Follow the Leader
We were sitting around the campfire singing, as the stars in the sky multiplied, and the moon stood right overhead. I was on a camp overnight, and we had just finished the barbeque, marshmallows, and spooky stories that were customary at Camp Ahuva, and I was full, and having tons of fun. But suddenly, I felt a jab in my ribs.
“Hey Yaeli! Let’s get out of here! Isn’t this boring?” It was Chaya Sara talking. Now, I really didn’t want to get up. The campfire was so much fun, and we had just started singing my favorite song, but there was no saying no to Chaya Sara! After all she was the most popular, stylish girl at camp, and I had just succeeded in making my way into her clique and I was still on shaky grounds. At this point in time it was just follow the leader, but I prided myself in thinking that next year I would also have some power. I reluctantly got up and followed. Our counselor Adina was to busy picking up some marshmallows that had fallen to notice are departure, so we managed to slip away with out any notice. At the trees we met up with Malky, Sari, and Dena, who completed Chaya Sara’s group. No, no I reminded myself, my group.
“So what should we do now?” Sari asked, breaking the silence. That was the exact question running through my head, but I wasn’t sure if I was in the position to ask.
“Well… my parents took us on a trip up here last year, and I remember that there was this great view someone down there” Chaya Sara responded, pointing in a random direction.
“Sounds like fun, let’s go!” Dena jumped in. Malky was also new to the group so I knew that she wouldn’t be joining the conversation any time soon. Malky and I however exchanged glances. Walking though the woods? Alone? At night?! But of course, as always, we would do nothing to jeopardize our position in the clique, and followed along silently. Chaya Sara jabbered the whole way about how beautiful this view was.
“There’s like, a waterfall, and there’s this, like valley down bellow that’s gorgeous, and the forest is just amazing! I’m surprised the camp didn’t schedual a hike up there as part of the overnight, but, well you know our camp. It’s just boring!” I stared at Chaya Sara for a second, but quickly shook my head to get the thoughts that were running through my head out. Even if Camp Ahuva was known to be the best camp out there for girls, and even if the waiting list was a mile long and you had to sign up the summer before for the next summer, it still gave me no right to think wrongly about Chaya Sara, my best friend, I reminded myself. Malky and I were both from the same town and same school, and we had been BFF’s since we were babies. It had been our life long dream to fit in and be popular. I mean we weren’t unpopular. We had a nice group of friends but we had never been right there on top. So when we got to camp we pushed even harder to get into the popular clique, and we had finally succeeded! There was no way I was going to ruin this summer by getting thrown out of the clique, and the way to start that process was by thinking bad thoughts about them. No way! I soon found Malky standing next to me, and we both grabbed each other’s hand, scared out of our wits! I shifted the backpack that Sari had given me to hold on my back, and stared straight ahead into the night. I had been concentrating so hard on what lay before me, that I forgot to look down at my feet, and I soon found myself sprawled across the ground. I looked around to see what had caused my fall, and noticed a tree root that was sticking up out of the earth. I sat there holding my throbbing knee for a minute, and then with the help of Malky, I picked myself up. I suddenly became aware of snickering, and swirled around to find the source. I knew it was Chaya Sara and her gang, no, no and my gang, but they showed only concern when I turned to look at them. This time it was Chaya Sara who broke the silence.
“Yaeli! Come one! You’re holding us up!” She whined at me, annoyed. It was at that moment that I realized we were no longer on the path, and when I looked around me I realized that the path was as out of site as it could get. At that moment I didn’t care whether I was in the group or not.
“Uh… Chaya Sara? We’re way off the path!” I firmly told her, well as firmly as I could. She just stared at me as if I was crazy.
“Uh… Chaya Sara? We’re way of the path!” She mocked me. “So what? I know where we’re going ok!” I was stung by her harshness, and still leaning on Malky meekly nodded my head and followed along. Sari and Dena however looked less than reassured by Chaya Sara’s confident speech.
“Chaya Sara, Yaeli’s right! We can’t keep going on like this; we’re not going to be able to find the way back!” It was Sari who spoke up. Malky quickly turned around, as if bit, and lashed out on Sari.
“Stop telling me what to do ok! I know where we’re going and I don’t need your help! Excuse me but who’s the one who’s been here before? I can’t hear you? That’s right Chaya Sara! And who’s the one who’s not going to contradict Chaya Sara? That’s right, Sari, Dena, Malky, and Yaeli. Good job!” Chaya Sara spoke to Sari as if she was speaking to a baby. This time it was Sari’s turn to feel stung. But, she also nodded her head and followed along. By know it was getting close to dawn, and we had been stumbling along in the forest for quite some time. Then the unthinkable happened. A moment that I want to forget but will never be able to. We suddenly heard a loud rushing noise, and when we looked up we rocks rushing down towards us. I let out a shriek and grabbed Malky’s hand. I saw a cave not to far away and I pulled her towards it, the rest of Chaya Sara’s group following close behind. We ran as far in as we could, and collapsed to the ground out of breath. Then we looked towards the mouth of the cave, but what we didn’t see is what really scared us this time. What we didn’t see was the grass and the trees, the flowers we had been standing near just moments before, and the moon and stars we had just been admiring. All we saw was a pile of rocks. This time it was Sari who screeched, and Dena who started crying. They both looked accusingly at Chaya Sara, who was cowering in the shadows. Malky also started crying, and I realized it was I who would have to take control. But then again growing up as the oldest of ten siblings that wasn’t hard for me. I first took a deep breath, and then sat down and began to look through the bag Sari had handed me. In it lay a box of crackers (Sari was very fond of crackers), a chocolate bar (I guessed that was Dena’s contribution as Dena loved chocolate), a jacket, a book, and a first aid kit. I was surprised to see all the contents of this heavy bag.
“Why did you give this to me?” I asked Sari shocked. These girls weren’t the type to plan ahead. In between sniffles Sari responded “I thought I might get hungry or something. This was the bag I packed for the overnight, but I took out the clothed when we got here. I thought that maybe I would want a snack after all this walking. If you look in the other pocket you’ll find three water bottles.” She then went back to her sobbing, burying her head in Dena’s shoulder. I was not very pleased at where we were at this moment, but very content with the contents of the bag Sari had so wisely brought a long. I then took my flashlight (I always carry one with me) and proceeded to explore the cave, only to find out that it was very small. I returned back to the girls a frown on my face.
“Look ladies. We have no way of getting back to camp until the camp comes looking for us tomorrow morning, so try to sleep a bit.” We were all full after the camp fire, even though it was hours ago, so the crackers were left untouched. We had a very fitful night of sleeping, and all of us woke up every other hour. I remember much of that night, but I do not remember seeing Chaya Sara at all. I think she was too ashamed to show her face. Finally morning came and I distributed the crackers. I pride myself with the fact that I was kind to Chaya Sara when handing her, her portion, but I know that it was my obligation now. After all, my morah taught me when we got back, ahavas Yisroel isn’t only for people who are nice to us. I tried to lessen the tense atmosphere by playing games, but I could tell no one was in the mood. Finally we heard the call.
“Chaya Sara? Sari? Dena? Yaeli? Malky?” We head screaming from behind the rocks. It sounded like our Adina, and it sounded like she was crying.
“In here! In here!” We all screamed together. Well, minus Chaya Sara that is. We heard the sound of running footsteps, many running footsteps. We soon realized that Adina had many people with her, and the all began to push at the wall of rock. After an hour of pushing, the wall finally caved in, and came tumbling down. We saw a very realieved counselor and bunk in front of us, but the happiness on Adina’s face was soon replaced with anger.
“Why in the world would you ever do something so stupid? We’ve been searching for you all day! This was very immature of you and you will all be punished accordingly. I’m very disappointed in you girls.
“Wait Adina!” We all turned around shocked to find Chaya Sara talking! “It’s not their fault. I, I forced them to come along. It’s my fault.” We were all shocked to find Chaya Sara saying this, and we new that this was her way of saying sorry. And we all accepted it.
“Still” Adina said, deep in thought, “You girls should not have agreed to go. But… you will not be punished as severely. Now, come with me girls.” We put together Sari’s bag and followed along, our heads bowed in embarrassment. What we had done was indeed what to be ashamed of, and we were all truly sorry. The rest of this story is not important. You don’t need to know how we were punished or what happened after that, although I will tell you that it was not a pleasant business. I’m not sure if Chaya Sara learned her lesson, or if she ever will, but I know that I learned mine. I learned that life really isn’t about following the leader, because then what kind of life have you been living? A life where all your choices aren’t your choices, but that of another. Sometimes the leader may think she knows what’s best, but if you follow along blindly you just might end up being led astray. For the real leader isn’t the most popular, or the prettiest. The real leader is you.
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