A journey to change Autumn

41

Tyler's POV
After a while of driving Autumn yawns and ends up falling asleep. I whisper to her "Goodnight beautiful." right before she falls asleep.

I keep my eyes on the road while also checking the map every once in a while. By the time I get really bored it is only 10:37, almost three hours away from our destination. I glance over at Autumn to see her sound asleep. She looks absolutely beautiful. I can see a faint smile even as she sleeps. While keeping one hand on the steering wheel I took the right one a brushed a hair off of her forehead. She flinch as I yanked my hand away scared she might wake up. After a minute or two she seems to go right back to sleep.

I continue to drive yawning every once in a while. I try to stay awake by thinking about random things. Like Autumn. And how perfect she is. Every time I think of her my heart skips a beat. I can see galaxies in her eyes. What fascinates me is how one day they will be gray then the next blue then the next green. It describes her personality perfectly. One minute she can be upset but with the right words she can be happy the next. I'm lucky to have found a girl like her and I am happy that somehow she was given a second chance to see the next day and to be with her family. After thinking for a while Autumn stirs and wakes up.

"Well hello gorgeous." I say as I smile at her only taking my eyes off the road briefly.

"How long did I sleep?" She asks while she yawns and rubs her eyes with the back of her small hand.

"About an hour to an hour and a half. Long enough so that I was almost ready to fall asleep." I say almost whispering the last part.

"Well than you should have woken me up sooner so that I could help you stay awake." She says as she straightens herself against the dashboard. When she went to sleep she seemed to have fallen towards one side which didn't look very comfortable.

"So how mad will your uncle be when I bring you home this late?" I say

"Well it depends on how late we get there. He could either be waiting on the couch or upstairs with my aunt. I don't think he will be that mad." Autumn says without a single look of concern on her face. "Just keep your eyes on the road and maybe we will get home quicker."

"Yes mam." I say pretending to salute. "So what is it like to have a sibling?"

"Well, it's kind of complicated to explain. It can get very annoying at times. Like when we were in North Carolina we had to share one bathroom and it felt like the only time Luke needed to go to the bathroom or to shower he would go right when I was about to go in there. But he was the only one I had. I could tell him anything and it felt like he understood me. After we started to drift apart that's when I thought siblings were punishment."

"Well I never had any of that. I always wanted a sibling but all of my other friends kept complaining about their brother or sister."

"Yeah it's pretty much a love-hate relationship."
After Autumn says this there is a small moment of silence.
"Hey lets play a game to keep us awake." I say.
"Okay. What game?"
"20 questions."
"Okay you go first."
I have to think for a minute to think of an object for her to guess. I finally decide on a tree.
"Okay I have an object. Go ahead and ask questions."
"Um.... Is it living?"
"Yes. Nice question."
"Okay. My next question is does it make a noise?"
"That depends."
"What do you mean that depends?" She says turning her head towards me.
"Well do you mean does it make a noise by itself or like something is done to it for it to make a noise?"
"I don't know. I guess the first one."
"Well then no it doesn't make a noise."
"Okay question number 3. Can you find it across the world?"
"Well I guess so."
"'I guess so' what does that mean?"
Laughing I say,"yes, it means yes. Sorry I just wasn't expecting that question."
"Ok next question. Does it do cellular respiration or photosynthesis?"
"Hey, that's not a yes or no question."
"Fine, does it do cellular respiration?"
"No"
"So it's like a plant?"
"I can't tell you that."
"Is it a plant?" She says with a frustrated look on her face.
"Yes."
"Thank you."
"How many questions was that?"
"I think only five." She tries to count them on her fingers.
"Man you're doing really good at this."
"Wait I thought I was done. It was a plant right?"
"Well it's a kind of plant but you have to guess which one."
"Ugh. Um is it a flower?"
"Nope." I say popping the 'p'.
"Is it a ... bush?" She says trying to think of some other plants.
"No."
"What about a tree?"
"Ding Ding Ding! You are a winner." I exclaim acting like a tv show host.
"Yay." She says happy to finish the game. I laugh at her disinterest in the game.
"Well we only have two hours left till we get to your house. What do you want to do?" I say trying to keep myself awake.
"Let's just talk."
"About what?"
"I don't know what about your favorite holiday?" She says trying to make conversations.
I had to think about this one.
"I would have to say that my favorite holiday is Memorial Day."
"Why?" She asks out of pure curiosity
"My dad and I always go camping on Memorial Day weekend."
"Fair enough. Mine is thanksgiving. I just really enjoy being with my family. Especially when we were in North Carolina. We didn't have much so just sitting and enjoying each other's company meant a lot."
"That's really special."
"Yeah." She sighs missing her parents.
Suddenly she starts to cough. She hasn't coughed very much since she got out of the hospital so I was hoping it was going away. Remembering that she brought her machine, she pointed to it in the back seat as I hurried to grab it for her. I hand it to her and tried to help as she struggled to get the mask on. Once she did, her breathing started regulating.
"Go back to sleep Autumn we only have about an hour and a half until we get back to your house. I can stay awake and you should get some rest." I tell her with concern for her health as she puts down the mask.
"Ok." She gets out with a raspy voice as she rolls back over and quickly falls asleep.