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The entire story of Letters From Jersey under the cut

Because I crave attention.

To A Mr. & Mrs. Charles and Mia Esther.

We are excited to hear your child will be attending camp with us this year, please fill out all informed documents and make sure your child will have all of the listed items needed for a safe, fun experience. Thanks for choosing Weehawken, we can't wait to see you!

Signed, The Camp Weehawken Board of Directors.

“Are you sure about this Clara?” Charles asked for what may have been the fifth time that day, the long drive had given him plenty of opportunities. “You’re getting a little old for Summer camp you know”

Clara simply rolled her eyes and continued to watch the scenery as it passed by her window.

“Yeah dad, like one-thousand percent sure, and besides..” She smiled as they turned down the dirt drive, a large arching sign reading ‘Camp Weehawken’ marked their destination.

“We’re already here.”

Check-in was a blur, her father signed some papers and hugged her goodbye, she promised to write every week, and by three o’clock that afternoon she’d gotten fully settled into her cabin.

There weren’t any scheduled events on the first day of camp. Aside from the orientational bonfire that would be held later that night. Add that to the fact that Clara found no other campers in her cabin had arrived yet, boredom was slowly overtaking her. After coating herself in sunscreen for the fourth time since that morning, she set out to explore, and hopefully run across somebody to talk to.

Most kids she’d passed had been occupied already, unpacking or reuniting with friends from past years. This was her first summer at Weehawken, and she wasn’t lucky enough to know anyone there.

“Hey! Give ‘er back she doesn’t like that!!” Pulled from her thoughts, Clara’s attention was brought to a group of kids around her age, dangling a stuffed sheep high above the head of a younger boy, whom the toy clearly belonged to. “C’mon! M’ serious you guys give her back!”

“You want her so bad short stuff? Jump for it! Unless you want lambchop here to wind up in the lake! I don’t think sheep are the best swimmers tho- HEY!”

Clara stood slightly taller than the boy holding the sheep, or rather, the boy who had been holding the sheep. She’d taken his distracted jeering as a chance to snatch it from his hands.

“Sorry to get all cliche dude, but would you jerks pick on someone your own size? Because not having anything better to do than harass a little kid is kinda’ pathetic.”

The kid scoffed, “Jeez chill, we’re just messing with him, having FUN. Know what that is?”

“Well.. have fun somewhere else! He’s just a little kid man seriously.” Verbal conflict had never been a strong point for Clara, but starting something physical on the first day of camp probably wasn’t the best idea. It came as a bit of a shock when the groups established leader, with an over exaggerated eyeroll, moved to back off.

“Fine, y’know what? We’ve got better things to do than hang around with babies anyway.” He gave a pointed look at the younger boy, who may have been crying… or just suffering a particularly bad allergy season. “You’re lucky your mommy came to rescue you kid.”

The group of kids left none the less, running off yelling something about starting a water balloon fight. Clara turned to the boy, holding out the stuffed sheep, which seemed no worse for wear.

“Hey, don’t sweat it kid, I’m like a gazillion years old, er, thirteen actually, but I still sleep with a stuffed dog, nothin wrong with that.”

He hesitated a moment, then reached out and took the sheep into his arms. “Thanks. I really- wait- you’re a TEENAGER!? Man that’s awesome what’s it like?”

She cracked a smile, it was good to see he wasn’t too shaken up by what had happened. “Well, usually I wouldn’t share my awesome secrets with just anyone, buut you seem pretty cool, so I guess I could tell YOU….. It’s super cool! Sometimes I get to stay up until like ELEVEN THIRTY! Plus once you’re 13 you’re practically an adult, you can say all the freakin bad words you want!”

As she talked his eyes lit up more and more, as he soaked in every word with a sense of awe. “Really!? That’s AMAZING! What’re the PG thirteen movies like? I heard they’re real good!”

“Dude you’ve really never seen one? I gotta hook you up! Oh! I’m Clara by the way!”

“M’ Payton.. You got movies? I thought we weren’t allowed t’ bring that kinda’ stuff.”

“Nah, I’ve got the works. Lil’ portable DVD player and everything. I never heard we weren’t supposed to bring our tech junk..”

Payton gave a nonchalant shrug. “S’ just what my ma said, she coulda’ been lyin’ though.” His casual attitude was nearly off putting, parents didn’t just lie to their kids, except for maybe the really important stuff like Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy.

“Maybe she just heard wrong, but yeah I brought in tons of cool stuff! Jaws, Jurassic Park, Lot’s of my dad’s movie collection.”

“Woah! For real? I always wanted t’ see Jurassic Park! The raptors are s’posed t’ be really cool an’ scary!”

The solution to Clara’s boredom presented itself then, and her smile only grew. “Dude! You should totally Come back to my cabin and hang out with me! We can watch it! You can bring.. Uh…” She trailed off, gesturing towards the stuffed sheep clutched in his arms. He caught on quickly enough though.

“Clover!” He proclaimed, holding her up proudly. “Her name’s Clover, N’ she’s real special!”

Clara gave him a warm smile, and reached out to shake hands with ‘Clover’s’ hoof.

“Nice to meet you Clover, Ready to see some raptors?”

And with that they headed back towards the cabins, Clara beginning to talk about how she knew lot’s of sheep actually, and so on went the friendly conversation.

‘Dear Dad,

The first week of camp has been really great! I made a cool friend named Payton and he likes animals a lot and we watched Jurassic Park and made marshmallows. He can’t eat s’mores though because he’ll die if he has chocolate. There’s only a few other girls in my cabin so they let us team up with other kids so we get to do stuff together all the time! Did you know there’s this island in the middle of the lake that everyone says is haunted. We aren’t supposed to go on it but I wanna see if I can find a ghost. Also tell mom I’m not mad she couldn’t drop me off at camp and maybe ask if she can bring back some more cool stuff from Turkey. I hope you’re having a good summer even though you got work to do. Love, Clara.’

Morning dew was still fresh on the ground when Clara quietly slipped out her cabin’s door. She and Payton had done this a few times, sneaking out before anyone else was awake. They’d meet on the dock and watch the sun come up over the lake. Lately, more and more of their attention had been drawn to the island in the middle of the lake, and of course the lore surrounding it.

“D’ya really think it’s haunted Clara?” “Oh yeah, absolutely! Otherwise we’d be allowed to go out there.”

“Yeah but- Achoo-” Payton cut himself off in a fit of sneezes, his eyes beginning to water by the time he was able to clear his throat and continue talking. “But it could just be there’s lotsa’ poison ivy there or somethin’.” Clara shook her head. “Nah man, then they’d just say ‘don’t go on the island because there’s a bunch of poison ivy.’ That’d be enough to keep most kids away.” “I guess… What kinda’ ghosts d’ya think are there? Ooooh- What if it’s old soldiers from the revolution!?”

“You’re thinking in the right direction… hmmmm.. PIRATES! What if it’s pirate ghosts!?”

“Why would there be pirates in just a little lake?”

“Lake pirates!” Clara jumped up, striking a dramatic pose as she looked out over the water. “They be sailin’ the seven shores a’ Weehawken! Swash bucklin’ and swabbin’ the poop deck! AAARRRGGGHHH!!” Payton let out a giggle, “That’d be really cool, but I dunno. You really think there’s lake pirate ghosts?” “Maybe! Only way to know is to go find out!” “We can’t though! We ain’t s’posed to!” “No one would know! We could take a rowboat out tomorrow morning before anyone gets up. It’ll be an adventure!”

While Clara seemed thrilled at the idea, it was obvious that Payton was still a bit unsure. She ruffled his hair and wrapped her arm around him reassuringly. “If you don’t wanna go dude we don’t gotta, don’t worry about it.” “No I-I do! Wanna go!” The young boy managed a forced but determined smile. “I wanna go on an adventure with you Clara!” “Well, when you put it that way… I guess it sounds like we have a plan!” Clara beamed. “And hey,” She gently turned Payton’s face towards her and planted a light kiss on his forehead. “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you ok? I promise.”

“Ok.. Clara?” “Yeah?” “...Thanks”

The sun had yet to come up the next morning when the two met at the dock. Clara had swiped a boathouse key off her cabin’s counselor, and it didn’t take long at all for them to nab some oars and unlock a small rowboat from the edge of the dock. It took a few tries for them each to find life jackets that felt like the right size, but it was no later than five thirty when they shoved off into the water. The lake was calm and easy to row across, the pink sky lit their way and the fresh morning breeze was in their favor. Soon the sun had nearly made it all the way above the distant horizon, and they pulled the boat up on the island shore with ease.

“Well,” Clara clapped her hands together excitedly and took in the scenery of the dark woods surrounding them. “How ‘bout it Payton? Let’s have an adventure!”

‘Dear dad, This week at camp we learned about boats a lot. We went kayaking on Monday and it was and it was really fun. The lady who took us out talked a whole bunch about life jackets though and it was pretty boring because I mean I already know how to swim jeez. They made chili for lunch the other day and it was good. The lunch lady is super nice and gave me a lot of garlic bread. I miss mom and you and also the dogs so give them extra hugs till I get home ok? Love, Clara.’

Payton and Clara had spent a good twenty minutes just exploring. The island itself wasn’t too big but for the two young adventure seekers it felt like a whole world of uncharted territory. They gave names to almost every landmark they came across. ‘Magic Twisty Tree’ ‘The Big Treasure Rock’ and so on with varying levels of childish creativity. Once their mental map of the island was complete they reached a unanimous decision. “We should play lake pirates! I can be Captain Freckle Beard and you can be my first pirate mate!” Payton couldn’t help but laugh, “Clara, you don’t have a beard!” “It’s invisible silly, every captain needs a beard! Mine’s just so cool only the best most awesome pirates can see it!” His face fell a bit at her response, “But… I can’t see it.... M’not a good pirate?” Clara didn’t miss a beat, patting him on the back with a smile, “Nah it’s not like that. I can’t see it either but it’s not ‘cause we aren’t good pirates, it’s ‘cause we just started pirating! So we haven’t got to prove how cool we are yet!” “Oh! I get it! What d’we gotta do to be good pirates though?” Clara brought her hand to her chin, stroking her invisible beard with a serious expression. “I think… we gotta do what all pirates do! We gotta find buried treasure!” “Buried? Clara we don’t got any shovels.” “Oh don’t we? Wait… crap no you’re right, we don’t, hmm…” She paused, it probably would’ve been a good idea to bring something to dig with, but hindsight’s 20/20 after all. “Well… We don’t need ‘em! We haven’t even found an X yet!”

“An X?” “Yeah, Y’know like ‘X marks the spot!’ That’s how we’re gonna know where the treasure’s buried. There’s gonna be an X.” “Yea, that’s right X marks the spot!”

They searched the island over once more. For nearly an hour they checked every patch of dirt for anything even resembling an X, but their efforts yielded nothing of significance. “Clara..” Payton looked up at the older girl with a disheartened sight. “It’s getting pretty late, we should head back before everybody wakes up.. Maybe the lake pirates just buried their treasure somewhere else.” Clara wasn’t so quick to accept defeat. She groaned in frustration and kicked out at a nearby tree. “Stupid Pirates!” her foot struck the trunk with a hollow sound, followed by a ‘thunk’ as something large fell from where it had been wedged in the tree. An old shovel. “Hah!” Clara pumped her fist on the air, nearly squealing in delight. “I knew it! I KNEW there were like pirates! This is what they used to bury their treasure! It’s gotta be around here!” She gripped the shovel tightly, it’s splintering handle digging into her hands as she jammed the rusted edge into what seemed like the softest patch of earth in sight. “It looks like somebody dug here awhile ago!” She eagerly explained, “The dirt looks kinda different from the other dirt.” Payton nodded, smiling in excitement, “Yeah! Yeah I see it! ..Sorry I can’t help dig, we only got one shovel.” “S’ok!” Clara had already begun shoveling small piles of dirt away from the patch, alternating between placing them on the ground next to her and tossing them over her shoulder with wild abandon. “When we get to the treasure chest you can help me carry it back!” Unfortunately, there was no treasure chest to be uncovered.

After digging non stop until her hands blistered and the hole was nearly three feet deep and two feet wide, Clara laid the shovel down and took a step back to admire her handywork. “How deep y’think they put it Payton?” She turned to him, but he gave no response. Instead, he pointed a shaking hand to a shiny metal object in the dirt that had caught his eye. “C-Clara… Look..” It took her eyes a moment to follow where he was pointing, Once they had she let out an excited gasp and practically leapt back into the hole to grab hold of the metal in question and yank it from the ground, which took more effort than she’d expected. “We did it! Payton YOU did it this is it it’s the treasure we found it we’re gonna be rich we’re gonna-” She stopped. Her face soon twisting into the same look of horror and disgust that Payton wore on his, and as she tossed the “treasure” far away from her and back into the shallow pit, a bloodcurdling scream could be heard from all corners of the lake. The object the two kids had found was a bracelet, and in all her enthusiasm tearing it from the earth, it had taken Clara a moment to realise what Payton hadn’t been able to put into words. The Bracelet was wrapped loosely around the wrist of a rotting, decrepit, human hand.

They took off towards the shore as fast as their legs would carry them, echoes of the scream still following them as they ran. The first scream had been Clara’s, but now the unending barrage of echoes seemed to grow louder with every second, sounding warped, as if it was mocking them as they stumbled through trees that seemed to grow closer and closer together. Finally, finally they reached the shore they’d pulled the rowboat on to only a few hours earlier. They wasted no time clambering in and shoving off into the water, Only scrambling to fasten their life jackets once they were a safe distance from the island.

Clara’s jacket was just halfway on when it happened, the screeching, which now seemed to come from the island itself, grew louder still, rippling out through the water and rocking the little boat, back and forth and back and forth and.. over. Tipping them both into the chilling lake.

The cold took a moment to adjust to, as did the darkness. Clara blinked, desperately trying to catch sight of Payton in the murky water. His eyes were shut, and she could see him struggling to find which way was up. Bubbles rose to the surface as he coughed, and she felt herself grow more and more terrified at the thought of his lungs taking on any more strain. Frantically, she tried to swim towards him, but found herself unable to go more than a few feet forwards. The rope that was meant to fasten her life jacket had gotten caught on the seat of the bot, and was currently wrapped around her neck. The teen cursed inwardly, grabbing the rope and pulling at it, trying to detangle herself. Her lungs began to burn and she knew she would have to work quickly. The corners of her vision were starting to darken as she finally thrashed her way out of the vest. It felt like it took hours for her to wrap her arms around Payton's writhing form, hauling him to the surface. Once his head breached the water her lungs caved, a moment too soon she realised, as water filled her mouth and throat and chest and she coughed and spluttered and coughed some more. She was tired, she was so tired when she dragged Payton over to the upturned boat. She was seeing in tunnel vision as she draped him over it, and held on to the side with the last of her strength.

“Hey!! Hey you kids hold on! We’re coming for ya’!”

‘Counselors..’ she thought as she heard the muffled voices in the distance. ‘The counselors are coming.. They’ll.. Take care of Payon and I.. can take a nap..’ She smiled weakly, Payton was safe, things were going to be ok. The adrenaline high was wearing off, and she kept that weak smile as her arms gave out and she slipped back into the lake.

‘Dear Charles and Mia Esther,

I understand that you’ve been spoken to on the phone already, but I felt I must send you this letter to personally express my deepest condolences. All of Clara's counselors and campmates said she brought a fantastic energy into every situation. That she always stood up for kids if anyone was giving them a hard time. I was not lucky enough to know your daughter personally, but it is my understanding that even in her last moments she made her first priority the life of her friend. If it were not for Clara, Payton Chavez would no longer be with us. You deserve to know how proud you should be of her. If there’s anything at all we here at weehawken can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask, and again, I am so, truly sorry for your loss. Most sincerely, Weehawken head of directors, Morris O'Field.’

Payton didn’t really remember what had happened after Clara had pulled him out of the water. There were bits and pieces, counselors yelling, the sound of sirens and the flash of lights. He mostly remembered Clara, and how it felt to breathe when he was scared he never would again. His eyes opened and closed, trying to filter out the harsh brightness of the light overhead. His lungs hurt but he was breathing, even if it was with the help of a tube. The hospital wasn’t too unfamiliar of a scene for him, this wasn’t even his first time on a ventilator. Even still, he felt anxiety bubbling in the back of his mind, something was wrong… ‘Clara!’ He hit the call button instantly, and then he hit it again, and a third time, over and over until the nurse rushed in. She checked him over thoroughly making sure that nothing was seriously wrong. He grew more and more frustrated at his situation the entire time. Unable to talk through the ventilator tube he couldn’t even explain to her what the real problem was. It took some effort to gather his thoughts through the panic rising in his chest, but with shaking hands he managed to tap her on the shoulder and sign a halted but understandable, ‘Where is C-L-A-R-A’? The nurse froze, the look on her face said enough to send another pang of fear through his whole being. He tried another question. ‘Where is mom’? This the nurse answered, “We.. have called your mother Payton.. She should be here within a few days.” ‘Days’? “Yes, I’m sorry to say, but she did say you’d understand what with how busy she is..” Tears were pricking at the corners of his eyes. Of course, of course she hadn’t come. He was stupid to think she might be there, out in the waiting room hoping he’d be alright. He struggled to sit up, but a gentle hand on his shoulder urged him to lay back down. Again he asked the nurse, shakier but more insistent. ‘Where is C-L-A-R-A’? Still the nurse said nothing, Payton blinked back tears and gave her a determined stare, hands shaking violently as he signed, ‘C-L-A-R-A…. Alive’? The nurse shut her eyes tightly, trying to repress tears of her own, and shook her head. “I-I’m sorry. When you two got here she’d already… we did everything we could sweetheart, you had a very brave friend, she saved your life.”

Payton didn’t try to stop himself from crying anymore, choked, painful sobs shook his small frame. Tears streamed freely down his face. Clara was gone. She died and it was for him. It was his fault. He tried to scream, but it caught in that stupid stupid tube in his throat, coming out as nothing more than a pathetic squeak. He tried again and again and again to the point he was choking and coughing and everything tasted like blood. He couldn’t see for how much he was crying, but over the sound of blood rushing in his ears he could hear more doctors coming in. At some point he felt another needle prick his arm and after that, things began to go dark.

It was night when he awoke again, the room empty and quiet aside from the sounds of the monitor and ventilator. Funny, he was still hooked up to the machine but he could hardly feel the presence of the tube. He could almost talk passed it if he tried.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkened room, but once they did he was alarmed to find a figure seated in the chair next to his bed. He nearly hit the call button again when a warm voice cut him short. “Hey sleeping beauty, how’d the nap feel? You’ve been out for awhile.” It wasn’t her, it couldn’t be her.. Even so he found himself forcing his voice out passed the oxygen tube. “C-Clara?” “Were you expecting Obama? Cause sorry dude but I’m not Obama. Here, let’s get that weird thing out of your mouth.” He gave no protest as she slipped the tube from his throat with ease. His arms were thrown around her in an instant and he felt the burn of fresh tears in his eyes again. “I- I thought.. Th-they said you- you w- were..” “Shhh.. hey.. Hey it’s ok..” His breathing slowed as her fingers carded gently through his hair. He hadn’t lost her, she was right here. “I wouldn’t just leave without saying goodbye dude, that’s being a jerk.” Payton said nothing, just buried his head further into her shoulder. “I came to get you actually,” She lifted his face in her hands and smiled down at him. “I was thinking we could go on another adventure.. Except probably more fun this time.” He hesitated, thinking it over. “N-no boats this time?” “No boats, I promise. So… What do you say Payton? Up for a forever adventure?” He nodded, and Clara stood up, taking his hand and pulling him up too. She kissed his cheek briefly before leading him towards the door, “Forever adventure it is..”

‘Dear prospective campers,

We are happy to announce that after two years of unfortunate closure, Camp Weehawken will officially reopen this coming season. Please note that we’ve made a few changes to our rulebook, the biggest of which is that the cabins will now be locked from nine pm until seven am, to ensure that no campers will leave unsupervised. We would also like to remind everyone that the island in the middle of the lake is strictly prohibited. We look forward to seeing you this summer!

Regards, Camp Weehawken Staff And Board Of Directors.’

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