So we were left in the camp. 3 Boys and me. I didn't say goodbye to mom as she didn't care about me anymore, I didn't care enough to say goodbye to her and giving her a hug would be wrong. I was mad at her. Did she not check this camp? Did she think we were an ordinary summer camp? Did she not care that I looked like I was messed up? The answer was a clear no!
The general called us to inspection. He told us we look so sad because we were still at the best camp in the country. He told us a hike would cheer us up. This must have been one of his worse jokes yet. Was hiking the only thing he knew how to do?
I was in a grumpy mood and did not want to go on a hike. So I fell to the ground pretended that I fainted once again. Noah knelt down and started helping me by giving me water and telling me it will be OK.
General shouted and was the maddest I ever have seen him. He asked himself why it was always me. I admitted that I was faking about being sick and that was because going on a hike 3 times a day was boring.
He grabbed me by my hand and took me to the administration building. He led me to a little door under the stairs. There was a cage inside that. I was told to sit in the cage. He then closed the cage. As he was closing the cage, I told him he would never break me down. He just growled at me as he locked the cage and the door.
I was in this small cage and it was dark. There was not a lot of room to move around. In fact, the only thing I could do was to sit. I couldn't stretch my legs or anything. I could just sit here and hope this would not be a long punishment. I was so afraid of the dark. I never liked the dark. Even at home, I slept with a light on. So my mind was full of thoughts and fears. If something attacked me from the dark, I could not run.
Noah came and opened the door. He was shocked that I was in a cage. He gave me a bowl of lunch they had that day. This made me realize that I must have been in the cage for hours. I begged Noah to rescue me. He told me to be strong and think of good things.
The door closed and I was in the dark again. I heard the general shouting. It was obvious that he caught Noah coming to give me some food. I listened to the shouting for a while, until everything became quiet.
Silence is bad, as it means that you are alone and something dangerous can happen. I had so many pains in my body as I could not move. I really needed to stretch my legs and lay down after. I needed to run and jump. I needed to do anything than sitting here. The worse thing happened when I realized that I wet myself! I didn't have an accident like this since I was 5 years old.
Wetting myself was the final draw. I started screaming and yelling. I used every forbidden word in the English language. I cursed everyone and told them how much I hated them. I must have been screaming and shouting and hitting the bars as my voice got hoarse. Then I started crying and swaying back and forth. I was feeling sorry for myself. I suppose I had a right to, as no 12-year-old girl deserved to be locked in a cage.
At last, the general opened the door. He smiled and said that I was here for 1½ hours longer than I should have been. He helped me out and noticed that my eyes were red from tears and I was shaking. I could hardly stand up as my legs were so bad. They suddenly went to sleep, and I hate the feeling when a leg goes to sleep. He told me to lean on him until I could stand.
"You do know that I do not like punishing you?" he said, "The problem is that you push my limits and refuse to accept that you are a bad apple that needs fixing."
I didn't say a word. I was still in a bad place as my mind and body were like it was spaghetti. I felt like I was on the verge of going crazy.
Then the general noticed that I wet myself. Then he started asking why I could not wait. He lifted me up and took me to the infirmary where there was a nurse. Everything was so strange after the cage. I found it hard to move my hands and legs and they were shaking. When someone spoke, then it was like it echoed as every word just repeated itself. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing would come out.
I heard the nurse ask how could I go to the toilet when I was in a cage. Then I heard words such as rules... hike... stay... brat. The general went and the nurse undressed me and did something. I fell asleep on the examination table.
When I woke up, I was on a bed. The nurse was beside me waiting for me to wake up. She asked if I felt better. I nodded. Then she told me the others were on a hike, but I was in no condition to go on any hike. My body was in shock after the bad experience in the cage, so she told the general that I was not to go,
I said I wanted to speak with Noah.
The nurse was about to answer when I noticed that I had diapers on. I demanded that she take them off, as I was no baby. The nurse explained that it was a rule that if anyone wet themselves, then they wear diapers for the rest of the camp. This was so humiliating and so downgrading.
I walked out of the infirmary and looked for Noah. I couldn't find him anywhere. They were back from the hike, as I could see the other two. When I asked them if they saw Noah, the only answer I got was them asking me if I was wearing a diaper. This was of course not what I asked.
The whistle was blown and the inspector wanted to speak with us. He told us that Noah had run away from the camp. This saddened me, as Noah promised that he would support me while I was at this camp. Now he decided to run away, and this was without me. I wanted to fall to the ground. This was now the worse thing that could happen to me.
General Cody said that he was worried. He explained that there are many dangerous animals around. This was one reason why there was a fence around the camp. We would just have to pray that he was safe.
One of the boys looked at me and said that I needed to remember a diaper changing bag if I tried to run away. He was breaking a rule by speaking during the inspection. Why did the general not get mad at him? In fact, the general just stood there laughing. I looked at the boy and whispered the acne on his face would scare any wild animal out there. This was obviously the boy was something he did not want to hear. The general yelled at us telling me to keep my comments to myself or I would be visiting the cage again.
We were told that we could do chores, so I went back to the garden. I planted some seeds that would one day be vegetables. Maybe we could eat them one day and not the tinned food that the camp had. I quickly got lost in the gardening and forgot everything else. It was like the garden was a paradise in hell. I did not have to think about mom or being at this camp. The General wanted to break me down and mold me into a girl that mom wanted. This was not to happen.
If I looked at the positive side of being in the camp, it was that Harry showed me gardening could be fun and something I liked to do. It didn't matter if I was dirty or if I did not look like a top model. I was helping plants and vegetables to grow. Whenever I was allowed out of this hole, I knew that gardening would be a new hobby.
The general suddenly appeared. What did I expect? It seems like every time I smiled, he showed up just to make me suffer. He asked me what my friends would say if they knew I was wearing a diaper. I didn't answer him. It wouldn't be a problem because as soon as I left this camp, I would be wearing panties again. The General must have known what I was thinking as he warned me to be careful. He said wearing diapers meant the bladder became weaker, and at one stage I would need them.
He asked me if the diaper was wet. I was so ashamed when I realized that it was. I was sent to the nurse's office to get it changed. She said that my punishment to the cage really had an effect on my mind and body and this was the reason why I wet the diaper and did not realize it.
When I came back to the garden, I was not as happy as I was earlier. I felt my body shake as I wondered if I would be wearing diapers for the rest of my life. I was ashamed as I realized that I wet the diapers without even knowing, and had to go to the nurse.
I suddenly started thinking about Noah. I really missed him. Why did he have to run away? He was the one person that supported me in the camp. Don't misunderstand me, I did not fancy him or consider him a boyfriend. Noah was just a true friend. Now he was gone, it was like a hole in my heart. I kept asking myself if I would ever see him again. What would happen if the General caught him? I ended up by saying a short prayer for him.
Harry came and found me and told me to sit beside him.
"We have to talk," he said, "I know that you miss Noah. I also know that you have received more punishments than any other person I know. You are not a bad girl. Do not listen to anyone who says you are. You do not deserve to be here."
" Tell mom that!"
" You must work to get out of her. The alternative is not good! Get the 60 points and go home!"
" I miss Noah!"
" The truth will be found out about Noah. He did not listen and now has to face the alternative - "
Just as I was about to ask what he meant, the general stood behind us and started yelling at Harry. He told Harry that he was too soft and had no right to tell me what happened with Noah. Harry tried to defend himself, but it was no use. The general told Harry to pack his things as he was fired!
Now I lost my best friend and the only staff member that cared about me.
The general blamed me for Harry being fired. He told me to fill a bucket with dirt from the garden. He wanted me to carry this bucket everywhere I went. I could not believe it. It seems like the general could write a book on the most unfair punishments. The general told me that I will always have my "beloved" garden with me.
Lifting that bucket was torture as it felt like my hands continued to grow longer. My muscles and my back hurt. Several times I fell down on the ground. I suppose the good thing was that we did not go on any hike.
I honestly do not know what was worse, carrying the bucket or feeling I was so alone. The boys teased me every time they saw me. They asked if I missed my boyfriend was I still too much of a baby to have a boyfriend. Then they teased me about the diaper. I was so humiliated that I just wanted the world to swallow me up. One thing was the punishments that my body received, but words hurt just as much. This was especially because the two boys were just as many victims in this hell camp than I was.
Night came and I was happy I did not have to carry that stupid bucket anymore. I was in my small tent peeking out to see if I could see the stars.
Suddenly someone took my hand and forced me out of the tent. It was the two boys. I was thrown from one to another like they were playing volleyball. I begged them to stop, but they blamed me for the general always being mad. They were going to teach me a lesson. So they started slapping me. I was crying and shouting for help. They continued to slap me, and the slaps became harder. They were now punching me all over. I begged for them to stop and promised I would not make the general mad.
They told me they would break me. The pain was too much and I collapsed to the ground. I was crying and begging and could hardly breathe because of the pain. They told me that they were not done. They started kicking me in the stomach. I was sure that I would die! They didn't seem to care, they continued kicking.
I closed my eyes and heard someone say that I had enough.
Everything went black.
I woke up and felt the pain all over. The nurse was taking care of me. She smiled and told me that my body was in a mess. The boys broke my ribs, and my bladder and kidney got quite a beating. I did not have the energy to say anything.
General Cody was there and was told I would be in bed for a few days. My rib would heal, and so would my kidney. She was unsure about my bladder.
The general looked down at me and said, "You sow what you reap. Looks like you will be wearing diapers for a while. Remember that you are to tell no one about this. As far as I know, you picked on the boys and ended in a fight."
"That is not true. They did this and you let them"
"If you tell anyone that, there will be consequences!"
I was in sickbay for the rest of the week. The nurse was nice, but I still did not like her. After all, she allowed these punishments. She may not have punished anyone, but she turned a blind eye to it and patched people up.
The day came when mom would come. I was out of bed but decided not to see her. I hid under the tree in my garden. I did not want to hear her brag about how good her week was. I did not want her to see that I had a diaper on and I had pains all over. She would just blame me. Besides this, I was sure that the general wanted me to stay here. I decided to wait here until the parents went again.
Time went by and Mom found me. She sat down next to me and told me that she heard I had a bad week. She heard I had a fight with some boys and ended up with a broken rib and a damaged bladder. She told me the diaper would only be temporary.
Then she took my hand and said let's go home. I looked at her in a puzzled way. She simply smiled and said that I was above 60 points and was now allowed to go home.
When we were in the car, she told me things would be different now. She asked me did I still hate her?
I said nothing but looked out the window. The nurse was consoling Noah's mom. She was most likely told that they could not find Noah.
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