copyright Erin Leary
Hey Mom and Dad!
So, this is my first letter from camp! It is wonderful here. Say hello to Brad and Margot for me. No point writing twice. 🙂 The food is amazing! I’d get so fat except for all the activities, like 3-leg races. My team has broken the record for fastest time! Kassie was on my team. I’m glad she came or she’d be missing all the fun.
I might not send another letter. Too busy having fun! I’ll help you plant the roses when I get back, Mom. Please don’t do it without me.
Your daughter,
Noelle
Note: If anyone is reading this on a black and white screen, this story may not make any sense. Just saying.
The Green-Walled Tower 
March 4th, 2015 at 11:37 am
Ooh that was clever. I thought I was going to have to follow up all these hyperlinks until I realised what was happening. Good one. What’s going on at summer camp?
March 4th, 2015 at 11:39 am
I don’t know, Sandra, but I don’t think it’s a normal camp. Hopefully she makes it home. Thanks for the comment.
March 4th, 2015 at 11:51 am
Pretty scary when your broken-legged child has to write in code! Great idea for a story.
March 4th, 2015 at 12:24 pm
Heh heh – Love this one! Poor old Noelle. I hope they find Kassie. And stay away from the mushrooms.
March 4th, 2015 at 12:53 pm
Fun stuff, David. This reminds me of the old song “Hello, Muddah.” Not a camp I would want to visit or send my kids to any time soon.
All my best,
MG
March 4th, 2015 at 2:39 pm
Yeah, it kind of plays off that trope of letters from camp. I never really went to camp, just one that was one week long, so it wasn’t long enough to write letters. Do you watch Simpsons? Maybe it’s a bit like Camp Krusty.
March 4th, 2015 at 2:19 pm
A camp like this is where I’m afraid is still to happen if you don’t get help soon.. hope it comes and that censorship is colorblind.
March 4th, 2015 at 2:37 pm
Good point, Bjorn. I was going to make the color differences more subtle but I wanted to make sure people didn’t miss it and think I had just written an insipid letter from camp. I’m not sure how this would manifest itself in a handwritten letter, but that’s the great thing about computers.
March 4th, 2015 at 2:38 pm
Maybe italic would have been more subtle.. but I like the idea of a colorblind censor..
March 4th, 2015 at 3:31 pm
Code Blue!! I hope Mom and Dad get the message. Innovative take, David.
janet
March 4th, 2015 at 10:05 pm
Thanks, Janet. I hope they do too, or at least that the message gets to them.
March 4th, 2015 at 5:12 pm
Oh no…where is Kassie?
March 5th, 2015 at 4:53 pm
I don’t know but if you want, we can assume she’ll be alright eventually. I’ll let you fill in the gaps.
March 4th, 2015 at 5:24 pm
I love this…you’ve gotten me so turned on by FF…you imp you.
March 5th, 2015 at 4:53 pm
I tell you, it’s like crack. 🙂
March 5th, 2015 at 3:03 am
That was clever. You’ve obviously been trained by some intelligence service.
March 5th, 2015 at 4:52 pm
I’d tell you, but then…well, you know the rest.
March 5th, 2015 at 4:12 am
Dear David,
Camp Granada, right? OMG, you are one of the most brilliant writers I know. Your blues clues are beyond clever.
Shalom,
Rochelle
March 5th, 2015 at 4:50 pm
Blues clues…I hadn’t thought of that. 🙂 Thank you so much, Rochelle. I appreciate it, as always.
March 5th, 2015 at 4:12 am
Dear David,
This was brilliant. I read the blue message first and found myself in the middle of a hidden plea from a smart child trapped in a sinister place. Very well conceived and executed.
Aloha,
Doug
March 5th, 2015 at 4:49 pm
Thanks, Doug. Noelle obviously has her wits about her. I was hoping to make the hidden words more subtle but then I thought some people might miss them all together. I’m glad you liked it.
-David
March 5th, 2015 at 4:43 pm
Oh, I absolutely love this. Brilliant idea perfectly executed. Thank you for that, David.
March 5th, 2015 at 4:46 pm
Thank you! 🙂 I really appreciate the compliment.
March 5th, 2015 at 5:09 pm
Thanks for keeping it simple/stupid so a hillbilly could figure it out without having to read the comments first (I hate when that happens). An extremely clever presentation, David. One of my all-time favorites. 5 stars.
March 6th, 2015 at 10:22 am
Clever and amusing, David.
March 6th, 2015 at 3:28 pm
Thanks, Elephant.
March 6th, 2015 at 11:47 am
Very clever storytelling, David. Here we have a tragic situation locked up in a very innocent sounding letter. Nicely done! I hope her parents get her message. What will you think of next?
March 6th, 2015 at 3:30 pm
Thanks, Amy. I don’t know what I’ll think of next, but I have some ideas. 🙂
March 6th, 2015 at 9:32 pm
I agree with the others. This is brilliant.
March 7th, 2015 at 6:31 am
Genius!
March 7th, 2015 at 9:52 am
The PRETTY and the DAMNED think they’re so SPECIAL!
March 8th, 2015 at 12:35 am
That must be some camp! Clever writing.
March 8th, 2015 at 6:10 pm
I wonder. Of course, maybe the parents arrive there with the SWAT team to find a normal camp and an overly-dramatic daughter. You can decide. 🙂
March 8th, 2015 at 7:25 pm
I’m having a blast with Friday Fictioneers! This story (err letter) is fantastic! Or rather, the idea is 🙂 I bet Noelle has had quite the adventure surviving camp and getting back home. Great job!
March 8th, 2015 at 11:56 pm
Thanks, stomperdad. Glad you liked it. Maybe I’ll write more about what is happening there sometime.
March 8th, 2015 at 11:23 pm
That’s the letter of a parent’s nightmare! Well done.
March 8th, 2015 at 11:49 pm
Thanks. Yes, it would freak out most parents, I would think.
March 9th, 2015 at 1:35 am
That sounds dire!! Hope help arrived on time 🙂
March 9th, 2015 at 8:56 pm
I hope so too.
March 11th, 2015 at 11:18 pm
Clever….:)
March 12th, 2015 at 11:06 pm
Thanks, Kim. It occurs to me that I should have subverted the idea and had a horrible letter with a secret code of trifling news in it. Maybe I’ll write that one sometime. 🙂
March 14th, 2015 at 2:24 pm
🙂
March 22nd, 2015 at 12:07 am
loved it.
March 22nd, 2015 at 2:33 pm
Thanks. I like this one too.