Washington Post gift link
In the dark, amid screams, a Camp Mystic counselor had 16 girls and one headlamp
The first drops of rain had yet to fall when Ainslie Bashara, a counselor at Camp Mystic, noticed that one of the younger girls had begun to tear up. They were walking back to their cabin, Giggle Box, as another storm swelled over the Texas Hill Country. The girl feared what was coming, so Ainslie wrapped an arm around her.
“It’s just heat lightning,” Ainslie, 19, recalled assuring her that evening. “There’s nothing to it.”
It was just past 9 p.m. on July 3, the start of Ainslie’s night off from tending to Giggle Box’s 16 “littles.” She popped inside to grab her backpack just as the girls, all between 8 and 10, began to brush their teeth and slip on their pajamas. Ainslie said goodbye and headed out for a break with friends. By the time she came back, shortly after midnight, she had to sprint. The storm had begun to pound the 99-year-old Christian camp situated along the Guadalupe River. The cabin was no more than 600 feet from the bank.
In the dark, amid screams, a Camp Mystic counselor had 16 girls and one headlamp
The first drops of rain had yet to fall when Ainslie Bashara, a counselor at Camp Mystic, noticed that one of the younger girls had begun to tear up. They were walking back to their cabin, Giggle Box, as another storm swelled over the Texas Hill Country. The girl feared what was coming, so Ainslie wrapped an arm around her.
“It’s just heat lightning,” Ainslie, 19, recalled assuring her that evening. “There’s nothing to it.”
It was just past 9 p.m. on July 3, the start of Ainslie’s night off from tending to Giggle Box’s 16 “littles.” She popped inside to grab her backpack just as the girls, all between 8 and 10, began to brush their teeth and slip on their pajamas. Ainslie said goodbye and headed out for a break with friends. By the time she came back, shortly after midnight, she had to sprint. The storm had begun to pound the 99-year-old Christian camp situated along the Guadalupe River. The cabin was no more than 600 feet from the bank.
