Annie's Promise

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorHigh School, 11th grade February 2008

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Do you know what it is like to live during a war? Annie Platt and her family know exactly what war is all about. They moved from Germany in 1945 to Los Angeles. The United States was a much better place for them to be during World War II.

Annie's father, Arthur, ran his own business selling clothes. Annie's mother, Margo, helped Arthur out in his business. She also had two sisters. Annie was the youngest of three children. The oldest one was Ruth and the middle child was Lisa.

It was near the end of the school year when Annie's school counselor invited her to go to Quaker Pines, a summer camp. She knew that every summer she was required to stay home and help her mother and father sew clothes for the family business. That day she went home and told her parents about the news and asked them if she could go.

After a long time of thinking, her parents decided that she could go.

Soon summer came and it was time for Annie to leave. Her parents drove her to the bus station and saw her off. Annie got on the bus and ended up sitting by this black girl named Tallahassee, but people called her Tally for short. They soon got to know each other very well.

After about an hour and a half ride they arrived at Quaker Pines. They all hopped off the bus and were assigned to their cabins. Tally and Annie were in the same cabin, along with Lenore, Nancy Rae, and Becca. Then all of the campers met the counselors. There was one counselor who Annie liked from the moment she saw him. His name was John Wright. The other counselors included Ellen, Mary, Sal, and Ed.

Each cabin was required to come up with a cabin name and a cabin project. Annie's cabin came up with the name Eagles. Their cabin project was to build a drain at the bottom of the hill. The drain would carry the rainwater to the camp lake.

After being at camp for a week, the girls started to hate Nancy Rae. She was incredibly mean and annoying. For now the girls tried to ignore her.

John started teaching Annie how to take care of horses. He taught her everything she needed to know about them. Annie loved the way John talked to her and showed her how to do things.

One day Annie decided to go to the stables and clean them out. She had never gone there alone, but this time she did. As she was cleaning, a kitchen guy came in with a bag over his shoulder. She asked him what he was doing and he said, "I'm here to feed the scraps to the horses." The next thing she knew she was being attacked by the man. She kicked him off of her and jumped on Molly, her favorite horse. She rode Molly to the cabins where she saw John. She then told John about everything. John asked her if she was okay and then kissed her. Then he said that he would take Molly back to the stables. Annie then went to her cabin and slept her worries off.

The next day John asked her if she would do a play for all the campers on next Saturday. Annie decided she would. She wrote the play and got a few campers to be in it with her. Annie gave Nancy Rae the part of the lead singer.

It was now Saturday and time for the play. Towards the end of the play there is a scene where Nancy Rae is supposed to get fake water dumped on her. That scene came and instead of water, she got horse poop dumped all over her. She was so upset that she ran and called her father and the next day she left camp.

Another week went by and it was time for all of the campers to go home. Mary, one of the counselors, invited Annie to come back to camp for the next session. She said that she would talk to her parents about it.

Annie was now at home and she was the very lonely. She was so lonely because Lisa moved out. Annie had only been home for about a week when Tally was knocking on her door. Annie left a note for her parents telling them where she was going. They spent the day at the beach and arrived back home at 4:00 p.m. Annie's parents were furious because they hadn't found the note and were worrying about her for a long time.

That night she was so upset with her parents that she ran away. She got on the bus and rode to Quaker Pines. When she arrived there Mary needed her help tremendously. Ellen was sick with the chicken pox and needed someone to take care of her. Annie got stuck nursing Ellen back to health. She then decided that her parents were probably extremely worried about her, so she called home and said she would be coming home in the morning.

The next morning Annie went back home. Her family was grateful that she was okay. They realized how much Quaker Pines meant to her. Arthur and Margo decided that they would take her up there on Sunday. The whole family would go to see the beautiful place that Annie loved.

On Sunday they went to Quaker Pines and met all the generous counselors that worked there. They realized why Annie loved to go to camp. While they were there Mary asked Annie if she would like to come back every year and be a counselor. She was overwhelmed with joy and accepted the offer.

From there on every summer Annie went to Quaker Pines to be a counselor. Annie and John worked together as counselors and they became very close friends.