1. Highwater Reserves
She opened the car door and swung her feet outside. With one more glance at her mom, Berry exited the car, tossing herself onto the sidewalk as if that was the only way to get out.
“Try to have fun!” Her mom’s voice flew at her through the open car door. Berry tried to dodge the sound waves and didn’t respond. This wasn’t summer camp. “It’s only a weekend,” her mom tried again, but Berry just pulled her luggage out of the car without looking at her.
“Bye,” Barry said flatly, luggage in one hand, the other holding the door.
“Bye, Berry,” her mom said. Berry slammed the car door and walked away.
Highwater Reserves was not the place for a casual weekend getaway. In fact, everyone that lived anywhere near it tried to stay away.
Highwater Reserves was positioned next to Inversion Lake, which would be scenic enough if not for the variety of freaks that populated the lakeside. All year round, the Reserves took in “troubled youth” and other kids that “just didn’t fit in” and tried to fix them.
If you were being sent to Highwater Reserves, one of two things were true. Either: 1) No one knew you were coming here, and no one would ever find out, or 2) All the other kids have told you repeatedly that you need “The Highwater Treatment” and now you were finally here.
For Berry, the second was true.
Berry was always different than her classmates. Her differences were not so easy to hide, even if she did everything to fit in (which she had tried for the first ten-ish years of her life). But a physical deformity put her at quite a disadvantage, because she had been hearing Highwater jokes for her entire life, no matter how normal she acted.
At a certain point, she had accepted her fate of being made fun of. But she had always vowed to not ever actually end up at Highwater Reserves.
After all, what could a bunch of shrinks do about giant fingers? Cut ’em off?
Berry had definitely considered.
At birth, Berry had looked like a fairly normal kid. Her hands were a little long, and her arms and legs were a little skinny. Then, as she grew, all were surprised to find that she had not two joints per finger, but three. And, each of her fingers were double the length of normal humans’, to boot.
Now, at seventeen years of age, Berry was probably done growing, thank goodness. Her limbs were all long and skinny, and her fingers were even longer and skinnier.
“Spider-fingers”, they called her.
At least her toes were normal.
And today was the day she had finally been forced into it. Highwater Reserves. She and her mom had argued for years, and she and her mom had barely spoken in days. Berry refused to after her mom told her that she was requiring her to go to Highwater.
“It’ll make you feel better about yourself,” her mom had said.
“It’ll permanently label me as a freak!” had been the last words Berry had yelled at her mother.
After that, Berry didn’t speak for a day.
But her mom had already paid (and, boy, this place wasn’t cheap) and there was no turning back, Berry had to go. A weekend, her mom had told her. Short.
Berry had been here two minutes, walking up the gravel path to the lodge, and she was already sick of the place. Everything was moist and buggy, and the pines made weird hissing noises in the wind.
She sighed. 47 hours and 58 minutes to go.
2. Josephine
After Berry had been checked in by the extremely over-friendly "Tamela—call me Tammy", she was told that she was allowed to "explore the campus". Although Berry found this idea immensely unappealing, she found that she had literally nothing else to do.
It was time to meet her temporary prison.
She dropped off her luggage where she was told, and, after discovering that the nametag she had been given read “Barry”, threw it in the nearest trashcan. Tammy had said everyone had to wear one, but considering they hadn’t spelled her name right, Berry didn’t really care. Usually, Berry tried to follow rules, but she was feeling rather reckless here, possibly because she felt more like a caged animal than a free-willed human being.
Her exploration of the Reserves yielded interesting results. First, Highwater Reserves was, indeed, as large as people said it was. The townsfolk talked about how the land stretched on, seemingly forever, so that no one could ever escape. In every direction there were trees, trees, and more pine trees. There were a couple of cabins, and then, of course, Inversion Lake.
The “Welcome Cabin”, conveniently labeled, had been where Berry’s mom had dropped her off, and then the gravel road stretched on for a while until it connected to the highway. No one was going that way unless they were planning on hitchhiking a ride out of here. It would seem like a more appealing idea if any cars ever drove on the highway around here.
In the opposite direction: forest. Berry found the other cabins nearby to be, after a quick inspection, locked. She peered in the windows to find bunks and trunks: real summer camp material. But, they were all empty.
Were there even other people here?
Past these cabins was when things got interesting. First, Berry found a pinata, hanging abandoned in a tree. It was unbroken, and swung limply in the breeze.
Berry made a face at the llama, or horse, or donkey (she really couldn’t tell what animal it was) and continued on.
She found a path, one not made on purpose, but more of a wearing-in of the ground. Following it, she found a series of coolers, all of which were heavily stocked with orange soda, and nothing else.
At the end of the path was a pier, and Berry stopped and looked out over the lake. If she wasn’t so upset that she was here, she would’ve really appreciated the view. The early-evening sun was casting orange light over the lake, and the water sparkled.
Then, she spotted the first sign of life (not including Tammy) that she’d seen at Highwater. And, man, what a sight.
Barry hadn’t known what kinds of people to expect at Highwater. Of course, anyone who looked weird or different, like her, ended up there. But people who acted weird and different came here too. People with mental issues, social issues, various physical deformities and abnormalities… so, in short, she expected a circus.
She found the circus.
Across the water she could see the lakeside, the beachier portion. This was, apparently, the hang out spot. At first glance it would seem like it was just a group of seven normal teens, enjoying a day at the beach.
But, squinting at them, Berry began to see things that weren’t quite right.
There were kids like she expected: one in a wheelchair, one squawking at a couple of birds, and one sitting away from the others, twitching every once and a while.
But others were weirder. One kid was building a sandcastle—like a full on, six-foot castle. Berry hoped she was just miss-seeing what was going on, but it seemed like the kid was able to pack the sand without touching it.
Another kid, this one in the water, was going under, and not coming back up for way too many minutes at a time. Berry hoped they were just an excellent swimmer, but their skin shimmered strangely.
“Josephine?”
Berry nearly jumped out of her skin (and into the lake) when she heard the voice behind her.
She whirled around. The girl behind her was, and there was no easy way to put this, a triops. As in three eyes.
The rest of her was fairly normal; fair-skinned, blonde hair knotted on her head, long lashes, and a thin pink sweater that must be keeping her far too warm in this weather. She was, however, notably short and holding an orange soda.
All three of the eyes blinked at Berry. “Josephine,” the girl repeated, but in a more dejected way. She scrunched her nose at Berry and turned around.
“I’m actually Berry,” Berry said lamely to the girl’s back. It didn’t matter, the girl didn’t look back, just muttered “Josephine” again.
Berry looked back at the kids on the beach, then up at the setting sun. “Please get me out of here,” was her silent prayer to the heavens.
3. Found Files
Despite having followed a path to the pier, it took Berry nearly twenty minutes to find her way back to the welcome cabin. Despite the fact (or the hope) that not all the kids would be as creepy as the girl she'd just met, she was still kind of freaked and wanted to get back to something that resembled normal life. And apparently that was Call-Me-Tammy.
All the pines looked the same, but finally she emerged from the trees and entered the welcome cabin for the second time that day.
The cabin was empty, the receptionist desk vacant.
A large note sat on the desk, though, folded into a tent and arranged to face the door. “Dinner will be in the lunch cabin at 7.”
Two things stood out to Berry: where was said lunch cabin? and more importantly, why on earth would you name a cabin ‘lunch cabin’ if it was for dinner?
Berry was about to sigh and scour the grounds for the lunch/dinner cabin when she saw her name.
A manila folder was open on the desk, and the top paper read:
Berry Robinson, 17: elongated phalanges
Surveillance needed: none, not prone to violence
Entry date: July 08, 2011
Planned exit date: July 10, 2011
Exit date:
Berry’s eyebrows drew together, wondering why all this information was necessary, and shifted the paper to see what was behind it. A photograph of herself, fingers splayed. She was young, seven or eight, and laughing. Her dark hair was nearly at her shoulders, the longest she’d ever had it. Now she kept it at a pixie cut.
Berry covered the picture back up. It was probably the most recent picture with her hands in it at all; she always hid them behind her back now.
There was nothing else in her folder, and, considering Berry was already poking around, she looked behind the desk at the filing cabinet. Basically a gold mine, right? It was like Tammy wanted her to peek.
Berry pulled open a drawer—unlocked—to find alphabetical names like she expected. She pulled one at random.
Brandon Jenkins, 9: extreme flexibility
Surveillance needed: frequent – aggressive behavior when stressed
Entry date: Oct. 29, 2010
Planned exit date: Nov. 05, 2010
Exit date: Nov. 12, 2010
Berry glanced at the photo, a blonde boy with his legs stretched over his head like an acrobat. She thought it was a little silly that he had come to Highwater at all; flexibility was a cool uniqueness.
She wondered why he had stayed a week longer that his ‘planned exit date’, and found her answer in the other papers in his folder. Apparently, he had had violent outbursts, with one report describing how he could “contort his way out of any restraints we tried to put him in”. The unfortunate end of the report was that he had been sedated after he had hit another lodger. (Berry concluded that ‘lodger’ was a codeword for ‘prisoner’ here at Highwater.)
Berry replaced the file, and searched for another. It took some time to find, but finally she found one with the name Josephine.
But, curiously, it was a double file. “Josephine & Amelia Tempsi.” Inside, a photograph of twins, who both looked exactly like the girl she’d run into. So, Amelia had been looking for her sister.
“Hello?” Call-Me-Tammy appeared from some unknown back entrance.
As quickly as she could, Berry shoved the file back into the drawer, and shut it. Shame turning her face red, Berry stuttered an excuse, “I’m so sorry! I was lost and I just found—I saw your note! Where is dinner?”
Horrified that she’d been caught snooping (something she never did) and equally horrified by her extreme ungracefulness in the face of getting caught, Berry died a little inside.
Tammy didn’t seem too upset. “Oh, you must be hungry! I hope you liked your exploring time. We like to let all you kids have some freedom around here to get comfortable. I can take you to the lunch cabin,” she said with a smile.
Berry slid guiltily away from the desk, nodding. “That’d be great, thanks.” Berry smiled, but it was a little forced. She wasn’t very hungry. In fact, the thought of entering a cabin with other kids in it made her insides feel quite empty. But it seemed there wasn’t much else to do.
So, Berry followed Tammy out into the evening air.
4. Dinner at Lunch
The lunch cabin was down a dirt path lined by small, hand-painted stones. Berry was surprised she hadn’t run across the path in her previous wanderings. She supposed that showed just how big the Reserves were.
It was a bigger cabin than the others, and it had picnic tables out front. A few kids were already sitting with cafeteria-style trays, and their eyes followed her as she approached.
Tammy released her there with “Have a great dinner!” and a giant grin, so Berry was forced to go in alone. There was a surprisingly small amount of direction here, and that worried her a little. She was used to a more rigid schedule.
Inside, there were long wooden tables and benches, and a serving line on the left side. Nervously, Berry got in line.
Glancing around, she thought she recognized some of the kids who had been playing at the lakeside, but it was hard to tell (they had been pretty far away).
“What’s your name?” came an alarmingly cheerful voice. Berry realized the person in front of her in line was not only speaking to her, but some sort of counselor.
Berry quickly tucked her hands into her jacket pockets, on old habit, and looked over the girl quickly.
She was tall and looked to be in her early twenties. Her hair was styled in identical braids and she had a very symmetric face; when she smiled, both sides had dimples. She was wearing a maroon polo with the words ‘Highwater Reserves’ embroidered on the front, and baggy cargo pants. (Was that the uniform?) To top it off, her name tag read “Kristee” and was embellished with far too many glittery sticker hearts.
Berry looked around as if she’d be able to find a place to hide in a lunchroom (sorry, lunch cabin), and her eyes finally settled on Kristee’s chin, which was at eye-height. “Um, Berry. I just got here.”
The words were barely out of her mouth when Kristee said, “Fantastic! It’s great to meet you, Berry! We’ll be eating dinner, then breaking up into small groups for an evening activity! For now, I’ll show you to a table I think you’ll like!”
Berry could virtually see the exclamation points flying out of the other girl’s mouth, and tried to keep the polite smile on her face.
True to her word, after both of them were served a generous blob of mashed potatoes with chicken nuggets on the side, Kristee steered Berry to a section of table near the doors.
Two kids about her same age were at the table already. The girl was very pretty despite (or perhaps because of) her lack of hair. It looked very bad-ass to Berry, but maybe that was the heavy black eyeliner talking.
The boy was listening to her talk, and he looked suspiciously normal until he turned his head. The left side of his face was scarred; it looked like burns but it also didn’t look that bad. As in he still had a pretty nice face. Not that she was a great judger of faces.
Berry realized that Kristee was talking again. “—so I think you’ll all get along super good! I’ll be over at the counselor table if you need me!”
Kristee bounced away and Berry stood awkwardly before lowering herself down next to the girl.
She realized that they had probably already seen her hands, and that at this place it would be fine, but she still slid them carefully from under the tray onto her lap. Hidden.
“So you got here today? How long are you in for?” asked the girl. She swung a leg over to the other side of the bench, straddling it to face Berry. Berry noted that her black converse were muddy, as were the ends of her black jeans. Her dark grey tank top, however, was mud-free.
“I’m just here for the weekend,” she said, glancing between her two table mates. She was hungry, but she didn’t like them watching her, and she didn’t want to lift her hands above the table.
The boy with the scars nodded. “In and out, that would be nice.” He had nice blue eyes and short dark hair. He was wearing a thin forest-green hoodie with the words “Gotham City University” on it, which meant: nerd. (Berry wasn’t judging too hard; she had recognized the Batman reference, after all.)
“How long are you guys here?” Berry asked. She still didn’t even know their names, but her social ineptitude prevented her from asking. Heck, Kristee probably said their names while she wasn’t listening.
Scar Boy said, “I’m here a week. So, six more days.” So, he just arrived as well.
Eyeliner Girl laughed unabashedly. “You guys are funny. I’ve been here for a month. I don’t know if they’ll ever let me out.” She didn’t look upset, just amused by this fact.
Berry had an uneasy feeling in her stomach that made her want to eat her potatoes and chicken even less.
"I'm kidding!" Eyeliner said, turning back to her food. She pushed a chicken nugget into her mouth then said around it, "Well, I'm not kidding about being here for a month. They won't let me go until I 'learn to respect my peers', which I totally do." She snickered at Scar, who smiled a little. He did however, share a small, worried glance with Berry. She was glad he seemed normal.
"Anyone else want more nugs?" Eyeliner said, standing. Berry realized that she had eaten only the 'nugs' and none of the potatoes.
"No thanks," Scar said. Berry shook her head.
Eyeliner got up, and Berry stared at her food until Scar leaned over the table towards her. "Sorry, can you remind me of your name? I'm so sorry, I always forget..."
Berry actually laughed. "No, thank goodness you asked, I don't know either of yours," she admitted, looking at him. "I'm Berry."
He smiled back and reached out a hand. "Finn. And that's Indigo."
For a moment Berry weighed the social consequences of refusing to shake hands, then forced herself to raise a hand and put it quickly in his.
She didn't miss the surprise on his face.
Her face heated and her eyes dropped down to her untouched food. Her hand retreated quickly back under the table.
5. Scavengers
The awkwardness Berry had initially felt was evaporated by Indigo’s reappearance. She had loaded her plate with more chicken nuggets as well as procured a cookie for each of them.
Her return brought a welcome distraction: Indigo launched into a story about the spooky little graveyard back home, which allowed Berry to feel comfortable enough to finally eat.
She found herself enjoying her company, and (several cookies later) dinner was over, and the lodgers were expected outside for ‘a fun activity’.
Everyone in the lunch cabin was herded outside, and they all stood and chatted or stared at one another in the pink light from the slowly setting sun.
Berry lingered by the lunch cabin’s doors and buried her hands in her pockets, hoping for some direction.
Indigo had made her way headfirst into the small crowd of people, and was now talking (or perhaps arguing?) with a boy with large glasses and a camera. And Berry had somehow lost sight of Finn, even though the total number of kids gathered was probably only around thirty.
It didn’t matter much; Berry was used to being left behind.
Kristee and another Highwater counselor with a nametag reading ‘Twain’ and muscles reading ‘Do Not Mess With Me’ made their way to the front of the pack.
“Hello, Lodgers! We have a super fun activity planned for today!” Kristee belted over the murmur of voices. “It’s a scavenger hunt so you need a team! That means more than one!” Kristee sent a sharp smile to a young boy off to Berry’s left, who glared back with crossed arms.
Berry curiously noted that another counselor, this one wearing a white polo, was watching the boy quite carefully.
“You can pick a team and tell Twain who’s in it, or come to me and I will help you find one!” Kristee ended the instruction with an enthusiastic arm-wave, signaling the lodgers to get group-making.
“You wanna be in a group?”
Berry was surprised to find Finn beside her. “Oh, yeah, sure,” Berry said, looking at the ground. She had thought she would probably end up in the glaring boy’s group, but this was certainly better.
“Maybe Indigo will be in our group too,” Finn said, starting forward.
In the end, their group was Berry, Finn, Indigo, and the camera boy that Indigo had been talking to. Kristee gave them a list of things to find and told them very firmly, but very cheerfully, to stick together, then sent them off.
They began to wander off into the trees, like the other groups.
“This is Peter,” Indigo said as they walked, gesturing vaguely at the fourth member of their group.
Peter looked older than Berry by a few years, and had big, sea-green eyes that were magnified by his round glasses. He would have appeared normal, but Berry still hadn’t seen him blink…which was pretty off-putting. The boy also clutched his small point-and-shoot camera so tightly in his right hand that his knuckles were white. He had still not taken any pictures.
Berry gave Peter a tight-lipped smile as a greeting. Luckily, it seemed that he was not going to try and shake her hand. “Hello,” Berry said after a silent moment. “I’m Berry.”
He looked to Berry briefly, then stared forward into the pines and said, “So nice to meet you,” in a surprisingly genuine tone.
“Guys,” said Finn suddenly, holding up the scavenger hunt list. “I think I found something!”
He informed them that one of the items was ‘a rock that looks like something else’ then bent down to pick up a rock. He held it for the rest of them to see.
It looked like a rock.
“That’s a very vague description… Are they all like this?” Berry asked, squinting at the rock. She couldn’t make out any special shape.
“Get used to it,” Indigo said, then grabbed Peter’s arm. “Hey! Take a picture of that!” She pointed him in the direction of the sunset, which was now a bright golden color.
Finn, with a glance to their two distracted teammates, shared the list with Berry.
Scavenger Hunt!
Find:
1. Something round
2. A rock that looks like something else
3. An item that represents each lodger in your group
DO NOT:
Try to carry items that are BIG or HEAVY.
Take other people’s things without permission.
Leave your group.
“Let’s find something round next,” said a voice from behind Berry, causing her to jump. Peter stood just behind her, reading over her shoulder.
Indigo had her arms crossed. “What’s the rock supposed to be, anyway?” she asked Finn.
He turned it over in his palm. “It looks like a flame to me.”
Indigo let out a single laugh. “Of course it does.” Then, she stepped forward and swiped the list from Finn’s hand. “We should look for the round thing next,” she decided, and marched forward.
Peter followed her closely, and Finn looked to Berry. “She could’ve asked,” he said with an amused smile.
Berry laughed, and then the two of them continued after Indigo.
6. Med Time
While Indigo lectured Peter on which acorn was the most round, Berry contemplated whether to ask Finn something or not. He seemed busy, looking in the bushes for something that ‘represented him’ as the Scavenger Hunt said, but not too busy.
“Is it always like this?” she finally asked in a hushed voice, drawing near to him. She didn’t want to offend anyone, but everything that had happened (and almost everyone) was seriously weird.
Finn held up a twig and squinted at it. “What do you mean? The scavenger hunt? This is the first one I’ve done.”
Berry pretended to be thoroughly looking through the bushes herself and said, “I mean, do they always just let you wander around? This is supposed to be, like… rehabilitation.”
“Well,” Finn started, looking up at her.
“This is the roundest!” announced Indigo, suddenly appearing beside Berry. She held out a fairly round acorn to Berry. “Hold it,” she ordered.
Not wanting to argue, Berry took the acorn and looked at it in her palm. She realized it looked extra small against her long fingers.
“I like your hands.”
With wide eyes, Berry looked up at Peter, whose ginormous eyes stared back. Heck, why didn’t they turn his eyes in for something round?
Before Berry could say anything, Peter had reached for his camera and click! took a picture of her hands with the acorn.
What was wrong with him?
“Peter, you’re weirding her out,” Indigo chastised, grabbing onto his arm. She then turned to Berry. “He has this thing about photographing weird things—what do they say? Our uniquenesses—and doesn’t like taking pictures of anything else. Quite bothersome. Can’t take him anywhere,” she said with a shrug and a smile.
Berry’s eyebrows drew together. “Oh,” was all she managed.
“Did you find anything, Finn?” Indigo asked cheerily.
It took them another half hour to finish traipsing through the woods. By the end, they had a rock, an acorn, a berry (clever, right?), an old shoe they found, and a shell from the sandy bit by the lake.
Peter wanted his camera to be his item, which Berry had thought shouldn’t be allowed, but it wasn’t explicitly against the rules, so she didn't say anything.
The shoe was Indigo’s because “no one wanted it” (a depressing sentiment), and the shell was Finn’s because “it’s what’s inside that counts”. He had said this with a rather cheesy grin, and something about it made Berry think he’d been planning this joke for some time.
When they arrived back at the lunch cabin, the sky was purpley-dark, and most of the other lodgers were hanging around, seemingly done with the scavenger hunt already.
Twain The Muscle Man greeted their group, and accepted their items (save Peter’s camera) with just a slight grimace at the aged tennis shoe.
Then, Berry lingered uneasily next to Peter while Indigo discussed a TV show Berry had never heard of with Finn.
During this time, Berry looked around at the Highwater lodgers. She counted twenty-three, not including the two maroon polos (counselors) or the many white polos (which Berry still did not know the purpose of). The employees in white seemed to be more bodyguard-like, and stood at varying distances, watching the lodgers like hawks.
Berry also thought she caught a glimpse of Amelia’s—or Josephine’s—pink sweater, but a large boy with a baseball cap was standing in her way. Berry had nearly forgotten that her strange encounter with the girl had happened that same day.
Three more people returned, bringing Berry’s official count of lodgers up to twenty-six. After they handed in a variety of items, Kristee clapped her hands twice.
“Thank you all for participating! Now, we have one more thing to do before bedtime!” Kristee’s bright eyes swung over the crowd, and locked with Berry’s.
Oh no.
“We have a new lodger!” Kristee squealed, rushing forward, braids flying. She grabbed Berry’s hand and urged her forward, to the front of the lunch cabin where she’d been standing. “This is—” she stopped, looking at Berry.
“Where’s your nametag?” Kristee asked in a low voice, head cocked.
Berry was dying here, being shown off like a prize in front of everyone, and Kristee was concerned about her nametag?
“I’m Berry,” Berry reminded her.
“I know,” Kristee said through a suddenly stiff smile. Then, to the rest of the group, “Meet Berry Robinson!”
So, Kristee did know her name.
There was scattered applause, and a very loud, slow clap from Indigo, who whooped a little as well.
“Med time, everyone!” Kristee yelled, and the kids began to disperse. Berry thought that this time Kristee said ‘bedtime’ sounded a lot like ‘med time’.
“You can follow me, Berry,” Kristee said. Suddenly, Berry had a feeling she was going to be punished for throwing her nametag in the trash.
Everyone seemed to be moving in the same direction, Kristee included. As they walked, Kristee said, “Do you have the nametag?”
“I—I didn’t think it was important, it—I mean, my name was spelled wrong. I, just, I threw it out. Sorry,” Berry managed.
Kristee gave Berry a walking side-hugged. “No biggie! Just ask before you throw things out! We could’ve gotten you a new one,” she said.
They stopped in front of a grey cabin. While everyone else lined up under the watchful gaze of the White Polos, Kristee steered Berry inside.
“There are just a couple of things we like to do before bed,” Kristee explained.
The inside of the cabin was white-walled and disturbingly clinical; the cabin exterior must have been a façade. There was a hallway with three doors, and Berry was shown into the first. It looked like a nurse’s office.
“Wait here. I’ve got to get Dr. Buntly,” Kristee said warmly. Berry nodded uneasily, and Kristee left the room, shutting the door behind her.
7. Dr. Buntly’s Office
Berry stared around the small room. There was a single blue plastic chair, one of those tall, padded exam tables, and the door. Other than that, the room was clean and white and doctor-y.
It was a very different vibe than being in the woods outside.
Tentatively, Berry edged towards the door and listened. She heard nothing, and gently tried to turn the doorknob. She wasn’t planning on leaving; just peeking out of the room.
This idea was quickly foiled, as the knob refused to turn. A new, much more worrisome idea formed in her head: she’d been locked in.
What were they planning on doing to her?
Berry jumped nearly a foot in the air when the door opened. A small, rat-like man entered, dressed in an oversize lab coat and a crooked tie. (Berry generally didn’t describe people as animal-like, but his small eyes and large nose made him very…rodent-y.) His hair was thinning, and he was nondescriptly middle-aged.
“Berry. I am Dr. Buntly. We just have a few…precautionary procedures, and you’ll be joining the rest of the lodgers in no time.”
He had a thin-lipped smile.
“Jump up and take a seat,” he said. She didn’t like the way his eyes ate at her exposed fingers. She obeyed, and tucked her hands into her pockets.
“Excellent. Very quickly, we’re going to take a pulse. Hand?” He pushed up his sleeves, the excessive fabric bunching. He was holding a flesh-colored wristband, but Berry hadn’t seen where it had come from.
She held out her left hand, fingers curled up to look smaller.
“What’s that?” she asked as he took her wrist.
Two of his fingers took her pulse, while the other hand came suddenly down—prick! Berry tried to pull her hand back towards her, but Dr. Buntly kept a firm grip.
“Everyone gets a wristband, for safety,” he said, as if he hadn’t just stabbed her wrist. He was securing the wristband, which apparently had some sort of needle in it. “There. Easy, painless.”
His grip released, and Berry cradled her left hand. Her wrist stung, and when she moved her hand, she felt an unpleasant poking feeling. Kinda like there was a needle in her wrist.
Berry looked up at Dr. Buntly, feeling rather distressed. “What is this?” she demanded, though her voice sounded moderately weak.
The doctor was busy pulling a small device out of his lab coat and clicking buttons on it, but he replied colorlessly, “All lodgers are required to wear their wristbands. It keeps us informed about how you are doing and allows us to monitor your health to better help you.”
It sounded very rehearsed.
“Vitals look normal.” He was staring at his tiny screen, clicking again. Berry wondered for a moment what would happen if she jumped up and ran out of the room.
“You can…track me? All of us?” asked Berry.
Dr. Buntly pocketed his device and procured a swab from his coat pocket. He impatiently pushed up his sleeves, which had fallen over his hands. “We make sure you’re healthy with these wristbands. They’re very important. And innovative.” He held up the swab. “Say ‘ah’.”
Grudgingly, Berry opened her mouth and let him swab.
He enclosed her saliva swab in a little container. “You’re done. I’ll see you again soon, Berry.”
Berry hoped to not see that rat-man soon, and stood quickly, barely able to stop herself from bolting out the door. Relieved, she forced herself to walk at a normal pace past him, back into the little hallway. Outside sounded very good right now.
Upon exiting the medical cabin, Berry nearly ran over Kristee, who was standing literally right outside the door.
“Excellent! Come with me, Berry, I’m going to show you to your cabin!”
Berry looked around, and noted that most of the other lodgers were already gone. She saw no signs of Indigo, or Finn, or Peter. Three kids stood by a little drive-thru-style window, and Berry watched them receive pill cups from someone inside the cabin.
It really was med time.
With no other choice, and a very strong desire to sleep, Berry followed Kristee through the dense pines. It was dark now, probably around nine pm, but the air was still warm and buggy.
Berry walked, thinking and listening to the crickets and frogs.
“I don’t have to take any meds, right? I don’t need any,” Berry said to Kristee’s back.
The counselor looked back at her. “Well, you’ll have a chat with Dr. Dawn tomorrow, who will tell you more about the kinds of help we provide here. She’s super nice! Today was more of a relaxing, settling-in day. I hope it was fun!”
Berry smiled at Kristee, but the other girl hadn’t answered her question. This whole day was making her more and more confused.
She wanted to go home.
“Here it is! You only have two cabin mates right now, but you will love them!”
Berry stopped beside Kristee, who was grinning excitedly. Berry wondered if they were looking at the same cabin.
It was small, and brown, and had ivy growing up the sides. It looked like the rest of this place: well-worn and overrun by nature. Berry did notice, however, that it was near other cabins, some of which were lit and noisy. This set of cabins must be where all the lodgers stayed.
“Your luggage is inside already!” Krsitee said, tossing a blonde braid over her shoulder. “The only rule is that you must be nice to your cabinmates! You can come outside during the night, but don’t go too far. We’ll know!” Kristee punctuated her last sentence with a toothy smile and a downward flick of her eyes—the wristband.
Berry nodded, too tired to speak, and trudged up the wooden steps to her temporary home.
8. The Cabinmates
Inside, the cabin lights were dim.
There was enough light to see, thankfully, and Berry saw four bunk-beds. A lot of beds for three people. There were also little dressers and mirrors placed sporadically around the room, as well as a couple of wooden chairs that looked like they could be from the eighteen-hundreds.
The walls were covered with a faded orange-striped wallpaper, and there was a large circular rug on the ground, possibly hand-woven. The only other door than the one Berry came in was in the back corner, seemingly a bathroom.
Honestly, it was about what Berry expected.
What she hadn’t expected was her cabinmates, who she had hoped were at least kind of normal.
“Shut, up, Mindy!” came a hushed whisper. Berry looked over at the nearest bunkbed, where a freckled girl sat. Berry had seen her in passing before, at the lunch cabin. Had Berry seen her anywhere but Highwater, she’d have assumed she was just a normal girl. She looked about ten years old and had a mess of long, red hair.
“Sorry about that,” the girl said. She looked at Berry, her head tilted to the side, her eyes sizing her up.
“Um, I’m Berry,” said Berry with an uncomfortable smile. She still didn’t know who the girl had been talking to; there were no signs of the third cabinmate.
“Quit your whining!” the girl whisper-yelled to the wall on her left, then drew her eyes back up to Berry’s. “I’m Gwen. Mindy says you’re reeeeally pretty.” Gwen giggled.
Berry’s eyes darted around the room, questioning her own sanity. Mindy…who?
“Thanks,” Berry said to no one in particular.
Gwen hugged herself and muttered a couple of words Berry couldn’t make out. Then, dramatically, Gwen said, “Goodnight!” and threw herself flat on her bed.
Berry tiptoed around Gwen as if afraid to wake her.
The next bunkbed over had Berry’s familiar suitcase on it. Thank goodness.
Still not spotting anyone other than Gwen, Berry got out her pajamas and headed to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Once there, she pulled off her jacket, then stopped.
She had nearly forgotten about the wristband, which blended in very well against her skin. She held her left arm up to the light to inspect. It was an odd thing.
It was plastic-y and hard, much like a hospital wristband, but the color nearly perfectly matched the pink skin of her wrist. Berry swore it had been more…generically tan before.
Luckily, her wrist didn't sting like it had initially. Nonetheless, Berry tried halfheartedly to pull the wristband off. She knew instinctually that her attempt wouldn’t work (and it didn’t), but she tried anyway.
Berry emerged from the bathroom clad in her plaid pajama bottoms and pale-yellow tank top. Feeling more and more worn out by the minute, she collapsed into bed, and waited for sleep to take her.
* * *
The next morning brought more surprises.
“Stop, you’ll wake her up!”
Berry had slept fitfully all night, and groaned when she heard voices. She had no idea what time it was, but she didn’t trust her surroundings enough not to check what was going on.
It turned out it was, indeed, morning, which Berry deduced based on the slanted sunlight spilling through the cabin windows. The daylight made everything in the cabin look even more worn and dusty.
The cause of the noise was what Berry deduced next. It was very clearly Gwen.
“Do the dance again!”
Childish squeals of laughter rang through the cabin, and Berry wondered if the other cabins could hear it too.
Berry rolled out of bed (quite literally) and stretched, aching from the hard mattress.
“Look, Mindy, you woke her up!” Gwen scolded.
Berry looked over at Gwen, who was sitting absolutely alone on her bottom bunk, an untamed mass of red hair tumbling down her shoulders.
The young girl smiled up at Berry. “Morning! Sorry Mindy’s being so loud.” Gwen gave a hard stare to the cabin wall beside her. “They told me to tell you to go to the lunch cabin for breakfast.”
Berry bobbed her head in acknowledgement. “Who told you?” she asked politely. She wasn’t sure if Gwen was a great source of information.
Gwen made a face and tapped her nose with an index finger. Berry’s eyes trailed down to the girl’s wrist. Her eyes barely made out the wristband, the color was yet again so close to her skin tone.
“I don’t remember who, but they told me,” Gwen said, looking sheepish.
“Oh. That’s ok,” Berry said. The words had just left her mouth when a shadow moved in the corner of the room.
She was so surprised to find someone else in the room, Berry’s whole body froze for a second.
The top bunk of the bed furthest away was, apparently, inhabited. There was no way for Berry to know for how long this someone had been there, but a lanky girl jumped nimbly down then slunk her way straight past both Berry and Gwen, straight out of the cabin.
The girl somehow managed to avoid stepping anywhere where there was sunlight, so Berry didn’t get a good look at her. It had been a blur of black hair and black clothes.
“Is that Mindy?” Berry asked Gwen, eyes lingering on the cabin door, as if the mysterious girl would pop back in.
“Mindy?!” Gwen let out a shriek of laughter. “No way! Kala doesn’t ever speak, and Mindy talks all the time! Besides, Mindy’s right here.” Gwen gestured to the empty air to her right. “Mindy sleeps in the bunk above me.”
“Oh,” was all Berry could think to say.
9. Biscuits and Gravy
Berry got dressed as quick as she could. Gwen’s singing and talking were already getting very annoying. Finally exiting the cabin, Berry let the door slam, trapping her roommate’s jabbering from following her outside.
Already the sun was hot on her skin. Normally Berry always wore a jacket or sweater with long sleeves to hide her long hands. Today, though, she just bunched them into fists at her sides. It was much too hot to wear anything more than a t-shirt.
It didn’t take Berry long to find Twain, the buff counselor, as he was seated on a log outside the cabins, lounging and eating an apple. He took a large bite then directed Berry to the lunch cabin with a few gruff instructions on how to get there.
So, Gwen had been right.
* * *
Berry sat, alone, and nibbled on her biscuits and gravy. She concluded that the gravy was questionable, but the biscuits were actually quite good.
“You don’t want to sit with us?” Finn stood in front of her trying to look offended, but the playful quirk of his mouth broke the charade. He pointed at the table he had come from when she looked up.
Berry scooped up some gravy, then let it fall off her fork. “Oh. I didn’t see you over there,” she said.
Clearly, she was lying, and she thought he probably recognized that fact, but the truth was that she was used to eating alone. Even here she was unsure whether she was welcome among the other kids.
Berry had never really known what friends were like.
She picked up her breakfast and relocated, sitting down next to Finn, across from Peter. The fourth seat at the table was empty.
“Where’s Indigo?” Berry asked.
Peter didn’t answer, as he was busy very quickly shoveling gravy into his mouth. Berry wasn’t even sure he had time to breathe.
Finn glanced at Peter, then shrugged. “She’s never here at breakfast. But then again, I’ve only been here one day longer than you.”
Berry nodded and smiled politely. She had sat down on Finn’s left, the side of his face that was scarred, and was currently contemplating how rude it was to ask about it. Very rude, she decided, thinking about her hands. She slid them into her lap.
She glanced up to see Peter’s round eyes. Watching.
Berry gave him a small smile and hoped he didn’t notice her shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
She looked around and spotted Gwen chatting at another table, which prompted her to turn to Finn, who was reluctantly eating his breakfast gravy. “Do you know Gwen or Kala? They’re my cabinmates.”
Finn scrunched his eyebrows in a thinking expression. “Yeah, I’ve met Kala, I think. I’m not sure about Gwen.”
Berry risked a glance across the table at Peter, but he was still urgently spooning gravy into his mouth. How had he not eaten it all yet?
“Do you know anything, you know, about them?” Berry wasn’t sure how taboo it was around here to talk about other people’s ‘uniquenesses’, but she was curious.
Finn set down his spoon and turned to her. “Oh, wait, I think I know Gwen. She sees people, right?”
Berry nodded, slightly relieved. Gwen was the crazy one, not her. It felt good to hear that affirmed. Mindy wasn’t real.
Finn continued in a low voice, “And Kala, all I know is that she likes to keep to herself. I was paired with her for the activity on my first day. All she said to me was ‘stay out of the lake’. Suffice to say, we did not win the trivia contest.”
"Hm," Berry said, then took a bite of biscuit, thinking.
“Berry! Hi, so sorry to cut your breakfast short, but Dr. Dawn would like to see you now. I can save that gravy for later, if you’d like!” Kristee, wearing the same double braids and shiny smile as the day before, stood next to their table.
Berry glanced at Finn, but she couldn’t read his expression. She stood and addressed Kristee, “No, thanks. I’m done with the gravy.”
Berry then followed Kristee out of the lunch cabin. She thought she heard Peter’s voice on the way out saying, “I’ll eat it.”
10. Meeting Dr. Dawn
From what Kristee told her, Dr. Dawn was a therapist of types, something Berry was used to dealing with.
Her mother never allowed Berry to get her fingers surgically fixed, mainly because of the difficulties and dangers due to her extra joints. Instead, she sent Berry to various doctors specializing in making Berry feel comfortable in the body she was given.
Obviously, none of it worked, and the Doctors were much too talkative and very much not helpful.
At first glance, Dr. Dawn seemed strangely different. Her office was a large room with lots of colorful paintings hung on the walls, beanbag chairs, and a jar of cookies on the desk against the back wall.
The doctor herself was short and dark-skinned, with long braids styled nicely on her head. She wore a printed dress, colorful and bright. She smiled warmly when Berry entered the room.
Berry was very glad to be here, and not with Dr. Buntly.
“Berry Robinson, very nice to meet you.” Dr. Dawn was holding a folder in one hand and reached the other out for a handshake.
Berry forced herself to shake Dr. Dawn’s hand, which gave the doctor a full view of her very long finger. Berry kept her eyes down, on the folder in Dr. Dawn’s other hand. It was her file.
Dr. Dawn sat in one of the beanbag chairs and gestured for Berry to do the same. Berry sank down into the bright yellow mass, struggling to not get swallowed by it.
Dr. Dawn was perched on her own lime-green beanbag chair easily and gracefully.
“Berry, I’d like you to tell me why you’re here. And remember, you can tell me anything. What we talk about here is confidential and kept just between the two of us.”
Berry struggled to not roll her eyes. All the doctors said that, but her mother always heard everything. “I’m here because my mom sent me here,” Berry said. The truth.
“Do you think you should be here, Berry?” Dr. Dawn leaned slightly forward in her beanbag.
Berry looked around the room, searching for a response. “I don’t know,” she finally said. It was a stupid response, but it was also the truth.
Dr. Dawn just nodded. She didn’t scribble on a notepad like other doctors, which was nice.
“Why don’t you know, Berry? What makes you think you should be here?”
The beanbag was too enveloping, and Berry wished she didn’t have to be here. She shifted, and the beans made a loud crunching noise.
“I’m different than other people,” she said. She knew how these sessions worked. You keep it short, simple. Give the doctor less to pry at.
Dr. Dawn’s warm brown eyes watched her. “Different than other people? How so?”
Classic repeating what you said trick.
“You may have noticed my hands,” Berry said, tucking them into her armpits.
Dr. Dawn noted her change in posture. “I did notice your hands, Berry. They are remarkable, as are the uniquenesses of everyone else at Highwater. You don’t need to hide your gifts, Berry.”
Berry sunk deeper into the beanbag and did not move her hands. Gifts. Ha.
“This is a safe, open space, Berry. Do you dislike your hands?”
Berry stared at the painting on the wall across from her. It was a large purple house with green windows and a yellow mailbox. The colors were splotchy and bright.
It wasn’t a very good painting.
“They’re just hands,” Berry said flatly.
Dr. Dawn’s lips turned into a thin-lipped smile. Berry noted that her lipstick shade almost matched the color of the painted house.
“Alright, we’ll talk about your hands some more later. How are you liking Highwater Reserves, Berry?”
“It’s fine.”
“Have you made any friends?”
“Yeah, I guess.” It was always better to tell therapists that you have friends.
Dr. Dawn smiled. “That’s good to hear, Berry. Who?”
Berry hesitated. She wasn’t sure whether it was because of the label ‘friend’ or just her general want to keep information to herself.
“Finn,” Berry said eventually. “And Indigo.” Berry considered mentioning Peter, but the word friend could only stretch so far.
“Finn is a good kid. And Indigo… Indigo I know quite well.” Berry was interested to see that Dr. Dawn looked surprised by her mention of Indigo. “Do you feel comfortable around them?”
The beanbag made loud bean noises again as Berry shifted. She told herself to keep still. “Yeah, sure,” Berry said half-heartedly.
Her response was too quick, though, and she knew Dr. Dawn caught that fact because of the narrowing of the doctor’s eyes.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
“Berry, do you want to change?” Dr. Dawn raised her eyebrows slightly, watching Berry.
Berry just blinked. What kind of a question was that?
“I want…”
But Berry left the trailing silence go on too long, and a high-pitched beeping began.
Dr. Dawn stood swiftly and switched the timer on the edge of her desk off.
“Looks like our time is up, Berry. Why don’t you think about that last question, and we’ll talk more later?”
Berry stood, rustling the beanbag thoroughly in her attempt to escape it. “Ok,” Berry said, somewhat flustered. How soon was ‘later’?
Dr. Dawn smiled her purple-lipsticked smile and opened her office door to let Berry out.
Berry exited, her answer ringing in her mind. I want to be normal.