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Chatterbox: Pudding's Place
A Ski Lodge
You flop down onto your bed, exhausted from another long day of school. Is it really necessary for your teacher to assign you to write three essays this week? You have other stuff going on. Life. And you can’t afford to fail this class. Your academic success is hanging on a precipice, and one nudge will send it falling into an abyss so deep that it will never be found if it is lost.
The computer is open in front of you, the white, electronic pages of your word processor beckoning to you. You sit down at your desk.
And then you stand up again and go to the kitchen for a glass of water. You can’t work with a dry mouth. Then, once the water is drained, you grab an apple. It’s slightly withered, but you slice it and slowly eat. You glance over toward the counter where a digital clock squats, its red numbers blinking threateningly. 9:48. If your parents knew you were up this late on a school night, eating old apples, with three essays to write, they would go completely out of their minds.
But your parents aren’t here to boss you around at the moment, so who cares what they’d say? It’s not as if the essays were due tomorrow. At least, not all of them are. Just one.
The apple is gone, and you can no longer think of any stalling techniques. You are fighting a losing battle against yourself. It’s past ten at night, you have school tomorrow, and your teacher is expecting a nice, long essay from everyone’s favorite student.
You walk slowly back to your room and sit down at your desk. You type a few words, yawn, type a few more, open up a web browser, surf Wikipedia for a couple of minutes, yawn again. So far you have only twelve words.
You open up the CB. It’s late, you know, and no one will have posted a thing since you checked last, but maybe you can read an old ski lodge or two.
You click on Pudding’s Place, intending to look for Lake Lelilo or something, when a new thread catches your eye. A Ski Lodge, it says, in those red letters you know so well. You click on the link, and start to read.
“You flop down onto your bed, exhausted from another long day of school. Is it really necessary for your teacher to assign you to write three essays this week?”
What?
You keep reading, watching your own movements of that night laid before you in second person, right up to this very moment.
Good.
I’ve got your attention now.
My dear CBer,
You are having trouble at school. You have unwritten essays, and you don’t know what to write.
That’s okay.
We are offering you the chance of a lifetime, the chance to fix everything. Come to Camp Juniper, where you have the chance to be freed from the bonds of school. You will no longer have to study late into the night in order to pass a test. You will no longer have to struggle for hours on end in order to write a good essay. In short, we are giving you a Get Out of Jail Free card. And, if you choose not to accept this card, you will be given a free college scholarship.
There will be competitions throughout the days of camp. Each camper will have the chance to earn juniper branches. Anyone who is able to weave their branches into a wreath by the end of the camp session will earn this freedom.
Sounds nice?
We thought so.
All you have to do is fill out this form. And be prepared to die.
Name:
CBer, AE, CAPTCHA, or CAPTCHAE? (Note: CAPTCHAs, and CAPTCHAEs are not allowed):
Age:
Gender:
Companion(s) (up to 2 companions per person) (please fill out a sheet for them as well) (AEs only):
Appearance:
Personality in five words. (Any more or less and you will no longer have the privilege to eat popcorn):
Skills:
Quirks:
Brains or Brawn?:
Envy or Empathy?:
Reverie or Realism?:
Luggage, in order from most to least important:
Choose a number:
Choose a color:
Other:
We are excited to see you. And yes, we WILL see you.
Your obedient servants,
L. Reine & B. Ambrose
P.S. The popcorn is free, as well.
P.P.S. Please be prepared to participate fully, whatever this may mean.
P.P.P.S. Obviously, this is a ski lodge.
You read over the letter again. Is it worth it? You could die. . . but people always come back to life after a ski lodge. You could be a murderer. . . but who cares about that? It’s just a story. And how hard could it be to weave a few branches into a wreath?
Yes, you decide.
It’s definitely worth it.
And so, you fill out the form.
And then, you press submit.
submitted by Liberté and Basil, Camp Juniper
(October 31, 2020 - 8:09 pm)
(October 31, 2020 - 8:09 pm)
(October 25, 2021 - 11:39 am)
This is so good! The plot thickens! I don't think I've commented at all but I love reading this, it's very interesting and well-written.
(November 2, 2021 - 4:40 pm)
Thank you so much, that means a lot! Sorry the updates have been so patch recently, but I'm glad you're reading along!
(November 15, 2021 - 10:17 am)
(October 25, 2021 - 11:40 am)
(October 30, 2021 - 1:30 pm)
(November 2, 2021 - 10:59 am)
(December 9, 2021 - 1:31 pm)
I know I'm not in this ski lodge, but this is so good! I love your writing style! This is the best ski lodge I've ever read. Good job for keeping it going, I never would have had the motivation!
(December 12, 2021 - 3:41 pm)
(December 12, 2021 - 3:42 pm)
I swear we're going to post a part soon, it's just been a bit... busy i'd say
(January 12, 2022 - 12:26 pm)
(January 15, 2022 - 1:02 pm)
(January 16, 2022 - 9:01 pm)
Apologies that it took us so long to get another part out, we have been met with a lot of setbacks with school, covid, temporary memory loss, and injuries requiring MRIs. Here is a new part though! Enjoy!
~~~
Day 13 — Afternoon
Pine was mad. Mad at everything around him. The murderer, for killing Felix. Liberté, for being insufferable and passing out — pretending to be dead — and running a summer camp that killed people. dreamii, for taking him to that camp. But, most of all, Pine was mad at himself for being useless and moping around for the past ten days. Yeah, his boyfriend was murdered, but Pine had always thought that he was stronger than that.
When he and dreamii had fights, Felix always made the three of them watch movies, usually bad murder mysteries. They all laughed over the absurdity of the situation and asked each other what they would do if someone they loved got murdered. Because those are normal conversations to have while trying to make up after an argument.
Felix had always said that he would murder the killer.
Before Felix died, Ari insulted him. It wasn’t even really that bad, she just called Felix a stupid for shaking a Polaroid picture. But that was enough to make Pine scream at her. His insults had been slightly stronger than stupid. And he may have tried to strangle Ari with the Fruit Roll-up he had been eating.
Why wasn’t he doing that now? Why wasn’t his blood boiling over? Why wasn’t he doing everything he could to avenge Felix’s death?
Pine didn’t know how to answer that question. And that was why he decided to take matters into his own hands. No more pathetic tears. He would finish what Luna-Starr had set out to do, but he would do better. Because Pine had lost someone he loved, and nothing in the world could stop him from trying to make the murder be in as much pain as he was.
***
Sammy was eating chocolate in the library when Pine came to talk to her. It was a pity that her chocolate had been stolen, but the new stuff from Liberté really was quite delicious. Even the worst one, which had odd evergreen undertones, was better than anything she had ever tasted. Say what you like about this insane camp, but the food was objectively perfect.
She was just biting down into a freshly opened bar as Pine barreled into her.
“Show me the scene of the crime!” he shouted.
Sammy laughed, and an observer might say that it sounded a bit like that laugh of an insane person. “Which crime, Pine? Unless I’m remembering something very incorrectly, there have been more than a few.”
“Your bed. Your backpack. Yesterday… stuff was stolen. I want to see why.”
“Nothing was stolen except my chocolate. There was just a big mess and a ruined backpack. But look all you want.” Sammy threw a potato sack at Pine’s head, the replacement she had been given for her ruined bag. Pine clutched it to his chest and raced away.
***
Alone in his room, Pine rifled through the bag. He was surprised for a moment that Sammy, known for her obstinacy and contrariness, had just given it to him like that. But he wasn’t going to complain. This was for Felix, and that was the only thing that mattered.
The bag didn’t have a whole lot of things in it. The letter from the murderer, which Pine set aside to examine more closely. A few empty chocolate wrappers. Some pens and pencils. A sketchbook, filled with nonsensical doodles and the occasionally great sketch. And two notebooks. Pine flipped through the first one, expecting to see what was going on in Sammy’s brain. But no, this was not Sammy’s notebook. On the first page: scribbled notes for something called The Ski Lodge Story. Skimming over it, he found NerdFace’s and Sterling’s names, but they didn’t seem to be important at the moment. What he did find were notes, written in smudged purple ink. Two lists stood out.
People of Interest:
Icarus — set fire??? Not the killer. Knows something. Kidnap and interrogate.
Bad lead, resulted in death of Felix. Follow up?
Zachary — was following Icarus before Felix died. Probably not killer?
Camp directors — they’re creepy. Snow is Liberté’s niece. They all are brilliant and Basil is the only one who doesn’t completely terrify me. I think he knows something, though.
A Collection of Notes, Thoughts, Ponderings, and Clues
Compiled by Luna-Starr
Zachary knows something. I don’t think he quite knows what he knows, though.
There is only one correct way to eat corn on the cob.
Snow is kind of scary. No, more than kind of. That child really scares me.
Sammy Everlast is important.
Music has power.
And then, after that… nothing. It seemed to have ended after everyone decided that Luna was the killer. So much had happened since then. Could any of this still be relevant? And what did the last part of the list mean? Music has power? The rest of it seemed self-explanatory or useless, but Pine didn’t know what music had to do with anything. More importantly, Luna, Icarus, and Zachary had been somehow involved in Felix’s death. Zachary was dead, and whatever information he had died with him. But Icarus and Sammy were alive, and Pine could talk to them later, maybe during the campfire that night.
Pine opened the next notebook, and looked at it, confused.
—Aspen was found guilty of Nightfall’s murder. However, the weapon was found in her pocket. Why would it be there, of all places? If it had been me, I would have hidden in much better. Perhaps she is not truly the murderer.
—Aspen was still awarded a juniper branch. The counselors must know something we don’t.
—It’s beyond cold this morning. I think the weather is aware of our actions. But… Snow has been rather scary lately. Perhaps it is her fault. After all, the child’s name IS Snow. There must be something behind that. Look into that more later. Liberté is coming,
—Aspen will be dead by the end of the day. And I shall be the one to do it. But how…?
There were the counselors again, and Snow. Could she be controlling the weather? That seemed to be what Luna was implying. Could there be magic at work?
But the last item on that list. It didn’t make sense. Luna wasn’t the murderer, everyone know that. She had been killed, right? So why did it say, in her notebook, in her handwriting, that she was going to kill Aspen? On the same list that seemed to be speculating as to who the killer was? Something was wrong there, and Pine didn’t know what. What he did know, though, was that he was getting closer to the truth, the turning point in the nightmare that was called Camp Juniper. And so he picked up a green pen and began to write, in the notebook where Luna-Starr had once poured out her thoughts.
A Plan to Avenge Felix’s Death — Deluxe Edition With Notes and Utter Uncertainty
Talk to Sammy and figure out (a) why Luna thought she was important and (b) why she had Luna’s notebooks
Talk to Icarus and figure out (a) what he had to do with Felix’s death and (b) what the importance of his fire was
Read the murderer’s note again and figure out what it means
What does the murderer’s note mean?
What magic could be involved in Camp?
What do the counselors know?
What was the deal with Luna?
Pine looked at his list and sighed. It didn’t make much sense, and he didn’t know much. But he was doing something now, and that was what mattered. Felix’s death would not go unavenged. Pine would find the killer, and very soon, they would regret the day they ever hurt anyone who Pine loved.
~~~
Dead: 11 (Hot Coco, Ydris "Masquerade" Dìomhaireachd, Felix, Inari, Summer, AutumnArtist, Nightfall, Aspen, Luna-Starr, Freak, Zachary and Braoin. May they rest in peace in the glory of Camp Juniper)
Alive: 10
Suspects: Kitty Cat, Sterling, ??? (please let us know if you ever have any!)
Enemies of Snow: Let's be truthful here: Snow pretty much hates the whole world.
Juniper Leader: Sammy Everlast and Sterling (tied with three juniper branches)
(January 18, 2022 - 10:30 am)
(January 18, 2022 - 10:31 am)
(January 20, 2022 - 8:09 pm)