I just got home from Jr High camp. It's run by my church in a beautiful campground. This is my last year attending (as a camper at least) and so it had special meaning to me, not to mention that it was the first year for most of the people. Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end. We know that they must, but no one expected it to happen this soon.
The camp had to be closed after only 2 full days (and 2 partial, so around 3 in all) out of the week it was supposed to last.
The reason... someone contaminated the boys' water.
You see... we had to use bottled water because of a small imperfection in the tap water that was being fixed at the time. Water bottles were available in the dining hall and washrooms. Someone thought it would be fun to put the product used to clean the counters into the water in the lower men's washroom. It was descovered and the water was replaced. The next day, the water was contaminated again in the same place, this time by windex. Both times at least one person drank it, but luckily no one had to be rushed to the hospital. The director had no choice but to close the camp, fearing for our safety, especially saying that although the police have a few suspects, we don't know who did it yet.

Fortunately, the time that was spent at camp was great. It may very well have been the best time I've spent there, except for... well... that thing I just talked about.
There was a lot of fun to be had in the themed meals, spontanious random improv games, and simply hanging about to name a few.
Also, there were a lot of hugs given out. It seems that a hug can heal almost anyone's sadness.
Either that, or the squeaky mallot of joy. This mallot is a blow up one that I brought along with me for no apparent reason, though it did serve a purpose on the day that it was announced that camp was to meet a premature end. It seemed that everyone was sad. (In fact, one of the counselors that was more of a brother to a lot of us than anything else was in tears. That was the first time I had ever seen him cry.) We were all gathered in the dining hall on the side that is used for recreation and other random things to watch a movie, and I brought my mallot along. I first cheered someone up by saying that if it didn't hurt when I hit myself with it, (which it never does...) it still could be a dream, like we all wished it was. From there, random people in my group (and a few that weren't really) were taking the mallot and hitting each other with it (not in a harmful way, but in a more comic manner). Soon, we were all laughing, and thus, it earned the title of the squeaky mallot of joy.
Another fun moment is when the guys came over and started singing (loudly and off-key for a good portion of them) to wake up any sleeping girls. I was up, and so were a few others in my dorm, but a lot weren't. We pelted pillows at them, and sang to drown them out. At breakfast, we made our comeback by sending them around the dining hall. They came in through the back door, grabbed hymnals, and sang the song that the guys at our camp seem to be famous for. On our camp's will (a sheet posted on the wall where we can write down things we want to give people in our camp, some of which will be put down in the camp log) they were given a case of permanent laryngitus, pillows being thrown at them, and hymnals that attack off-key singers. :P
There were a lot of other random moments that I hope to remember, such as playing whack-a-random-nearby-camp-member (part of the SMJ thing), playing get-the-squeaky-mallot (and whack your opponent over the head) with a friend, and as I said before, the hugs. I honestly think that hugs are underrated. They really can help out in so many situations, and can mean so many different things.
I've probably written enough for now. I hope that next year is better for the people who go, but this year had some great, unforgettable memories for those of us who won't.