This summer was not turning out how he planned it. He'd expected to spend it in New York City where he'd grown up before heading off to college. Then his father had decided to have the apartment gut-renovated while he was gone and bribed him into going to stay with his mother and her new husband in rural Virginia. And then, on top of that, his new stepfather had asked if he'd work as a camp counselor while he was there and he had agreed.

So far, he felt like he'd been a good sport and displayed adaptability. It wasn't until he saw the sign "Camp Sunbeam Christian Sleepaway Camp" that he'd balked.

His stepfather Frank laughs off his concerns. "Relax, it's not like that movie Jesus Camp. We're a co-ed sleepaway camp for God's sake. People around here just want to know we're not going to try to make their kids sell their souls to Carl Sagan. Just focus on the archery and leave the Jesus stuff to the people who are more attuned to it."

By that point, they're on the wide dirt road leading into the camp proper. And Camp Sunbeam looks like every camp he has ever seen - tents, a lake, wide open spaces, and young people everywhere. Frank pulls his old pickup up next to a set of cabins and calls out "Prema, this is our new archery instructor. He's going to be the archery instructor and you're going to be his CIT this summer. Show him where he can stay and then show him the range so you two can start teaching tomorrow."

Prema turns out to be an attractive young woman in blue jeans and a form-fitting green t-shirt emblazoned with the camp's logo who, if he hadn't spotted it by looking at her, immediately announces her Indian heritage by opening her mouth, her cultured Indian accent sounding kind of musical in how the syllables seem to tumble over each other. "It is an honor to meet you and to be your counselor-in-training this summer. I hope it's okay that I've never held a bow in my life. I can help with whatever you need, but it may be needful for you to explain what you require of me."

As Frank pulls away to attend to other camp matters, Prema leads him to one of the cluster of cabins and into a bedroom with a single bed, some bookshelves, a footlocker, and a few electrical outlets, an indication that they won't be entirely roughing it. She says, "This is a boys' cabin. You have a single room. My cabin is the next one over. If you run into a pretty blonde girl named Samadhi, she's my roommate." The wrinkling of Prema's nose suggests she's more amused by this bit of cultural appropriation than put off by it. "I can let you get settled in and come find me when you're ready to walk to the range or I'm ready to go now."