To read part thirteen of day eight, click here.

On the table was a bag full of sour gummy things. I don’t even know what they are called. I just know that I don’t like sour candy. 😀

I told the guys who were splitting it up that I didn’t want any and went to grab my postcards from the car. I brought them over to Josh, who was still talking with Jen and Katie. He took them from me and nodded at me, without stopping his conversation. I left them alone after that, knowing that they probably wouldn’t want me hearing what they were talking about.

Katie followed me.

“Brett, if you want to write a note to your brother, Josh might be able to get it to him.”

“Really??” That would be amazing. I could tell him about the bald eagle I saw. He’d be jealous.

“Yep, if you hurry.”

I ran to the car and ripped a piece of paper out of my journal. I wrote as quickly as I could, knowing that even if my handwriting wasn’t good he’d be able to read it.

“Hey Cole,

I really miss you! I hope you’re having a great time. I saw two bald eagles a couple of days ago and thought of you, The Bird Dude. I love you, and I can’t wait to see you again! Six more days! Love you! Brett”

I folded the paper and held it in my hand. I couldn’t put it in my pocket – I couldn’t risk forgetting about it. Fortunately, Josh came around soon with the mail.

“Brett, you must have a lot of siblings or something.” He grinned as he started flipping through the mail. The pile in my arms got larger and larger. I gave up counting after he gave me the 17th piece of mail.

As he went to give the next person their mail, Jen came over to me. “Brett, please make sure you don’t flaunt all of that mail. Most of the other kids only got one or two letters, if they got any.”

I thought about it for a minute. I didn’t want to make any of the other kids feel bad, so I decided to put it all away. I’d open it bit by bit, when I had time.

At that point in time, I was still very insecure. I still felt completely out of place. I still thought that I was never going to fit in.

The trailer was locked, so I asked Jen to open it so I could hide my letters. I found my backpack and stuffed the letters down in the bottom, except for the bulky packet from my family.

Click here to read the next part of Day Eight.

*Everything here is from my own memory and may not be correct. Outward Bound is not responsible for anything I post here. Thanks too NCOBS for letting me use their photos.*