[Open]A day at the Beach(June 6th)

Kiami stretched as she rolled over in bed, Matilda and her had been up way past bed time, playing with their kittens and making plans for school in the fall, so Kiami had slept later than she meant too. The cabin was empty aside from hers and Matilda's things. Climbing down from the top bunk, she realized it was too quiet inside.

She looked around as she hopped on the floor, seeing no sign of either kittens, she noticed that Matilda was also missing. Kiami had come to realize over the past few days that Matilda was an early riser, and enjoyed her mornings, but she was nice enough to let Kiami sleep and that made Kiami happy.

Dressing for the day, Kiami opted for a quick fishtale French braid that swung slightly across the middle of her back. Rubbing sleep from her eyes she found her glasses and slid them on as she looked around the cabin.

Noticing that Matilda's paints and sketch book were missing from their place on the dresser, Kiami had an idea where to find Matilda. After a quick breakfast, Kiami made her way down to the beach, the morning sun starting to rise above the trees.

She squinted in the bright light as she searched the sand for Matilda, smiling when she spotted her, both kittens playing happily in the sand. Kiami made her way to Matilda, careful not to startle her as she figured she would already be painting, and sat quietly next to her, leaning on Matilda's shoulder she watched her friend paint, the kittens coming to life under her young, but already skilled hand.

Kiami laughed as the two kittens came over and played with her feet. Reaching down she scoops up Gomez and nuzzles his neck as Matilda speaks, following her pencil Kiami looks over at the plants scattered across the grass line, she couldn't really make out what they were from here, but it made her smile that Matilda encouraged her scouting of plants rather than make fun of her for it. Kiami giggled as she set Gomez back on the sand and looked at the sketch book in her hand.

"I'm no good at drawing." She said as she shook her head. "I know! Why don't we go look at the plants together? You can sketch them, and I'll tell you what each one is."

Kiami liked that idea more and more as it processed through her mind. She had never had anyone to share her knowledge of plants with, and she really enjoyed Matilda's drawings, each one always had its own personality and Kiami found that over the last few days of the camp Matilda and herself somehow inspired each other, the more time they spent together, the more Kiami hoped summer wouldn't end.

"You know Matilda, if you sketched while I pointed herbs and plants out, than later we can get a notebook and transfer everything to it, and than I can write a description for each thing. You could use the book as a guide at school, what do you think?"

Kiami's eyes sparkled behind her purple glasses, she already loved the idea of working on a project with Matilda, and she hoped Matilda would like it too.

Kiami blinked in surprise as she stood up wiping sand from her jeans as she followed Matilda with her eyes, she couldn't believe how interested Matilda seemed in Kiami's passions. It made her smile, Matilda was quickly becoming her greatest friend, she followed behind Matilda taking the journal as Matilda sketched each plant and herb, Kiami scribbled a quick mention of what each thing was and or did, she would detail it later.

Kiami carefully studied each plant, bending close to examine their leaves and roots. Most she recognized from studies with her mother and books from her father's library. Kiami was quietly explaining each plant and pointing them out to Matilda as she went from one to the next. She secretly hoped she wasn't going to fast, her excitement sometimes got the best of her.

"I can't believe all these herbs and plants that are here Matilda. This is amazing, most of these should have started dying off once summer hit, the soil here must be really good." Kiami pointed towards a plant that grew almost in the middle of the bunch, its bright green leaves sprouting tiny white flowers, she squealed as she looked closer at it, amazed that this plant would be growing here.

"Matilda! Look! This plant shouldn't be growing here. This is Dittany of Crete, they are mostly native to the Mountains here in Greece. I've read about them in my fathers' books." Careful to step around the other plants, Kiami motioned for Matilda to follow her as she bent down and caressed the leaves of the Dittany. "Feel that? It has a velvety smooth texture. This is one of the best plants for healing! We should pick it and take it back to the cabin with us. We can ask Mrs RedThistle if she has a vase we can use for it."

Kiami straightened, her joy over these findings evident in her eyes, she couldn't wait to call her parents later and tell them what she found, they would be so proud. Kiami didn't realize how much time had passed until she looked over and saw the sun now bright in the sky, it must have been noon by now, and she was feeling a bit hungry. "Matilda, lets get the kittens and go have lunch, than we can go look for Mrs RedThistle and ask about the vase, we can also check the camp bulletin and see if anyone has posted activities for this evening."

Kiami chuckled and went over to grab the journal Matilda dropped as she looked for the jar in her bag. Kiami smiled as she took the jar and handed Matilda the journal. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." As Matilda called for the kittens, Kiami got busy with her plant. First she put some soil in the bottom of the jar, and using her hands dug around the plant until she could easily reach the roots. With a slight tug she managed to dislodge the plant and carefully placed into the jar, lastly she packed the jar with more dirt to keep the roots safely covered. Adjusting her glasses she looked down to see the kittens matted with dirt and thorns from the bushes. She herself wasn't much cleaner from digging in the dirt and wiping her hands on her jeans. "Gomez, Morticia, what did you two get into?" Kiami shook her head and laughed at the situation.

"Why don't we take the kittens and go into the ocean? We can get them used to water, and clean them up too, We cam take our shoes and socks off and leave them on the sand with your bag. It'll be fun! No one else is around, so we can just go enjoy it."

Kiami was already slidding her shoes off before she waited for Matilda to answer her. She set the jar down and once her hands were free began to take her socks off as well. Even though it didn't seem like it, she was paying attention to what Matilda was saying, and she rather enjoyed the idea of going and asking Ms RedThistle questions, her books could only tell her so much after all. Bending down to scoop up a mewing Gomez she nuzzled his cheek and beamed at Matilda. "Let's go swim for a bit, than we can go find food and after look for Ms RedThistle. Also, I brought some books from home that explain some magic, we can look at them later if you want to."

Kiami began to walk twords the ocean water, Gomez sitting comfortably on her shoulder, nuzzled into her neck, it seemed to be his favortie spot lately. She looked back at Matilda to see if she would follow her, it would be fun to get in the water for a bit, plus it was getting hot outside, so it would be a nice cool off before they went in search of Ms RedThistle.

Kiami stopped and turned around to see Matilda sitting at the tree line, Morticia curled up in her lap, even from this distance Kiami could see the fear that darkened Matilda's eyes, Turning around Kiami walked back to Matilda and sat next to her, moving Gomez to her lap. Even in the last few days that Kiami had come to know Matilda, it wasn't like Matilda to shy away from something, Kiami could tell something was wrong, but she wasn't going to make her new friend uncomfortable.

"Matilda, are you okay? We don't have to go in the ocean, we can go do something else. We should have an adult with us before we go swimming anyway. I'm sorry, you don't have to be scared. Why don't we go get lunch? We can stop by the cabin and grab some of my dads books, and look at them while we eat."

Kiami had a feeling Matilda didn't really like water, or swimming, but she didn't say anything she figured it would be best to let Matilda say something on her own. Kiami sat there quietly petting Gomez as she waited for Matilda to say something, her eyes watching the waves of the ocean quietly hitting the sand.

Kiami sighed as Matilda clearly upset, spat out her words. The defensiveness behind her tone kind of stung at Kiami. What had just happened? Kiami wasn't sure, it wasn't like she had tried to make Matilda upset. As Matilda stood and gathered her things, Kiami did the same as her friend began to walk away from her. With Gomez nuzzled happily on her shoulder Kiami held the jar that had her plant inside, with one more look at the ocean she shrugged. Not every friendship could be a perfect one. She followed quietly a few steps behind Matilda as they made their way from the beach. Food sounded like a good idea. Maybe all Matilda needed was to eat, after all breakfast had worn off more than a few hours ago. Kiami couldn't stand the silence between them though, she would much rather hear the sound of their voices than of nothing at all so she decided to speak, even if Matilda didn't respond.

"Where do you think we should look for Ms RedThistle at? I haven't seen her since our first day here, do you think she is in a cabin close to ours or in another part of the camp? Also, when do you think the other children will start showing up? It can't be just us two out here for the summer, can it?"

Kiami finished speaking and decided to catch up and walk beside Matilda instead of behind her, whatever had just happened back there couldn't have made Matilda that mad at her that she wouldn't speak to her the rest of the day. It wasn't like Kiami had actually done anything wrong, she had hit a sore spot but hadn't meant to upset her friend.

"Matilda? I'm sorry.." she half whispered as Gomez mewed in her ear and nuzzled her neck, the gesture quietly comforting Kiami, it was if her kitten could understand her emotions and words and was trying to tell Kiami that it would be okay, as she waited for Matilda to speak she mused to herself just what the other half of Gomezs' breeding could be, she hadn't yet studied and compared his behavior to what she would find in books, maybe it would be something she would do later.