All morning the girls of the Turtles cabin had prepared for the picnic they were going to have for lunch. They had baked treats, made flags, and cut watermelon. Now they were setting out on their picnic. The girls sat down and prepared to spread out the blanket. Mckenna pulled the blanket out of the basket and looked down into it. No food was to be seen. She turned to look at Lea. “You have the food in your backpack right?” She asked.
“No, I thought you had it.”
“We left it at camp.” The two girls said it in sync.
“That’s okay.” Said Eileen. “We can pick berries.” Everyone turned to look above them. A berry tree that no one except Eileen had seen was in the sky. Lea and Mckenna set off to get some berries. Lea balanced on a branch. While Mckenna just sat on a stem. The basket was nestled in the vines. Meanwhile the girls left behind prepared everything. They laid out the picnic blanket, picked leaves to use as napkins and plates, picked flowers to put in the basket, found a berry bowl, and put out sticks to use as stabbers. Lea and Mckenna returned. Seeing everything they were delighted. They nestled the berries in the bowl and settled the flowers in the basket. Sitting down to eat, the berries looked so good they were eaten soon. When everything was packed away and ready to go back to camp Grace spoke up. This was great and all, but maybe we can have another picnic, this time with food?
This week’s theme is Patriotic to honor Independence day. Today they are doing a parade! (It is, after all, the Fourth of July) Happy Independence day! Riley was at the start of the parade. She was to sing, but she was scared. What if everyone laughed at her, or she forgot the words! I don’t want to do this! She thought. She looked back at her friends. They all seemed to be encouraging her. Then she remembered something her music teacher had told her when she was scared to sing. ‘If you get scared and run away people with laugh at you more than if you make a mistake. If you make a mistake, people probably won’t notice, but if you run away, you will be branded a coward.’ Riley didn’t want to be a coward. She picked up her skirts and skipped away, singing the first song to come into her mind.
“When the sun goes down and the lights burn out then its time for you to shine brighter than a shooting star. So shine no matter where you are.”
Soon she heard the rest of the group singing with her. There was Lily Anna, riding the car. There was Joy, bouncing down the street with a sign that read: CAMP PINECONE. She saw Mckenna, Grace and Hope cartwheeling down the street. Lastly there was Mia and Katelyn waving their ribbons at her.
The Crowd cheered and she decided that the spotlight might not be a bad place to be.