their right flowed a wide, meandering, and crystal clear stream with people floating by on inner tubes. To their left was a small waterfall and pool surrounded by hibiscus plants sporting giant red flowers. The pool was connected to another of the park’s winding streams. As they watched, two young girls drifted by, snorkeling in the clear water.
“I touched it!” one of the girls yelled gleefully, pointing to a small velvety golden ray swimming by, its fins gracefully waving up and down. She popped up under the waterfall, waving happily to Tristan and his family, but was soon distracted by a school of bright yellow fish.
“Hope I get to go in there,” Tristan said.
“Yuck, who’d want to swim in there, probably full of germs, not to mention things that bite and sting,” Susana said.
“You’re just jealous,” Tristan responded.
“You are nuts—certifiable.”
“Okay, kids. I’m sure it’s safe,” their mother said hesitantly, looking to her husband for reassurance. Ever since the shark pool incident she’d kept a close eye on her son. Too close for Tristan, just the other day he asked if she was going to put him on a leash or implant one of those pet-tracking devices under his skin. Scarily, his mother seemed to like that last idea.
A little further down the path they came to a wooden signpost with seven colorful arrows pointing in different directions. The top three arrows showed the way to the Wave Pool, Dolphin Lagoon, and Shark Alley. The bottom four arrows were labeled Bungalow Shore, Poseidon Theater, Rehab Center, and Conch Café. They headed in the direction of Bungalow Shore. Tristan stared wistfully down the path to Shark Alley.
The walkway brought the Hunt family to a high green wall, where a teenager stood holding a clipboard. She had sun-streaked blond hair pulled back in a high ponytail and seemed about the same age as Tristan’s sister. She looked extremely fit and was wearing an aqua blue tank top with a matching pair of shorts, both of which had the shark and wave logo on them.
“Hello. I’m Jade. Welcome to camp,” she said perkily, her ponytail bouncing as she spoke.
“Hello young lady. This is our son, Tristan,” his mother replied, patting him on the head and pushing his hair back from his face. “He’s a new camper.”
Tristan shrank at least several inches from embarrassment.
“Yes, I see,” Jade bubbled, looking down at her clipboard. “You must be Tristan Hunt.”
“Yup,” Tristan muttered, inching away from his mother’s reach.
“Okay then. The bungalows for campers are just a short way past the wall. We’ll get you all set up in your room.”
“Great, thank you,” Tristan’s mother said. “We’ll just go and help him unpack.”
“Oh, no need. I can help Tristan get settled in. You must have a long drive home.”
“Oh no trouble. We’d like to do it. You know, first time at the camp and all.”
“It’s not a problem, really. We help new campers all the time. He’ll be just fine,” Jade assured her, smiling sweetly.
“Ah mom, I think I can handle this,” Tristan said, giving his father a pleading look.
“Alyssa, looks like he’s in good hands,” his father said while staring at his cell phone. “We have a long drive back, even if we only go halfway tonight. And besides, we need to find someplace where I can get a cell signal. I’m expecting an important call from the office.”
Jade took Tristan’s duffle bag from his father. Tristan hugged his mother, who looked like someone was about to hit her with a bat or, at the very least, take away the air she was breathing.
“Seriously, be careful and call us anytime. Call, text, or e-mail every day if you want,” his mother urged.
With her earbuds back in and her head bobbing to some unheard beat, Susana piped in, “Oh mom, he’ll be fine, unless of course he breaks a few bones or something.”
“SUSANA! How can you even say that?”
“Just kidding mom. Jeez, can’t you take a joke?”
Tristan grabbed his backpack and turned to go with Jade. As happened all too often, his feet and long legs got tangled while turning. Tristan spilled awkwardly to the ground.
Jumping up as fast as was humanly possible, he blurted out, “I’m fine, no problem. I’m fine.”
Susana shook her head. Tristan once again saw the look of disappointment in his father’s eyes.
“Son, do try to be careful. And stay in touch, otherwise I’ll have to tie your mother up to prevent her from driving back down here.”
“Cell service really isn’t so great here,” Jade merrily interjected. “But we have a landline he can use once in a while.”
“I’ll be fine and I’ll try to call or e-mail, really.”
Tristan’s father had to literally pull his mother away, just about dragging her back to the car. Tristan was sure there’d be scuff marks from her shoes as his father hauled her away.
“Bye. Be good,” his mother called out, teary-eyed.
Now just the two of them, Tristan stared at Jade more closely. He tried to hide it by leaning forward and letting several nearly nose-length strands of hair fall over his face. Even so, he suddenly felt flush like he’d gotten an instant sunburn. She was one of the prettiest girls he’d ever seen and she moved with an athletic grace he could only dream of.
“Don’t worry, parents are always like that the first time,” Jade said with a knowing and somewhat comforting smile.
“Uh-huh,” was about all Tristan could eek out.
“Okay. First thing you need to know is how to get through the jungle wall.”
“The jungle wall?” Tristan asked.
“It’s meant to keep the regular folks out and let us in.”
“Regular folks?”
“You know, the park visitors—all those screaming kids and their parents. Don’t get me wrong. They’re okay and all. Help keep us going and doing what we do. But we don’t want ’em snooping around and bugging us all the time.”
“Uh, okay,” Tristan said, wondering what in the world she was talking about. It was an ocean and marine life-themed summer camp. There’d probably be silly arts and crafts, running games he’d be worse than horrible at, hopefully some snorkeling, and greasy cardboard-tasting food that slid off the plate.
Tristan moved closer to the tall green barrier ahead. He quickly realized what she meant by jungle wall; it was actually a dense thicket of intertwined plants. There were vines as thick as the rope Tristan had attempted to climb in gym class and some had seriously nasty thorns. They were twisted, curled and snaked around massive tree trunks that resembled long, smooth elephant legs. Tristan thought they’d need a chainsaw to get through or even better, a bulldozer.
“The trick is you just need to know where to step. If it recognizes you, the wall will let you through.”
Tristan looked at the girl like she had vines coming out of her head. “How could the wall, I mean the jungle, know me?”
Jade ignored his question, pointing to a checkerboard of large flat rocks and grass that began where the walkway ended. It extended to the sides of the wall and disappeared beneath it. “These rocks are the key to getting through. Each time you step on the right one, the wall will open up, showing you the way through.”
Tristan nodded his head like he understood what she was saying, but he still had no clue what she was talking about. Maybe her ponytail was pulled too tight.
“Okay. The first rock is the sea