Finally! He opened the letter with a pocket knife. It would be great to hear at last from his son who had been away at camp for a very long week. No one could ask for a better boy than his son. Brown hair, green eyes, a zest for living; oh how he love his boy! His smile was so wide his face hurt as he unfolded the paper and began to read the boyish scrawl.

Dear Dad,

First of all, it wasn’t my fault. Please believe me. Not everyone does. Whew! Glad I got that out of the way.

The food is okay. Breakfast is best, then supper. Me and some of my friends told the cook that lunch could use a little work. I mean it’s only three meals a day. It’s not like science homework, for Pete’s sake. She pressed her lips together and her eye started twitching. I think maybe she needs one of those massages they advertise on t.v.

My favorite part of the day is swimming. The lifeguard seems pretty uptight. It could be from that one girl that they couldn’t find during the buddy check. He should get over it, though. She just wanted to leave before her friend. Like I said, uptight, right?

By the way, I have a mark on my leg that reminds me of the Target sign. My pants cover it up, though, so no worries.

Love, Dixon

His smile had faded with every passing word.

“Honey!” he called to his wife as he hunted for some paper to pen a quick reply.

to be continued. . .