The+Dream+Vacation

Emma Wittmer 11/7/09   1/2 A    The Dream Vacation “Good morning everyone,” droned Mr. Johnson as Hannah walked into his seventh grade classroom. “It’s not even morning,” muttered Hannah to her friend and neighbor, Maria who was trying to pay attention to the beginning of Mr. Johnson’s long dull lecture. In fact, Hannah was absolutely correct. It was the period before a long winter break, and even though her family was not going anywhere, Hannah still could not wait to get out. As she laid her head down on the cold desk and stared outside at the snow, she started to daydream about what she would do with her fourth grade twin siblings, Olivia and Drew. Snow ball fights, fort building, making snowmen, drinking hot choc – Mr. Johnson’s voice interrupted her thoughts, and looking up Hannah saw his figure looming over her. “The phone’s for you,” he said as his eyes bore into her brain and he held out the phone. “Hello?” Hannah answered. Who would be calling now? The whole class stared at her as Mr. Johnson continued with his speech. To Hannah’s surprise, her mom’s voice came from the other end. “Hi Hannah! Could you leave class now? We have a surprise for you!” said her mom breathlessly. Hannah heard her siblings’ excited giggles from the other end. “Um, okay. Bye,” said Hannah and she hung up. Why would she want me now? What’s the surprise? I’m getting out EARLY!!! These were just a few thoughts that ran through Hannah’s head as she walked to her locker and then to the office. Her mom’s car was waiting outside and she saw that her whole family was in the car. Hannah asked what was going on and the whole family started to speak at once which annoyed Hannah. She just caught a few phrases like “First class seats… Beach in Florida… Five star hotel… Two whole weeks… and Swimming with dolphins…” already Hannah knew what this meant. They were going on a long vacation!!! The plane ride had almost no people, and they got full meals and everything. Soon a taxi came to drive them to their 5 star hotel on the beach. The hotel lobby was huge with a golden fountain in the center. Their so called “room” was actually five rooms put together with king sized beds and four TV’s and a kitchen. This place really deserved five stars, Hannah thought. As soon as they unpacked, they ran to the beach. It was not over crowded, and the smooth white sand warmed, but did not burn their feet. The temperature was probably around 85° F, which was steaming for the family just coming out of a Minnesota winter. The water was just cold enough to cool them off. The waves were big, and the blue-green water was seemed pretty clean. As Hannah boarded the bus that was headed to a restaurant in which her parents had to make a reservation a week earlier, every thing seemed too good to be true. “Pinch me, everything is too good to be true!” Hannah said to her dad, echoing her thoughts. Instead her Olivia pinched her – hard. “Come on. The bell rang a minute ago!” Maria’s voice came from far away. Hannah’s eyes snapped open. She was still in Mr. Johnson’s classroom, and Maria was dragging her out of her seat. Maria pinched her again. Slowly, Hannah stacked her books, and stalked out of the room after Maria. The two girls walked home together, and Hannah told Maria about her dream vacation. “You should really pay more attention,” she said as she rolled her eyes. As Hannah walked through the door of her house, her mom came rushing out and shoved a suitcase at her. “Questions later, let’s go, in the car!!!” her mom said breathlessly. Hannah asked her Drew to pinch her before anything too exciting happened. He raised his eyebrows, dropped everything he was carrying, and pinched Hannah as hard as he could. This time, as her parents started explaining to her about a beach, hotel and dolphins, Hannah knew she was awake.