Camp Average: Away Games

Camp Average: Away Games — page 3 — under his breath pushing his glasses back on his face and pinning them to the bridge of his nose You would know Pat grunted Then he turned his attention back to the control box Now where is this button you mentioned It was only the first day of camp and Miles was already worn out by Pat’s low-wattage pranks not to mention regretful that he’d agreed to let Pat do the honors for his first launch of the summer Give it to me Miles whispered the fake smile hurt ing his cheeks No no Pat said examining the underside of the control box I’ve almost got the hang of this That did it Miles casually rubbed the back of his head to fake Pat out then lunged at the control box with both hands accidentally pressing the button in the process Hey Pat shouted indignantly Safety first Inside the rocket the propellant ignited generating enough exhaust gas to thrust the vessel skyward Nice one Pat exclaimed as the rocket started its thousand-foot climb I should help you out with more of these things Just as Miles breathed a sigh of relief he felt a little breeze ruffle his hair The forecast didn’t say anything about wind he mumbled to himself This means 2

Camp Average: Away Games — page 4 — The moment the rocket’s nose cone popped off and its parachute emerged the wind picked up and pushed it away from the field toward the center of camp Miles darted across the right-field line between the outfield fence and the bleachers tracking the rocket in the sky The wind wasn’t strong enough to drag it all the way out to the lake but that didn’t mean the rocket was safe Wait up Pat shouted from behind him dropping the controller in the grass No time Miles shouted over his shoulder It’s head ing toward the ball-hockey court A pain developed in his gut as he envisioned the worst for his rocket landing on the court and getting run over by ten helmeted kids looking out for orange plastic balls not cardboard rockets But there was no direct route from the senior baseball field to the ball-hockey court Unless Through the woods he shouted Miles cut behind the fence and along the line of trees that sat behind it Then he plunged into them and down the hill branches ricocheting off him as he went His steely eyes never wavered as pine needles hit his glasses and got stuck in the frames Ow Pat shouted from behind him Ow COME ON Miles hit level ground at a dead sprint and bolted 3

Camp Average: Away Games — page 5 — through an active ropes course craning his neck and fruitlessly scanning the dense canopy of trees for any sign of his rocket Look out Miles saw a life pass before his eyes just not his own life Instead it belonged to a kid on a zip line who missed him by inches Look Oof Apparently Pat wasn’t so lucky with the next zip liner Miles heard the two kids land in a heap but he didn’t slow his own momentum While Pat stumbled to his feet Miles dropped to the ground and slid full speed under a climbing wall then sprang up to continue running There it is he shouted as he emerged back into open air and regained sight of the rocket But as the ball-hockey court came into view across a large green space the boys heard a cheer rise up and saw what seemed like a hundred kids gathered around the boards What’s with all these people Pat asked A thought dawned on Miles Maybe it’s the Hortonia kids There were four big sports camps in the area Camp Killington specialized in baseball Roundrock dominated 4

Camp Average: Away Games — page 6 — in basketball And Hortonia lived and breathed ball hockey Camp Average didn’t have a sports specialty and it showed in how its teams rarely won at anything hence the name But this year the kids who went there were still one up on Hortonia who didn’t have a camp Still can’t believe they’re staying in our lodge Pat grunted between breaths The winter was so bad and lasted so long they couldn’t finish the renovations they started last fall Miles panted Where do you expect them to go I don’t know Pat wheezed Somewhere else Any where but here There are so many options As the pair approached the court Miles alternated between fresh terror and relief At its current trajectory the rocket was going to land on the court But at least there was only one person on it But that person was Garth Fortin Miles knew Garth from the junior-camp baseball tour nament two summers earlier He was the pitcher on the Hortonia team and he had harassed Miles’s friend Mack at a camp social before Pat had stepped in to break things up At the moment Garth was lining up a slap shot in the far end of the court the same end the rocket now just twenty feet from the ground had chosen for its landing 5

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