Chasing The Sun [ON HOLD]

6:00 pm

By the time we arrive at the children's home, the sun is beginning to set and is shining at just the right angle to briefly blind me as I climb out of the bus. I squint in the direction of the largest building, which I'm assuming is the gym, and see that it is surrounded by a ring of smaller buildings, probably dorms. It's bigger than I thought it would be. I guess that just means there are a lot of kids.

"Miranda!"

I turn and see Shannon waving wildly at me, the stacks of bracelets on her arms jangling. Shannon is Lorelai's daughter, and when we were younger we would spend hours talking and playing together at church while our parents worked. But as we got older she became beautiful and I didn't, and she entered and won pageants and I stayed home and read books. And so that was the end of that.

"How was your bus ride? I kept glancing over at you and you were always looking out the window. Did you enjoy the sing along? It was my idea, I thought that it would be fun and really get everyone in the spirit of things! I know how much you love to sing, so I figured you would-"

"I loved it. Really. Great idea." If talking to Lorelai is like staring into the sun, talking to Shannon is like being trapped in a tanning bed with no sunglasses.

I glance behind her and see people beginning to unload the bus. "I think I'm going to grab a couple of boxes," I tell her.

"Oh, good idea! I guess the singing really did put you in the mission spirit!" She follows me and continues to chatter about how she just knows that this will be the best mission trip ever, and can't I feel it too? "I just have a really good feeling about this place, you know? Like we're going to leave here totally different people." I nod.

"What are you most excited about?" she asks, and it takes me a second to realize that she's actually waiting for a response.

"Well, I- I don't know," I say. She nods understandingly.

"Me either! It's just all so important, you can't really choose, you know?"

I give a noncommittal grunt that thankfully coincides with me picking up a large box of bibles.

"Let me help you with that! And I almost forgot, you're preaching tonight, right?"

I almost drop the box.

"No, not preaching. It's really just a speech," I say.

"Oh. Well, I'm sure you'll do great! Your dad must be so proud!" she says.

I give her a tight-lipped smile and stay silent.

"Arkansas really is beautiful," she says as we walk.

"It really is," I say, and I mean it. The flat, brown Texas Panhandle is hardly scenic on its best day, but the valley and the green hills that surround us belong on a postcard.

The closer we get to the gym, the more bizarre it looks. The windows in the front of the building are so dirty that they're almost impossible to see through, and the building itself is a no-nonsense rectangle that was probably originally painted white but has since faded to grey. The total effect is that of a cinder block.

Lorelai walks up from behind us and knocks on the door. After a moment a large man cracks open the door and sticks his head out. He smiles when he sees Lorelai and emerges, gingerly opening and closing the door.

" 'Evening everyone! My name is Pastor Jack and I'm the founder of the Hope and Harmony Children's Home. I've known your director Lorelai for many years- more years than I'm willing to admit," he winks at her and she blushes, and I can feel Shannon cringe next to me, "and when she asked me if I would be interested in having you guys run a program for us, I was just thrilled. Most of our kids here don't have any kind of religious background, so I know that they'll really benefit from what you guys'll be teaching 'em. They're all very excited that y'all are here, and they just can't wait to meet ya! Come on in!" He cracks open the door and glances inside before swinging it open and letting us all file in behind him.