Vacation

Part One

Today was the day I was dreading. Our parents hadn't gone on vacation in five years. The same amount of time we haven't seen our aunt Maggie. My sisters and I didn't want them to leave.
Our lives were perfect. And if our parents left, there goes the perfect life! If mom and dad arrived home to the big mess that aunt Maggie had left, there's no way they would trust her to watch us again.
Obviously, my pleading didn't work because there we were at the airport on a rainy Friday sending our parents off to Hawaii for eight days. It was the beginning of the worst eight days of my life.
Could it really be that bad? I ask myself. In my head I answer: Of course Cleo! Remember the last time she came over? Of course, how could I forget?
Your probably wondering what my aunt did that was really that bad. Can you imagine my aunt trying to help me ace my science fair project? She said it would be the "best" baking soda and vinegar volcano ever. Well, if red "foam" all over the house is the best, then, mission accomplished Maggie. I ended up with a B+ on that project. That completely ruined my straight A record.
My parents didn't really care about the B+. To them, that's a good grade. To me, it's terrible. What they did care about was the red stains all over our white furniture.
Back to the horrible time at the airport, my sister Jean and I were having a surprisingly good conversation. Jean is eight. I'm twelve. And since I'm older, doesn't that mean I'm always right? I mean really, she knows nothing compared to me. I'm a genius!
But on this day different from the rest, we actually agreed on something. Mom and dad could NOT leave. Who's going to feed the dog and take her for walks? How do we know Maggie will pick us up from school at the right time? How do we know she'll even remember to pick us up?
As our parents were walking onto the plane, my youngest sister, Nora was trying to flail herself out of Maggie's feeble arms.
Regretting this trip already, mom and dad waved goodbye and disappeared into the plane. It had officially begun. The dreaded eight days. A week and a day. 192 hours.How bad could it be? Soon enough, my question would be answered.
As soon as mom and dad were gone, Nora started crying. What aunt Maggie did was the complete opposite of Nora. Maggie screamed "finally! They're gone! Let's get this party started!"
Jean and I just stared at Maggie blankly and didn't really understand why she thought this was going to be fun."This is going to be a long week." I muttered under my breath.
When we finally got to the airport parking ramp, Maggie couldn't find her run down yellow slug bug. Trudging through the rainy April day, Jean complained. As usual. "I'm tired of walking."
But this time I don't think she was just speaking for herself. She was speaking for all of us. Al of us were exhausted. After wandering the ramp for at least two hours, we finally found the car.
Jean opened the rusty door showing what the inside of Maggie's car looked like. Snack wrappers everywhere and her navy blue suitcase stuffed in the backseat. "How are we gonna fit in there?" I asked Maggie reluctantly. "And what about my two year old sisters car seat? Or my eight year old sisters car seat?"
After an attempt of shoving Maggie's overflowing suitcase into the trunk, all three of us finally squeezed into the backseat. The half hour ride home was horrible. Jean kept squirming around to try and get comfortable. Nora had to sit on my lap since she had no car seat. And, Nora was squirming on top of my lap. And Maggie had her music blaring with not a care in the world.
When we were at the Holiday gas station just down the street from our house, Jean jumped out of the car along with Nora. "Finally we're free!" Jean screamed at the top of her lungs.
When Maggie's car was filling up with fuel, she went inside to get a Mountain Dew and left us outside in the rain. Not that I'm complaining, the rain felt good on my sweaty face from being trapped in the car with no air conditioning. If my parents were here to see how Maggie had been watching us for the last half hour, let's just say they wouldn't be the happiest.
By the time the car filled up and Maggie came back out with her pop, we were soaking wet. Mom and Dad would definitely not approve. Thirsty or maybe even dehydrated, Jean and I stuck our tongues out to drink the salty rain water. I guess being the youngest means being the smartest because Nora asked Maggie for a sip of her Mountain Dew which turned into a gulp. While we were dripping with water, Maggie was completely dry with her polka dot umbrella. And for us girls, it didn't look so great. Maggie locked the keys in the car. For the second time today, Nora started crying. And being sopping wet didn't really help that much either. We hadn't even been with Maggie for a whole day yet. How bad would this week get? We hadn't even got to the house yet.
Since Maggie lives in California and we live in Maine, Maggie couldn't really go to her house to get her spare set of keys. Our solution was throwing a rock at the window. It didn't glad that long to find a rock at the gas station. They were everywhere.