On the night of the break out, after we had been confined to our separate sleeping sections, all of us girls started to play cards by flashlight. The minutes ticked away and I was getting so excited I could practically smell the salty beach breeze. One by one the girls dropped like flies to that peaceful oblivion called sleep. I didn't need to dream tonight. Tonight I would be living my dream! (or at least, in a less dramatic world, my dream of the week.) The clock read 11:46pm and we deemed it go time! Me and Lauren executed a beautiful half extension, putting Katie equal with the window. Katie squeegeed through and jumped to the ground (more like fell) with a loud "Uhf!" As I began to climb onto Lauren, to complete the shoulder stand that would liberate me, we heard the bathroom door creak open. We froze. A midnight bathroom-goer, awake and needing to use the john, was about to be really weirded out when they flipped those lights on. We hardly had time to think, and when the lights actually came on and we saw who it was our hearts sank. Lizzy Ann, the biggest rule-follower out there stood before us drop-jawed. "What in the high heavens are you two doing!?" She said in a hysterical whisper. All I could think about was Katie standing in the middle of no-mans land about to be sensed by the bug's eyes and so I blurted out, "Lizzy, you can come with us!" To my surprise, Lizzy left the room and came back within 30sec with a pair of flip flops. "No one has ever asked me to do something like this before." she said determinedly. I stood there shocked until Lauren grunted "Ya gonna climb through that window or stand on me all night!?" I climbed through, dropped to the ground, got a "took ay long enough!" from Katie and then a "What the?!" when she saw Lizzy pop through the window and land on the ground next to her. I gestured an overly animated "SHH!" we could not afford to make any noise before we got to the gate. However, when we got there, the boys were nowhere to be found. It appeared the Texas punks had chickened out on us. We made a decision to all go to the boys side together. Turns out they had all drifted asleep waiting for their leader to fall asleep. Typical. Throwing rocks at the window would be too loud and so we decided to build a stunt to their window and shine the flashlight in on their eyes. It worked like a charm. "We didn't really think you girls would sneak out." One of them said. Thanking him for the vote of confidence with an exceptionally long shine in the eyes, I told them to hurry up. We had been making a lot of extra noise and I was getting nervous. As all of us were stealthily tiptoeing to the front gate the person in front suddenly stopped. I felt it before I saw it. Two glowing orbs about a foot off the ground piercing our shadowed bodies. The bug's spy cat! We all stood there not moving for what felt like minutes. And with no warning whatsoever, the cat flicked its tail, turned and ran out the gate. Not only was he letting us go but he was showing us the way!
The walk to the beach would have taken about 20 minutes, but we stopped at Sonic on the way to get ice cream. We laughed and joked, talking about all the funny things that happened over the past week. We were feeling so free and big for pulling off the breakout. One of the Texas boys saw it first, and he slowed our canter to a walk. We were close to the beach because I remember the way the wind blew and it suddenly smelled like salt. And then we all saw it. A huge cross on top of a destroyed sanctuary. The only thing left after the hurricane was its cement foundation, a few supporting beams, and that huge cross that was miraculously still standing. We reached the sanctuary and looked out at the beach. It wasn't a nice beach and the bug was right about all the debris, but at that moment it was the most beautiful sight I ever saw. Without a word we passed through the sanctuary and headed towards the water. We sat there in the sand, salt water licking our toes, watching the moon on the water. Katie, my best friend and sister, sat to my left. Lizzy, a girl I had seen my whole life but had never really known before that night, sat on my right. The three boys from Texas, our brand new friends, sat behind us and next to Katie. We stayed like that for a long time. A random group of teenage kids doing everything and nothing wrong, whispering softly against the waves. It struck me how we could be surrounded by such vast destruction of the beach, yet at the same time overwhelmed by its beauty. I think there is something magical about beaches. It's a place where the heavens touch the earth and we can hear God more clearly. I understood that night that despite all the crazy things that happen in our lives, you can always find a cross that is still standing, you can always find God.
On the walk back to the church complex we reverted back to our rambunctious joking and laughing. The Texas boys helped us back into our bathroom window, and we said goodnight. We were now forever bonded by the secret we shared. The next morning we woke with a start and packed up like zombies. With smug grins we said goodbye to the bug, not forgetting to give some extra love to her treasonous cat. As the plane took off, and katie's head gradually fell to my shoulder in a deep slumber, I knew I would never forget this trip.
Katie (Left) Rebecca (Right)
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