Page 119 - Musings 2021

office as they were scared that some kids might steal their act. Emily was called by Mr. Evans
when she received a call from her parents while Amelia and Ben kept practicing.

Amelia missed a catch and the ball went rolling into an old office at the camp where nobody
was allowed to go. Amelia, though she was a kid, she was very brave and courageous, went
inside the office. The lights were turned off and it was really dark inside. Ben tried to stop her
but she ran into the office. He ran after her but she had already entered the office.

Amidst the darkness, they saw a flickering light at the end of the room. The floor creaked
when they stepped on it and they were scared but they continued their journey to retrieve the
ball. The light led them into a hallway at the end of which there was a room with closed
doors. They could hear footsteps and mumbling from behind the doors. They went nearer and
through the keyhole. Amelia saw something that was more than enough to scare her for the
rest of her life. She saw a woman tied on a chair and a shadow of a person who stabbed that
woman in the chest. Amelia screamed loudly but her scream alerted the murderer who ran
away after hearing her. The kids started running and on the way out, they collided with Emily
who was coming after them after she heard Amelia screaming. They told Emily everything
and came out of the office. Scared, they swore not to tell anyone about this incident. Even
though they had escaped, the incident kept haunting Amelia and even more so because she
had seen the murder weapon. The dagger used by the murderer had a ruby stone inserted into
the bottom of its blade with a dragon’s craving at the end of the handle. That image had been
imprinted on her mind and it was never going to leave her alone.

The next morning, police officers arrived, after an anonymous call from someone and
investigated the whole scenario. They retrieved the body from the office and it was revealed
that the woman who was stabbed was Ms. Evelyn. The kids burst into tears looking at her as
she was one of the most caring and thoughtful people at the camp. Nobody could understand
why someone would kill a woman with a heart as pure as hers. Amelia, Emily and Ben stood
silently as they carried Ms. Evelyn’s body to the ambulance. The parents were called
immediately and the camp was shut down as per the government’s guidelines on violations of
safety and security. The next few days were horrible for the kids’ mental health and the
schools came up with new lively activities to make the kids feel better but it was not going to
happen anytime soon for Amelia, Ben and Emily. Emily’s family shifted to a different city
after they couldn’t handle the disturbance that the incident had brought into their lives. Ben
and Amelia used to play the same way as before but they were never going to forget about
everything. The police didn’t find the murderer after months of investigation and the case
was closed. Ms. Evelyn was not only a camp coordinator but she was also the art and craft
teacher at Richmond Central. The school held a ceremony in her honor every year, but for
Amelia, it was nothing but a reminder of the most horrible night of her life.

Five years had passed and the kids had grown into strong, independent teenagers. By political
persuasion, the company that owned the camp had rebranded itself at a different location and
started a new camp by a new name. People had started to forget about the incident and things
had become normal for everyone except Ben and Amelia. They went to camp again this year
after their friends forced them to come along. Reluctantly, the two grown up teenagers went
back to the memory that had been haunting them for as long as they could remember. A lot of
the things had changed, more security guards, hundreds of CCTV cameras, inspection at the
entrance, in short, the camp had taken all efforts they could to make it a safer place. The
schedules were the same, the days started with activities and ended with supper. The weekly
talent shows and the routine phone calls to parents also continued until the night of the last

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