Out of My Heart

After a pizza dinner, the campers head to the fire pit. Other campers, including the boys, are now warming up to the camp experience. They introduce themselves around the fire. Melody sees other campers using Medi-Talkers and relaxes. The campers toss pinecones into the fire to watch them burn. Trinity asks Melody if she might like to move closer to the fire, and Melody agrees. The campers enjoy the night, singing songs and laughing. Melody looks up at the night sky and takes in the shimmering stars. She feels so happy, and when she looks back around the fire, she sees Noah looking right at her.

That night as Melody falls asleep, she remembers a summer thunderstorm back home that fried a transformer in the neighborhood. All the lights in the house went out. Melody understands that her body is like that transformer, “pretty much fried” (164). But the wires to her brain, she assures herself, they were “absolutely, exceptionally excellent” (164). For the first time while at camp, she does not feel as if everybody is looking at her. But she thinks nothing has prepared her for how she tingles all over whenever she sees Noah.

When Melody awakens, she finds to her delight the counselors have put up their artwork all over the cabin. The happy moment is shattered when Karyn shrieks that there is a snake in her room. Trinity assures everyone it is a harmless brown snake and one of the counselors scoops it up and shows it to the girls. The counselors remind the girls that they’re living in the snake’s home, as they say, “We are invading her space, not the other way around” (171). The counselors tell the girls not to judge snakes by what they have seen in movies or on television, because snakes are critical to the delicate ecosystem of the lake and have their own kind of beauty. Melody agrees, noticing the golden brown and orange splotches on the snake. When the counselors invite the girls to touch the snake, Melody does. It feels cool and smooth like leather, and then the counselor releases the snake outside.

After breakfast, the boys join the girls for a morning hike. Noah, calling Melody “Firefly Girl,” waves to her. Melody takes in the forest as she and Trinity move with the campers along the trail. When they take breaks, Melody touches the trees, enjoying their rough texture. Then Melody spies a skunk off to the side in bushes. The two make eye contact, and Melody thinks how pretty the skunk is. Melody alerts Trinity, and Trinity cautions the campers to slowly move back. When two of the boys make a sudden move, the skunk raises its tail and sprays the campers. The campers run back to camp and shower. No one was sprayed directly, and the adventure with the skunk becomes a camp story, with the campers “smelling sweet and really thankful” (184).

That night around the fire, Melody feels more comfortable. When the boys arrive and they make s’mores, Melody settles in to “her spot” (187). Noah joins the campers, and he sits next to Melody. The two joke about the skunk incident. As s’mores get passed around, Noah declines. He tells Melody sheepishly that he does not like chocolate because he prefers caramel. Melody, stunned by the coincidence, agrees.

In art class on Wednesday, the campers are told to slip out of their shoes and socks. They are going to make footprint art. Melody joins in—swinging her legs, dunked in paint, across the poster board.

After music class, Melody and her three cabinmates decide it was a perfect day for a picnic. They leave camp without permission, relieved to be free of the “Helicopter counselors” (196), they joke. They head out to the woods, helping each other along the path. When the path becomes muddy, although Melody’s wheelchair moves through easily, Karyn’s wheels get stuck. The three all try to push together, and with one “mighty, perfectly coordinated heave” (199), the chair pulls free of the mud. They are all laughing and singing when the counselors find them. The counselors are concerned about what might have happened in the woods with the girls by themselves. The girls explain how they just wanted some time with each other and they apologize. The counselors acknowledge that the girls are nearly teenagers and they understand their need for some breathing space. Trinity promises the girls they will find time in the afternoon for the girls to enjoy some free time.

That afternoon, the campers enjoy the camp playground with its swings and slides designed for individuals with disabilities. Melody is helped into a swing and loves the feeling of weightlessness and watches how the whole camp flies below her. She goes down the Super Slide, and while gliding down the wide slide, she thinks that she feels like her sister, giddy with the speed of the drop. She also practices shooting a volleyball into a basketball hoop. She misses the hoop multiple times before, and with all the campers cheering her, she tosses it right through the basket. Although she is ecstatic to make a basket, what really amazes her is that this was the first time she ever “played outside. With friends” (211).