Chapter 18

Names: Lyra Taylor, Sienna Murray and Razeenah Sonday

In the morning, each boy had to dig his own hole in a different part of the lake as the big hole. Stanley was grateful to be away from it and to not have the Warden watching everything they did. His neck still hurt from Zigzag's shovel. He had to turn smoothly when shovelling his dirt or it would throb. His neck was swollen. He could not see himself, as there were no mirrors at camp, but he presumed that it looked like a hard-boiled egg. The rest of his body didn’t hurt though. Digging holes had made him stronger and his hands tougher, able to endure the pain of digging.

Stanley was still the slowest digger, but he was only slightly slower than magnet. Shortly after Magnet was back at camp, Stanley finished digging his hole.

He showered and put his dirty clothes in the crate and started to write. He wrote a letter to his parents, telling them about how he ran obstacle courses and swam. As Zero walked into the tent, Stanley stopped writing, and then he continued. As Zero watched Stanley write, he stopped again. He told Zero that he didn't like him reading his letter, but Zero didn't do anything. As Stanley carried on, Zero suddenly said that he didn't know how. Stanley asked what he meant. Zero asked Stanley if he could teach him how to read. Stanley declined and told him he didn't know how to teach. Stanley had become tougher, both with his muscles and with his heart. Stanley finished up his letter and with the little spit left in his mouth, sealed the letter. No matter how much he drank, nothing would quench his everlasting thirst.