Phil and the Ghost of Camp Ch-Yo-Ca by John Luke Robertson Page A

hitchhiker and Camp Ch-Yo-Ca . . .
    And they were all just dreams.
    But they felt so real.
    How did I end up here?
    You scratch your head, rub your beard, and squint at the clock. It’s about two in the morning. Time to get back in your own bed.
    Before heading there, you get yourself a glass of cold water. It tastes good on this muggy night.
    You gaze out a window into the darkness.
    Then you notice something right in front of you on the kitchen floor.
    It’s a mask. A white mask.
    Where’d that come from?
    You’re not sure you want to know.
    THE END
    Start over.
    Read “The Shadows That Follow Us: A Note from John Luke Robertson.”

TWILIGHT ZONE

    YOU FIND YOURSELF AT CAMP CH-YO-CA, but you can’t really remember how you got here. You’re alone and you’re not sure what time it is.
    What’s happening?
    It’s sorta like a dream where you start the story midway through and aren’t sure how you got there.
    You’re standing near the fenced-off swimming pool. You can hear voices coming from inside but can’t quite tell who’s talking. You try to open the gate, but it’s locked. You call out, but nobody comes to open the door.
    So you start walking around.
    After a while of still not finding anybody (but now hearing the sounds of campers laughing and screaming in the distance), you decide to return home. But you can’t find the Jeep. Come to think of it, you can’t find John Luke either.
    So you start walking down the dirt road leading to the main street that brought you here. Only tonight the dirt road keeps going and going. It doesn’t end.
    It brings you around to the back of the lake.
    That’s impossible. I just walked away from the camp.
    So you do the whole thing again.
    You walk over the hill and down a path through the woods until you get to the main camp area. Then you pass between the cabins, and farther on, you walk past the soccer field.
    You keep going.
    And going.
    The dirt road winds around until you reach the edge . . .
    Of the lake.
    You’re stuck here in Camp Ch-Yo-Ca. Still not sure how you got here. Still not sure how to get out.
    Since you didn’t follow any of the directions, you’re caught in a never-ending episode of The Twilight Zone . You’re the star and the host all in one.
    Maybe you should start at the beginning. Think back . . .

    Go here .

ZODIE SIMS

    “I DON’T KNOW who dropped that feather, but making up stories isn’t helping anything. Let’s keep looking for somebody around here.”
    So you do. But the camp is empty. All you and John Luke find are remnants of the summer: a child-size bow and arrow left outside, a log that’s recently been painted bright colors, a towel abandoned on the grass, a journal.
    You guys eventually give up and put your sleeping bags in cabin two   —one of the boys’ cabins   —and you make a quick stop in the bathroom, dropping your shaving kit on the sink. Then the two of you head outside and proceed to build a campfire. Soon the fire is blazing, its flames waving up to the heavens.
    “So tell me about this Zodie Sims.” You can’t help being a little curious about a name like that.
    “It’s just a ghost story that’s been told over the years. Haven’t you ever heard it?”
    “I sure don’t remember it.”
    “They say it’s true.”
    “They say you can buy plots on the moon too.”
    He laughs, then sticks another log in the fire. “There was once this Camp Ch-Yo-Ca counselor named Zodie Sims. Everybody loved him. He was the best counselor who’d ever worked here. No one could imagine the place without him.”
    You nod and listen attentively to John Luke.
    “One summer, a troubled kid came to camp. His name was Parker. Zodie took it on himself to help the kid out. He had Parker stay in his cabin, which was number six.”
    “I thought there were only five boys’ cabins here.”
    “That’s part of the story. Anyway, Parker kept getting into trouble. He’d sneak into the girls’ cabins.