shoot.” The air seemed to tear its self apart and Blink appeared, stirring her coffee and pouring way to much sugar in it.
Firefly laughed, “how did you not know you were invisible?”
Blink shook her head. “Its too early in the morning for me to care.”
Gator sat down on the other side with a bowl of dry Fruit Loops and flicked a piece at her. “Hey! What’s with starting the race at freaking seven? Huh?”
Blink held up the creamer. “Pumpkin.”
“What?”
Firefly grinned. “Pumpkin literally EVERYTHING!”
“I already put vanilla caramel in my coffee! Do you think head staff will let me make more?”
“They might. Go beseech them.”
“The heck does beseech mean?”
“It's a fancy way to say begging.”
“Oh. Well, I guess I’m going to go fancy beg the head staff then.” Gator stood up with her inadequate coffee. “Bye.”
As she got up another CIT slid into her chair.
“You chair thief!”
Critter laughed. “You scooch it you loose it!”
“My cereal is sitting there!”
Firefly nodded. “It’s true, I think technically she marked her territory with the fruitloops.”