Among The Wolves

Travels

We went over the ridge and ran down the slope that led to the foundry. While running I searched the parking lot of the factory. There were many cars there, with it being a work day. With relief I spotted the telltale yellow taxi.
Lins whooped next to me, giggles coming out of her with glee. I caught myself laughing and determined that I was not going to take this moment for granted.

“We're going on an adventure!” Lins hollered. “We're going on an adventure!”

About halfway down the slope Lins began bombarding me with questions. “Where are we going now? What will we do? Did you bring toilet paper? Cause I forgot.”

Laughing I turned her toward the parking lot. “First, let's play a game.” I spy, with my little eye, something yellow.”

“Oooo! I love this game! The flower?”

“Nope.”

“The sun?”

I laughed again, “Nope, too high.”

“Right there! That yellow car!”

“Yep! Race ya there, last one's a rotten egg!”

Toulinska squealed, hot on my heels. Both of us opened our arms, gliding with the wind as we neared the paved ground.

I let Lins ahead of me and she touched the hood of the taxi. “I win!”

“Oh man! I guess that I am a rotten egg.” I shrugged humorously, “Alright, get in! We're going on a road trip!”

“Yay!” Lins opened the back door and hopped in. The driver, an older woman, rolled down the window. “Are you the one the requested a ride?”

I walked over to that window. “Yes ma'am, I am looking to get to Kampman Motel.”

“Kampman Motel? In Thisland? Near the military out west?”

“Yes ma'am.”

“That will be a large sum, I am going to need to see a show of slips to verify that you can make the payment.”

“Of course.” I reached into my backpack and showed the wad of monetary slips that I had left.

The woman's eyes showed that she approved of what she saw. “Hop on in!”
With a relieved sigh I slipped in next to Lins. Giving her a smile that showed off my excitement.

“Ready? It's about get boring, we'll be in this car for a little while.”

Lins leaned in and whispered, “Don't worry, I brought coloring books.”

“No way! You're so much more prepared than I am.”

“Yep! I brought a lot of stuff that I knew would be necessary for an adventure.”

My sister pulled out a coloring book and crayon set and we immediately set out to see how many pictures we could do before we reached our destination. After eight full pictures of princesses, Lins wanted to do something else.
She rummaged through her overly stuffed backpack. I noticed something very familiar to me. Reaching past her I pulled a small handmade doll from the bag. It was well used. The fabric was worn and one of the button eyes was gone. There were only a few strands of  hair left despite my younger self's attempt to sew a bundle on really well. I remembered the day clearly, when I gave this doll to my little sister…

We were still in the cellar when mama went into labor. She was nearly almost to the thirty-seventh week mark. So when the Braxton-Hicks turned into the real deal, mama did not seem concerned. Even though she voiced that her fall probably started the premature contractions. Both she and grandma started to get things ready. We searched the boxes for clean towels and rags. I was commissioned to tuck those towels into my pant legs and shirt to warm them up. The labor did not seem to last as long as the stories I heard said it would. Just a couple hours later I was pulling the towels out of my pants and frantically giving them to grandma.