HEROES by DESIGN Hero’s Journey
D.A. Irsik
HEROES by DESIGN Hero’s Journey © 2019 Deb Irsik This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission of the publisher. Published by CrossWing Publishing Emporia, KS Hazel Hart, Editor hazelhart.com Curtis Becker, Layout curtisbeckerbooks.com ISBN: 978-1-7329078-2-9
In memory of my daughter Annie. The struggle to find your place in life is real.
Acknowledgements My family, especially my husband Mike, has been patient with this journey. I am grateful and blessed. Writing friends, especially Katelyn Dorrell, for her beta reader skills and Tracy Simmons, who has her own publishing company, but is always willing to help.
1 On the Brink I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone and create many ripples. –Mother Theresa Joyous, Sela’s guardian angel, smiled at her in the mirror. Sela raised her eyebrows and lifted her hands. “What? I just want to make something happen!” Sela was restless. Summer was just beginning, and it was short, so she wanted to pack it full of activity. In one week, she would be whisked off to Camp Disciple. This was her first year to be a junior leader at camp and she was looking forward to sharing her faith. “Remember your mantra, Sela, it will serve you well.” “I know, patience, patience, patience!” Sela turned and hugged Joyous. Sela had been able to see and converse with her guardian since last fall. She counted on their morning conversations as a positive beginning to her day. Slipping quickly down the stairs, she breezed into the kitchen where her mother was stirring something in her big blue mixing bowl. “Whatcha making?” “Your favorite. Chocolate chip pancakes.” Sela rubbed her rib cage. “Mmm, I could make a habit of this. It’s probably a good thing that I’ll be at camp
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for a month or I would be that chubby freshman.” She and her mother shared a laugh. While she set the table Sela continued to tell her mother her plans for the day. “Em and I are going to go play tennis for a couple of hours before it gets too hot. Is there anything you want me to do before I leave?” “Not today, this is your first free day of summer, and I want you to enjoy it. I will make a note of your offer for later though.” Her mother winked. “Do you girls need a ride?” “Naaa, we are going to walk and on the way home stop at Java Jo’s.” Sela’s father walked into the kitchen just as she said ‘Java Jo’s.’ He raised his eyebrows with an ornery grin. “Java Jo’s sounds like an expensive habit.” He pulled a ten-dollar bill from his wallet. “Don’t spend it all in one place.” “Thanks, Dad. It’s just a one-day-a-week treat that Em and I’ve decided will be our thing. Actually, when Zach and Emily start at the aquatic park, Mondays will be the only morning we can have a coffee.” “Sooo, are they an item?” Her father played nervously with his fork, tapping it on his plate and turning it over and over. He looked at Sela for her answer. “I don’t know if they are an item, but they like each other.” “How do you feel about that?” Her father scooted his chair back and leaned toward her. “You know, they are my best friends, and I want them to be happy. I’m just a little worried that it could
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get... you know…awkward. I am going to be gone for a month, and I would be lying if I said I’m not a little afraid that I’ll be a third wheel when I come back.” Sela’s mother reached over and squeezed her arm. “Your relationships are going to change Sela. It’s part of growing up. I hope that the three of you can find the balance that you’ll need to remain friends. Zach and Emily are smart kids, and I know that they don’t want their friendship to be compromised, but a romantic involvement can make things really complicated.” “Mooom, please don’t call it that. It sounds like something from a bad novel. They just like each other. Besides, I think they are kind of cute, always blushing and brushing each other’s hands and stuff. I will pray about it and leave it to God.” Sela glanced at the kitchen clock. “Oh, gosh. I have to rush to meet Em. Sorry; I talked too long, and I don’t have time to help clean up, Mom. I’ll take kitchen duty tomorrow, I promise.” Her mother smiled and waved her out the door. Sela became pensive as she walked. How will I feel? I like us the way we are. She almost went right past Emily. “Hey, earth to Sela.” Emily waved her hand in front of Sela’s face. “Oh, sorry, Em. I guess I was just in my own world.” “Anything you want to talk about?” “No, my brain’s sorting out summer. It’s going to be great!” She started a slow jog. “C’mon, Monroe, step it up, time’s a wastin’.”
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After a round or two of tennis, they were totally worn out, and they walked to the coffee shop with much less energy. It was hot, and bouncing around on the tennis court had taken its toll. Sela trudged beside Emily. “I’m beat.” “Me too, but we have to hurry or Zach will get there ahead of us.” Sela turned, frowning at Emily. “Zach’s meeting us?” “What? Of course, Zach is meeting us. Why? Don’t you want Zach to meet us? Can’t we still talk? We never let Zach stop us before. Don’t make it a big deal Sela.” “Whoa, I won’t if you won’t.” The girls just looked at each other and kept walking. The tension only lasted a moment because Zach jogged between them and challenged them to beat him to their favorite outdoor seats. They arrived laughing and breathless.
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2 Camp Disciple Out of difficulties grow miracles. –Jean de La Bruyere The first two weeks of summer flew by. This was the first summer that she and Emily weren’t at camp together. As Jr. counselor, Sela had five girls in her cabin. She arrived at camp and checked in to get her cabin assignment. She set to work getting ready for her girls. The girls began arriving about an hour later. They were either standing around awkwardly or breaking into little pods, but she was prepared. Sela had the girls play a game to break the ice. Each girl got a cartoon character taped on her back and the others could only answer yes or no to questions about who they were. They had a blast, and everyone was laughing and talking by the end of the game. Boys and girls were in separate areas of the camp, but they had some group activities. The first evening they all met in the mess hall to get the general instructions. The kids were mingling, and the counselors were talking in the back. Sela found herself with two girls she met the summer before. Terina, bent forward, and whispered, “There’s Chad. This is his second year as a counselor. He is sooo hot.” Sela followed her gaze and saw the boy. As they looked at him, he seemed to feel he was being talked about 12
and looked up. His eyes pinned Sela, and he grinned. He began to move toward the girls, and the dimples on his face deepened. The girls started bumping each other and giggling. Terina, leaned in again. “Act normal. Here he comes.” Sela was not about to pretend they were not looking at him, and she kept her eyes directly on his as he approached. He seemed very sure of himself. “Hello, ladies. I think I know you two from last summer.” He pointed at Terina, “Terina right and…” “Sasha.” Terina filled in. “Right, Sasha, but...who is this?” He raised his brows and looked at Sela. Butterflies danced in her stomach and her face warmed. The girls seemed to have swallowed their tongues. Sela stuck out her hand, “Hi, I’m Sela, and this is my first year as a counselor so you probably just didn’t notice me last year.” Chad gripped her hand and graced her with his dimpled grin. “Chad, it’s always nice to have new blood.” “Thanks.” Sela attempted to retrieve her hand, and someone began tapping a mic. Chad shrugged. “Better get back to my group.” He winked at Sela, dropped her hand and walked away. Sela was flustered. Who did he think he was? Such a flirt. She attempted to listen to the leader giving instructions. Terina and her friend Sasha kept giggling and bumping her. Sela was alternately, irritated that Chad was so sure she would welcome his flirting, and flattered that he was interested.
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“I think he likes you.” Sasha pouted. “You are so lucky. He didn’t even remember my name.” The person on the mic droned on. “We want to remind you once more to stay with your campers at all times. If your campers need to go to the bath houses, they need to check out with the counselor and go in pairs. Any counselor found outside of their cabin after lights out will be put on kitchen duty for the remainder of the week unless they are escorting a camper. A second infraction will result in the counselor being sent home. Counselors are responsible to keep track of their assigned campers and….” Sela was distracted by the group of boys, poking each other and laughing as the list continued. They seemed to be looking her way, so she attempted to ignore them. A camper slipped up beside her and said, “This is for you,” and stuck a note in her hand. Sela’s ears burned as her color rose, and she tucked the slip of paper into her pocket. Terina noticed the boy and immediately started whispering to Sasha. The two girls pushed her to the side of the room, pretending to make room for people to pass, and bombarded her with questions. “Aren’t you going to open it?” Terina pulled the pocket open. Sela grabbed the top of the pocket. “No, not now.” “C’mon,” Sasha urged. “We want to know what he said.” Sela shrugged them off. “I don’t even know who wrote it. We have to go get our groups. Maybe we can talk later.”
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Sela walked over to the area where the campers were waiting and gathered her girls, herding them back to the cabin. Most of the campers were between nine and twelve. Sela kept busy getting all of them settled. They put their sleeping bags on their cots and talked about the activities for the next day. Sela waited until they had all become quiet on their cots before she took the note out of her pocket. Meet me by the canoes at 11:00. We can talk and take a moonlight row. Sela quickly wadded up the paper and tucked it back in her pocket. I can’t do that. If I get caught, I’ll get kitchen duty, and mom and dad will be disappointed. Sela made herself stay busy looking at the schedule and adding little notes about things her group could do to make the activities more fun. 1. Write a poem to go with your craft project so you can give it to someone special. 2. Sit by someone different at the next station. 3. Share your lunch with a new friend. She tried not to think about the note that was burning a hole in her pocket. Little thoughts kept popping into her head: Other kids do it; I have a right to be a teenager too; if I don’t go, Chad will think I’m chicken. They all do it all the time and never get caught. I need to talk to Joyous. She stepped outside to call Joyous. “Joyous, I need to talk to you,” she said in her loudest whisper. The stars twinkled and seemed to be blinking in judgement. “Joyous, can you hear me.? Joyous?” “I’m here Sela, what is it?”
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“I well, I-I have this note from someone, and they sort of want me to break the rules, and I think I’m being tempted.” Joyous smiled and raised her eyebrows. “You think you are being tempted by a dark angel, Sela?” “Maybe, have you seen one?” “No,” Joyous frowned. “You know Sela, sometimes the human conscience is just that. Your own conscience telling you that something is not right.” “You mean it is just me, my choice to make a bad decision? Dang, I kind of hoped I could blame it on something else. Why do I want to do this, Joyous? I mean is it really so bad? Lots of kids do things a lot worse than going on a canoe ride with a boy.” “Sela, you know I cannot tell you what to do. You have to make your own choices and abide by the rewards and/or consequences of them. I can only protect you when the darkness is trying to pull you away from God. The Holy Spirit will speak to you, and you have to choose to hear him or follow the way of the world.” “So, that’s what I’m doing. Following the way of the world. I just want to be a little bit like other kids. Is that so wrong? I am a teenager but I never do the things teens do.” “Don’t be too hard on yourself, Sela. Regardless of the choice you make, I can say for certain that you will learn from the experience. Just be sure you are not putting yourself or others in danger.” “Thanks, Joyous. I guess I will just sort of see what happens.”
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Sasha and Terina appeared out of nowhere. “Who are you talking to?” Sasha looked around. “Aaa, no one. I was just thinking out loud. Getting my thoughts organized.” “Oookay.” Terina smirked at Sasha. Sasha shook her head. “Never mind, we came to see what the note said. Did you read it?” “Yeah.” Sela flushed. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not doing it.” “Doing what?” Terina squealed. “Shhh.” Sela caught Terina’s sleeve and pulled her away from the cabin. “You’re going to wake the girls.” “Doing what? What did he ask you to do?” Terina whispered. Sela pulled the wadded up note out of her pocket. Terina grabbed it, and Sasha pulled one side of it into the light on the cabin. “A moonlight row! Really? He wants to go on a moonlight row with you? You have to go. He is the cutest guy here. You can’t say no.” Sela plucked the note out of their fingers and stuffed it back in her pocket. “I can and I will.” Sasha put her hands on her hips. “Are you nuts? I would give my arm to go out with Chad. You can’t say no.” “I have to stay with my cabin. Did you guys even listen to the rules? I don’t want to mess up and get in trouble. What if the girls get scared or something? Besides, I’ve never gone anywhere with a boy before, and I wouldn’t know what to say.” “We’ll take turns watching your cabin. If anyone comes, we’ll just say you had a bathroom emergency.”
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Sasha nodded at Terina, and she wagged her head in agreement. “I don’t know. I just don’t do things like that. I really try to make good decisions.” “But?” Sasha prompted. “But he is cute, and the lake is really pretty, and I wouldn’t have to be gone very long…” “Yes. That’s our girl. Hurry-up, Terina, before she changes her mind,” Sasha pushed Terina toward their cabins. “We’ll go check on our campers, and one of us will be right back.” Sela watched them go. What am I doing? This is crazy. Sela went back in the cabin. It was 10:30. She checked her campers. She thought about what the girls had said. She had been waiting for some kind of sign, and the girls did appear out of nowhere. Stop over thinking this. It’s just an hour. What’s the big deal? She sat in a corner of the room and pretended to read a book until 11:00. Listening for any sign that the campers were not asleep, she carefully slipped out into the warm night. Sela looked around for the girls. Sasha slipped up to her cabin. “Go,” she said breathlessly and went inside the cabin. She peered out of the window and waved Sela away. It was really dark, but Sela thought she saw a flash over by the canoes. She was panting when she reached Chad, partly because she was walking quickly and partly because she had never done anything remotely like this before. Chad stood grinning by a canoe. “Hop in.”
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Sela stepped over the side and settled onto the bench on one end. Chad pushed off and started to row out into the middle of the lake. After a few minutes, he put down the oars and just let the canoe rock in the moonlight. Sela’s heart was pounding. What is he doing? What am I doing? What should I say? Chad broke the silence, “So, all of your campers were out?” “Yeah, they were pretty tired.” “Yeah, the boys were too. Do you live in Rossville?” Sela nodded. “All my life. How about you? Where do you live?” “I live in Chaney right now, but my dad moves us a lot. No real roots.” “That must be tough.” Sela was beginning to loosen up. Chad seemed nice. “So, will you go to school in Chaney this fall?” “As far as I know, that’s the plan. I’ll be a sophomore.” He looked up at the stars. “Wow, the stars are prettier on the water. Wanna come over here and see if we can find the Big Dipper?” Sela looked up. Pointing she said, “Actually, I think I see it right there. Maybe you’re looking for it upside down.” Chad stood up, and the canoe tilted to the side, almost tipping them both out. Sela grabbed him and pulled him down on the seat hard. “What are you doing?” Her voice was shaky. “Trying to drown us?”
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Chad scooted close to her and put his arm on her shoulder. “Chill. We’re fine. I just thought I might be able to see a little better from here.” “Really?” She removed his arm. “I think I’m ready to go back now.” Chad smiled and said, “Strike one.” Sela glared. “What?” Chad shrugged. “C’mon, what did you come out here for?” Sela shook her head. “I dunno. I thought you seemed nice, and I just-never do anything against the rules. I guess I didn’t think about it. I’m sorry, but this isn’t me.” Chad moved carefully back to the middle of the canoe and began rowing. “Uh, Chad, aren’t you going the wrong way?” “Nope, my cabin is right over there.” Sela opened her eyes wide. “Your cabin, but you have to take me back to the other side.” The canoe slid onto the sand. Several forms appeared from the shadows. There was a lot of back slapping and loud whispering. “Hey man, did you get to first base?” Sela made it out of the canoe and looked out across the lake at her own little cabin village. “Okay, you had your fun. Can I go back now?” The boys laughed. “She wants to go back, Chad; she didn’t get enough of you.” Sela was furious. “I’ve had enough of all of you. Please take me back to my cabin now.”
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Chad looked sheepishly at Sela, “Sorry, this is sort of my senior initiation.” He started backing away, and the boys picked up the oars and started up the hill. “Wait, you have the oars; you can’t just leave me here.” She stomped her foot. “I knew I shouldn’t have come. I knew it.” She looked across the lake longingly. She had fortunately brought her phone and turned on the flashlight app. She headed to the road that led to the other side. The road around the lake was about an hour walk, so Sela had plenty of time to think. She called out tentatively to see if Joyous was there. “Joyous? Joyous? I really screwed up. How could I be so stupid?” She trudged on. As Sela approached the cabins, tired and defeated, she heard the voice of her senior leader. “Everything is fine. Sela probably just went to the bathroom and didn’t want to wake you. Settle down and go back to sleep.” Sela put her hand on the cabin door, and the adult counselor opened it from the other side. She looked sharply at Sela. “We will deal with this in the morning. I assume you will not be leaving the cabin again tonight.” Her posture and tone brooked no argument. Sela hung her head and nodded. Sela served in the cafeteria for the next week. She apologized for her behavior and accepted the consequences without complaint. She chose not to rat out the boys, but when they came through the lunch line, she pasted on a smile and plopped a large helping of broccoli
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on each plate and told the girl next to her that they only wanted small servings of meat. One of the boys said, “Hey, what’s that supposed to be?” Chad could see the threat of exposure on Sela’s face, so he pushed the guy along.
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Biography Deb Irsik has worked in the beauty industry for over twenty-five years and is the owner of Makin' Waves Salon. She is a Kansas girl and shares her life with her husband Mike, and children John and Emily. Deb is a member of The Kansas Authors Club and Emporia Writing Group. Poetry and Lyrics have always been a part of her life but she felt a call to write Middle-Grade Christian fiction after her daughter found it difficult to be “that God girl” in eighth grade. “It is my hope that my books will encourage young people to hold on to values and faith as they navigate their teen years.” Book I of the Heroes series, Heroes by Design, was released in May of 2019; Book II was released in October of 2019. Deb continues to write poetry in the quiet spaces between paragraphs. Deb can be found online; Facebook:.D.A.IrsikAuthor Twitter:@Writerwannabe1 Website: www.dairsik.com Amazon: amazon.com/author/dairsik Instagram: debirsik 23
