The Chrysalis

The Chrysalis Review

Christina Brannigan doesn’t care if she ever sees a bright red "A" plastered across another one of her papers.

What she wanted was a size five prom gown, a new hairstyle and a date. What she got was fifteen pounds heavier working on the Donut Project.

What she wanted was a leading role in a school play. What she got was a nosebleed during the drama club audition.

What she wanted was a transformation. What she got was an invitation.

The only thing in Christina’s mailbox more predictable than a college brochure is Aunt Meg’s annual letter asking Christina to spend the summer working with her at Camp Edson. The camp for disadvantaged children is the one place Christina is certain she doesn’t belong. When she learns that her aunt wants her to bring a drama program to camp, she quickly changes her mind. Like the caterpillars from an elementary science fair project, she would disappear into a chrysalis of her own; a new Christina with toned muscles, long hair, and a new wardrobe would return to Riverside High in the fall. It seemed pretty simple.

What she didn’t know was that in The Chrysalis there are choices to be made and the need for confidence outweighs all else. For the first time, she is forced to examine the values her parents and teachers had prescribed for her, and ultimately decide if she wants to make them her own. When she is presented with the opportunity of a lifetime, she finds that emotions are deceitful and listening to her heart might be the biggest mistake she could make.

She went to camp to become everything that she was not. She never expected to meet someone who appreciates the person she already is. The gift that Mark Chadwick ultimately gives Christina is the confidence she needs to make the decision that would forever alter both of their lives. Suddenly, nothing is simple anymore.

Injured and lost in the driving rain, what she wanted to do was give up. What she absolutely had to do was get her girls to safety.

She wanted to help keep Camp Edson open. What she did could shut them down.

She wanted the contents of the manila envelope to hold them together. She knew that was impossible.