The worst part of the Ashokan trip was the time in between activities where we do hangman because everyone was hungry, bored and tired of waiting. 0% of D.M.X.6 had fun during it. It was so boring not one person took a picture! They ushered a room of hungry, excited kids into a room and made seven set up tables. The rest waited, thinking about food, as an instructor tried to create a exciting game of hangman. There were so many people, not one could sit still, whispering to their peers next to them. No one could be silenced. It was either loud, or so quiet no one would even guess a letter. It would of been better to of just left us alone, but no, hangman was that necessary. All of the words were Ashokan themed, and very easy to guess. Those 10 minutes were the worst transitions that could ever happen. “I was so hungry, I was about ready to strangle Noam, the instructor hosting the “fun” game.” Io, a student in D.M.X.6 said tiredly. No one had fun, no one got excited. “I’m so excited to sit in a room while thinking of food with a room of bouncy kids while a instructor yelled at us to guess letters.” said no one. Hangman was so necessary, that they would create more problems, bybeing so attached to trying to solve one problem. Imagine, your in a room with wooden walls, squished between your friend and a small fifth grader, in a room of yelling kids, but all you can here is your stomach growling, a instructor is yelling at you to guess a letter. You see a girl in front of you guess I, and the instructor draws a small circle underneath a rope. You don’t care she gained you a body part, all you can think about is the grilled cheese you were supposed to have. At the end of the day, Ashokan has ruined hangman for me.

Milei, sipping her last drink of water before those dreadful 10 minutes. 

It was a hot sunny day in August and I was at camp. The bell had just rung and it was officially fourth period. I was super relieved that rest period was over. I grabbed my towel and a spare change of clothes (wasn’t going to forget them this time) and headed out to swim class. There were four people in my class, Naomi and Talia who are two of my closest friends in my cabin and a boy named Ben in Give Me Shelter, the boys cabin that’s our age. There was a long path through the forest to the lake. Naomi, Talia and I started down the path. Talia was leading, then me and last Naomi. Naomi is yelling at Talia telling her to look out for daddy-longlegs. I am trying to tell Naomi that daddy-longlegs aren’t poisonous and aren’t even spiders. She doesn’t care. She’s doing this hopping thing, like the game you used play when you where you were little, don’t touch the lava. Instead of lava, we have daddy-longlegs. Talia stops quickly and almost makes me fall off the path. She whispers “Someone’s following us.” then we hear a little crackle of leaves. “Don’t worry.” I say, “It’s probably just the stalkers.” The stalker story is a full other story. Inside my head I know it’s not them because they are always late. We keep walking. “I hear it again!” Talia yells. “Calm down girl, just keep looking for daddy-longlegs.” Naomi exclaims. Talia keeps walking, but bent down low like a ninja. We don’t hear anything for a few minutes. Talia calms down. Then we hear a twig break. This time Talia screams and Naomi falls off the path. “I told you it was something! Do you hear that? It’s not the stalkers!!! My life is over! I am going to die! I’m dying! I knew swimming was a bad choice!!” Talia yells. Naomi just looks scared. After two minutes of calming down, I force Talia and Naomi to keep walking. We look like the FBI on a mission. All bent low, ducking at every sound. I am officially leading, while everyone else stands guard. And then we hear the rustle of leaves. Talia pulls to a halt and ducks. Then the most life-changing thing ever happens. A chipmunk runs across the path. Talia screams and jumps off the path and pulls Naomi down with her. “It was the chipmunk!!! Chipmunks are evil!! I knew it the whole time!!” Talia is hysterically screaming. I am on the floor laughing so hard. Naomi jumps up obviously scared of the bugs. “We have to go.” Naomi says. “But the chipmunks might be on the path!!!” Talia answers. “The chipmunks also could be under you” I respond. She jumps up on to the path.

“We have to follow the chipmunk!” She continues yelling. “It already left.” I tell her. “It will come back again, I know it, I know it.” Talia mutters to herself. I used to be able to say that walking this path was as easy as pie, but not anymore. Then, out of the blue, the chipmunk sticks his head out again. Talia sees it and screams “Follow it!” We start running, off the path and through the woods and into the forest. Twigs are scraping me, and I’m probably bleeding. I am tired but I keep running. Talia is following the chipmunk, then Naomi then me. I…Can’t…Keep….Running. I think to myself. “Good because we don’t have to.” Naomi says. Was that out loud? “Why?” I manage to utter. “It jumped down a hole.” Talia says. “Let me see.” I say as I push my way to the front. The hole is wide, and I can’t see the bottom. “On go we’re all jumping in.” Talia responds. “No way, I got no time for that.” Naomi responds. “All right I don’t need you anyway.” Talia screams as she jumps.” For a brief moment Naomi and I look at each other, and then we jump together.  It’s dark and cold, very cold. I can see Naomi and Talia. I am scared, very scared. I feel like I am going to throw up, I am twisting and turning and I feel sick. Naomi isn’t doing so well either. Talia looks fine. I look down and see my feet are changing. They now have black slippers. And my outfit has changed. I have a white frilly dress on. Oh my god, I am Alice from Alice and Wonderland. I look at Naomi. She looks like Alice to, but with dark skin and dark hair. Talia too! Just with dark hair. Oh my god we are in Wonderland. I start slowing down. This annoying dress is like a parachute. I still hit the ground hard though. Pain floods through my body. Talia is already up on her feet running. I pop up and follow Naomi who is following Talia. We are not speaking but we fully understand each other. This is Wonderland, and we are stuck in it. The path is dark, with little lights hanging above us. Then I hear a small thump. “Oh No.” Naomi whispers. I run to the front. Talia is on the ground, clearly sleeping. “What happened?” I ask Naomi. “Look closer.” She says. I bend down and see a small bottle with “drink me”written across it.  “She did it.” Naomi barely speaks. But then, Talia starts shrinking, and shrinking, so small she is smaller than the ants. I bend down and pick her up. I can’t hear what she is saying, she is to tiny. I see her pointing though. I follow her arm and see a little speck of dust. Talia jumps out of my hands onto the floor and runs to the speck and points inside of it. Then she points to two more “drink me”bottles. “What I do for you…” I hear Naomi mutter. We grab the bottles and take a sip. The liquid is thick and is so sweet, so sweet, so swe….. I hear myself fall to the floor. I have obviously passed out. I open my eyes and see Talia and Naomi staring at me. “Get up!” Talia yells. I stand up, So tired. I then see what Talia saw. A hole, just big enough for me to fit in. That was the speck! I peek my head through the hole. Or the exit. I peek out and mutter to myself, “Wow.” The sight ahead of me takes my breath away. Wonderland is ahead of me. The grass is the brightest green, the water is sparkling and the sky is the pinkest pink it could be. I take my first step out “What are you doing?” Naomi questions. “The grass is taller than you. Eat this.” She hands me, surprise surprise it is an eat me cookie. I grab it and take a bite. My feet pop out of my body, and then the rest of me all at once. “Your feet grow first,” I think to myself. My body aches and is sore all over. I don’t let it stop me. I run out of the hole and into the grass. The fresh air hits me like a boulder. I was so scared but it all turned into excitement. I don’t think my mind caught up to my body in the fact that I don’t think my brain really understood that this was Wonderland. I am about to ask Naomi where to go and Talia then screams “The chipmunk!” I see a white and brown fluffy creature scurry away as Talia chases it. I run after Talia, ruining this dress with every step I take the mud. I am hot, tired, sweaty and sore.  My full body aches. I want to just lay down and go home. But this obviously isn’t Talia’s plan.  Then I stop in my tracks. I just realized something.  We all have at least one trait from Alice so that is why we are here. Except the trait is amplified here. Talia has her curiosity, Naomi has her kindness and I have her wits and intelligence. Together, we all equal Alice. “Woah.” I hear from ahead. I push my way forward and mutter to myself the same thing.  “Woah.” The sight ahead is all I have ever wished for. There is a pink and purple table, with animals of all type sitting there reading, talking, laughing and having fun. There is hats everywhere. “Oh No.’ Naomi mutters to herself. Hats…. What has to do with hats, oh no the Mad Hatter. “Welcome to the Tea Party.” I hear as I turn myself to see who made the noise. I see a girl wearing a colorful dress with patches everywhere. I look up and see the most complicated hat ever. Patches, drawings and more colors than have ever been created. I look in her eyes and she sparks a memory. Oh my god, that is the Junior Counselor, Olivia who assists the paddle-boarding class that meets next to us. “Plot Twist.” Naomi says. “That’s what I was going to say!” Talia responds. “What type of tea….” Olivia speaks and then names all the types of tea that have ever existed. “Sit down, and enjoy.” She demands. I grab a seat next to a particular bunny who keeps checking the time. Oh! I get it now!“So where do you girls come from?” The Mad Hattress? said. She had this look in her eyes, they were so interested but they almost made me feel dizzy. Naomi was about to answer when the rabbit next to me exclaims “The King!” All eyes turn to the left to see a man in a white stainless suit, a white top hat and shiny white shoes. I look in his eyes and it’s Shean! Our Swim teacher! “I have news for you all,” He announces “I think the queen of hearts might get her way, ever since Alice left all things have been going all wrong. Most of the roses have been painted red!” There was a gasp in the crowd. “So we are pulling all desperate measures. Our white rabbit,” Shean points to the rabbit next to me. “Is busy with the time-checking society so we have recruited a chipmunk to get the job done. Unfortunately I don’t see Alice anywhere…” “Well I can solve that for you.” Talia answers while jumping out of her seat. “Your Alices are right here.” She looks at me and I see that I have to stand up. Naomi shyly slides out of her seat. “So we are here to do what you ask of us.” Talia finishes. “Oh good, Alice is here!” Shean responds, unaware that we aren’t really Alice. “Umm.. were not..” I was cut off quickly but The King when he responds with “Alice, stop worrying just go to the left. No time to waste. Go!” He then pushes Naomi forward and she stumbles tripping over a chair leg. “You better go, no time to waste!” The white rabbit repeats. “You said it not me.” Talia responds as she pushes her way out of the table and follows everyone’s fingers to the left. We all start heading in that direction.

4 Hours Later

We have been officially walking for four hours and we have found nothing. I think we have gone at least ten miles. We started by running, then speed walking, then walking and now we are pretty much crawling. I have never felt worse in my life. I feel like giving up, like lying on the floor and just stopping. I have no will to go forward. Out of all of us, I am doing the worst. But I can’t say that Naomi is doing particularly well. Earlier today at lunch she barely ate anything, and it is kicking in now. She looks hungry, very hungry. Talia looks tired, considering her bunk her bunk is what we call the “Sun Spot” when  the light shines through the window, it goes directly to her. The sun comes in at like 6:30, so not much sleep for her. If it could get worse, her bunk is directly next to the animal pen. Everyone can hear the donkeys, but she is just right next to them. It hits her first. So we all trudge on tired and hungry. Until Talia finds a “drink me” bottle. There is only one. Not three, but one. We can’t share it. “I’ll drink it, it’s my fault that we are here.” Talia speaks wearily. “No.” I respond. “We don’t need it.” Then I see small puffs of smoke. Y-E-S -Y-O-U- D-O- I-F -Y-O-U- W-A-N-T- T-O- K-N-O-W- W-H-E-R-E T-O G-O. The smoke letters read. Then the path ahead of us splits into two, then three and four and it keeps multiplying. “Where is that coming from?” Naomi asks. D-O-W-N H-E-R-E. We all turn our heads and see a small little green creature. Talia then grabs the “drink me”bottle and is about to sip before I yell “Stop! This is Naomi’s job. She is the nicest of us all, so she will be the most likely to get the answer out of him.” I respond. Talia slowly hands Naomi the bottle and Naomi gulps it all down and cringes obviously because of the taste and she starts shrinking and soon she is as small as the creature. We see her talking and he responds but we can’t make out what is happening. Soon we see Naomi make a thumbs up sign and start walking down a path. She beckons us to follow her.

5 minutes later

We have been following Naomi for a few minutes now but we have stopped because there is a random stop sign. We are trying to figure out why we have to stop when we hear a noise from above. “Do you really need to get out of here?” We look up and far in the trees we see a purple and pink blob. The Cheshire Cat! I look up and respond but he is too far up for him to hear us. A small speck of dust falls down into Naomi’s hands. She picks it up, eats it and starts growing, bigger and bigger until she reaches The Cheshire Cat. “Woah you are Isabelle.” We hear her say from up there. “Guys, she is Isabelle who is joining our swim class today and The smoking caterpillar was Ben. Just clearing the air. Why do we need you?” Naomi says turning the attention back to the cat. “Because of this.” Isabelle responds. We see the paths splitting  until there are millions of them. Again. Ugh. “Which one do we go on?” Naomi questions. “What did I tell Alice? I will help you if you know that.” The cat responds. Naomi looks down at us for answers. I know the answer! “I know the answer!’ I scream. “Well tell us.” Naomi responds.  “One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. “Which road should I take?” she asked. His response was a question. “Where do you want to go?” “I don’t know,” Alice answered. “Then,” said the cat “it doesn’t matter.” -Lewis Caroll, Alice In Wonderland.” I said, unaware I knew it so well. “So it doesn’t matter which road we go, they each will take us where we want to go. “ So I stomp off with pride and everyone follows me down the road of my choosing.

2 minutes later

We stop because of a simple reason. The path was blocked by two small boys, with red hair and matching outfits. They were bickering with each other. Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Or should I say Isaac and Moishe. They were two boys in the paddle-boarding class who were always asking us questions. In other words the stalkers. Talia was trying to calm them down. It wasn’t working. We needed Naomi. So we handed her a “drink me”bottle, and down she came. It took five minutes but soon we had passed them and we kept walking.

30 seconds later

I have never been more scared in my life. I look ahead and see the queen of heart’s garden. The roses were all red and the it was heavily guarded. There was no way we could sneak in without making an commotion. We weren’t even sure what we were trying to achieve. “Look!” Talia whispers and points at something. I follow her arm to see Alice! She was chained up and it looked like waiting for her execution. She looked exactly like me, there was no difference. I look around at the guards and see one has a small “drink me”bottle. Only enough for one person. I grab Talia and Naomi and tell them the plan.

10 minutes later

The plan is all set. 3,2,1 go. The plan has started. Talia grabs a stick and goes to the nearest guard. She bumps him on the head and he passes out. She drags him to the side and takes his uniform and gives it to Naomi. She puts it on and walks over to the guard with the “”drink me”bottle. Can she do it? Yes she does. The guard hands her the bottle and she walks over to me”. I grab the bottle and take a sip. I shrink and shrink. I look up and see Naomi pluck a flower and give it to me. I put it on my head. I run into the bush. The bush is cramped and small. I run forward. The thorns are bigger than me so every step is a risk. One prick could kill me. I was scared, but this was my plan. We figured that if Talia’s curiosity got us here, Naomi’s kindness would help with directions, then my wits and intelligence should create the plan to get out of here. Then I have an genuis idea. There is a smaller thorn to my left. It is as tall as me, but not as heavy. I use all my weight to pull it out. In one hand I have the flower to cover me, and in the other hand I have the thorn, my weapon. I reach the end of the bush. I wave the flower up and down as the secret signal. Naomi sees it, whispers something to Talia and Talia yells; “The rabbit, the impostor over there!.” she screams while running across the garden pointing. Everyone is following her. I run across the lawn and I can barely see anything. My eyes are just above grass level. I can’t see Alice, but I can see the chains.  The chains are the weirdest I have ever seen. They look like they are weaved out of flower petals. But when I pull on them, they don’t break. I see Alice turn her head and find me. “Huh!” She jumps back in surprise. She looks at me and goes “Are you a little me? Has the queen sent you?” She looks at me obviously scared and curious. “Who are you talking to?” Someone from behind me demands. I turn my head and see Oh No. The queen of hearts. I can only see the bottom half of her. Red slippers, and a red dress as wide as a cow. “Umm… “ Alice looks at me. “Myself? Yeah Myself.” “Well..” The queen says while bending down. I can almost see her face. Now I can. I see brown hair and a lot of freckles. She has a heart on her lips and her skin looks more pale than usual. I know her! She is the paddle-boarding coach. Her name is Phyllis. I see her leg and a epiphany hits my head. I take my thorn and stab her in the ankle. It sticks and she falls to the floor. She isn’t dead, just passed out. I feel overjoyed. I can’t believe I did it! I defeated the queen of hearts. I still was tiny and I can’t see what is happening. “Huh!’ I feel my stomach churning and pop! I’m back on the path to the lake with Naomi and Talia. I look in their eyes and without talking we exchange glances of confusion. Then Talia and Naomi look down at my hands. “What?” I ask them while looking down. In my hand I see a small, empty “drink me”bottle.