The crowd of kids and adults make their way to the campfire. I stand in the middle of the trail observing them. The crackling of the firewood can be heard from this distance. This is my first camp since the pandemic plagued the world. I missed this. I follow everyone to the s’more-sacrificing flames. The memory of my last camp flashes back to me as I sit on a log that might be as old as me. All the fellow campers chat amongst themselves, catching up on the last three years and what quarantine and the pandemic were like for them. A little girl who is about 8 years old, a few years younger than me, hands me a barbecue stick with three huge marshmallows skewered onto it. I nod at her and smile.
I take the offering and sacrifice the marshmallows to the flames. Its edges turn golden from the soft kisses of the fire. A majestic dance appears in the scorching firewood and puts me in a trance as if figures are waltzing within the radiant heat. My trance breaks at the sizzling sound of melted marshmallows getting singed on the charred wood.
“Good evening young campers!” An ominous voice creeps out from the shadows of the woods.
The campers yelp.
“Boo!” One of the camp counselors sneaks up behind us.
“Counselor Jacob!” The girl beside me shouts and everyone starts laughing.
I let out a soft giggle, that was pretty funny.
“Hey, campers! Are you guys ready for some campfire stories?” Counselor Jacob sits down on the biggest log in the circle.
“Yes!” Everyone shouts.
I take another marshmallow and get lost in the flames again. These camp stories are all reused, I miss when they would be more creative with them.
“Alright! Tonight’s story is about…” He pauses, “The Phantom of Albatross.” He says in a deep voice. He catches my attention and I lift my head in his direction.
“Ooo,” all the campers say in unison and scoot closer to the person nearest to them. The girl next to me scoots closer and her smile warms me, aside from the campfire. I also position myself closer to her and whisper, “I’ve never heard of this one before.”
“Someone said the new story was about a myth.” She whispers back. “I’m Liz.”
“Esme.” My marshmallow is golden again.
“Long time ago, there lived a Phantom around these woods. He was a wicked and vile man.” Counselor Jacob’s eyes glare at the campfire, everyone’s shadows creating an eerie ambiance.
“What’s a phantom?” A curious camper asks.
“A ghost…” Counselor Jacob whispers.
The campers start murmuring and all that can be heard next was the crackling of the scorching wood. Suddenly, a loud hooting from an owl echoes around the campfire.
Simultaneous gasps occur.
“The Phantom haunted these woods, all he wanted was to find his parents.”
“Wait, he had a family?” Another curious camper asks.
“Before the Phantom became a ghost, he lived here, in Albatross. The Phantom was around your age, well most of you at least, when he started acting weird.”
“What do you mean Counselor Jacob?” One of the older campers asks.
My head tilts at Counselor Jacob.
“He can speak to any kind of animal.”
“That’s really cool actually!” Liz says.
I smile.
“Yes, it is cool, but the animals listened to him so well that he commanded wolves to attack the town.”
I look at the campers and see fear settling in their eyes. I squint at Counselor Jacob and eat my burnt marshmallow scornfully.
“When he reached the age of 18 years old, he was chased out of Albatross. And his parents got left behind, and the town probably killed them.”
The campers gasp again.
One of the camp counselors approaches Counselor Jacob and whispers something to him.
“No, they’re fine, they’ll learn about that kind of stuff anyways.” He scoffs and continues, “Many years have passed, and everyone thought he had died but one day, a young couple was wandering around the woods, these woods exactly.”
“Counselor Jacob, I’m scared.” A boy the same age as Liz cries out.
“Yeah, maybe this story is inappropriate.” A female camp counselor holds onto the boy.
“Trust me, it's not that scary guys.” Counselor Jacob rolls his eyes and continues the story, “The young couple saw some fruits on one of the trees and the young man climbed it to get it for his girlfriend, but the tree branch broke, and he fell, breaking his bones.”
“Oh no!” One of the campers screams.
“The young lady screamed for help and the Phantom appeared.”
“Oh no, did the Phantom hurt her?” One of the camper girls asks scared.
“No, the Phantom helped her. He went to the boy and called a bear to carry him to where he stayed."
“Like a grizzly bear?!” The camper boy screamed again.
“Yes! A grizzly bear. A big one with claws and fangs!”
Everyone yells.
“The Phantom called on its pet owl and it got angry because the young couple was stealing its fruits. But the Phantom saw how scared the young lady was, so, he called his spiders, and they healed the boyfriend. He let them go.”
“So, he’s not a bad ghost?” Another camper boy asks.
“He just wants to see his family. That's all that any of us want right?”
Everyone nods.
“The Phantom protects Albatross, but he’s mean to anyone who goes near his house. To this day. You can hear his owl watching over the woods.”
Everyone stays quiet and listens for an owl, but they hear nothing.
“So, kids”, Counselor Jacob pulls the attention back to him, “don’t be wandering around the woods, okay? Or else, the Phantom will get you and let its spiders and owl eat you!”
I laugh uncontrollably.
“Is there something funny, young lady?" Counselor Jacob frowns.
“There’s a lot of things wrong with your story.” I fling the barbeque stick to the fire.
“Have you heard a different story?”
“The Phantom wasn’t a man, foremost.” I roll my eyes. “It always has to be a man these days.”
“And where did you hear that?” Counselor Jacob crosses his hands.
“Because I’m no Phantom, smarty pants. I’m a Witch.” I stand up, revealing my true form. My long silky hair flows down, and my robe, gifted to me by the wood creatures, manifests around me. Everyone’s eyes fill with fear and silence blankets the circle. I look at Liz. Fear is not present in her eyes, but awe is.
I wink at her and face Jacob, “Boo!” I say and they all scream and run away. I laugh and Charlie lands on my shoulder. “Nice timing on your hooting,” I say to Charlie.
“Why does every person who tells your story always think you’re a guy?” Charlie flaps his wings.
“Who seriously tells these stories? Do I really look like a man?”
“You’re pretty rough on the edges.”
“Ouch, okay my pet owl.”
“I’m nobody’s pet!” He pecks my ear.
“Okay!” I shake my head. "I think we have a young witch in camp. She got me in a trance, could be a powerful one."
"You need to give up on that Coven idea, witchcraft is dead. No one needs it anymore, and besides, you need to clear out your story, otherwise, you’ll stay a man in people’s minds forever.”
“I’ll make sure to tell my story correctly the next time.” I take a marshmallow and feed it to Charlie, "But you're wrong you know, I feel something shifting, something is about to happen."
“Are you going to leave those children like that?” Charlie ignored me while he eats his treat.
“I’ll change their memories tomorrow, for now, let’s enjoy this.” I laugh.
“You’re wicked.” Charlie hoots.
“Vile,” I smirk and head back into the woods.
