Infinity and Beyond

15 - Moron

Ashton

The next few days were mostly just driving, because we were going from the north right back down to the South. Whilst we did make stops along the way, it was more or less constant travelling all day for the rest of the week. The places we stopped at were nice but it wasn't the most interesting part of our trip, to say the least. It was worth it, though, and we still made the most of it - the sunsets were beautiful, there were a few really nice areas where we stopped for food, and it certainly wasn't bad waking up to a flaming orange sky every morning.

It went without saying though that after several nights without a comfy bed or shower we were very much in need of a hotel room by the time we reached Canberra. We were looking forward to it so much that despite it being yet another long day of driving, our spirits were higher than they'd been all that week - not that that was to say we'd been miserable all week, but it definitely cheered us up knowing we were within reach of a little luxury.

"I can show you the world," Emily sang dramatically. "Shining, shimmering, splendid! Tell me princess, now when did you last let your heart decide? I can open your eyes, take you wonder by wonder, over, sideways and under on our magic carpet ride- Ashton, it's almost your turn!"

"What? I'm not singing the girl part!" I objected.

"It's Princess Jasmine's part, not 'the girl part', and yes you are," she said stubbornly. I smiled at her as she sung along to the chorus and then joined in the second time round.

"A whole new world! A dazzling place I never knew. But when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear that now I'm in a whole new world with you," I sang in a high-pitched voice, making her giggle. Even with the entire of that chorus and the next verse, she was still laughing when she next sang and barely could, only managing to squeak out notes through her laughter. To worsen it I started making jokes and provoking her so she laughed even more.

"You're meant to tell me not to close my eyes!" I shouted. "Come on, do you want me to crash this car?"

"You're not helping," she complained, pushing my hand away as I poked her sides.

"You forgot your next line too," I teased.

"So did you!" she replied.

"I'm a princess, I can do what I want," I said, pretending to flick hair back over my shoulder.

"No, that's Luke and you know it," she said and we both laughed. When we recovered she got herself back together and just managed to get out the next line. "A whole new world..."

"Every turn a surprise," I sang and for some reason our intertwining lines made her laugh again. "For Christ's sake Em, get a grip for our duet! You better not ruin this - I'll chase them anywhere, there's time to spare, let me share this whole new world with you."

"A whole new world," Emily carried on just before my next line and now she had composed herself again she could sing properly - at least until I started acting like a princess again. I took hold of her hand delicately and gazed across at her in exaggerated admiration and she joined in by caressing my face. Whilst we managed to sing the last line together we dissolved into giggles again afterwards and didn't even hear the start of the next song. When Emily noticed what it was, though, she gasped in excitement and started singing along straight away.

"I'm gonna be a might king, so enemies beware!" she sang and then lowered her voice for the next part. "Well, I've never seen a king of beasts with quite so- hey, what happened?"

"I'm not sure," I frowned when the music stopped. She reached forwards and picked her phone up from the dashboard and sighed, so I asked her what was wrong.