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Adventure Funny Fiction

Every Summer, right when our family, the Levines, gets out of school, we go for a traditional family road trip.

In my opinion, the road trips are usually not very fun, and they include lots of fighting and stops.

So today, June seventh, is the last day of school and Iโ€™m not very excited for the road trip.

โ€œWhat are you doing this Summer? Maybe you could come to my familyโ€™s cabin on the lake for a few weeks.โ€ Asks my friend, Caprice.

โ€œIโ€™m going on a boring old road trip. I wish I could come with you!โ€ I tell her.

โ€œWell, when are you going? Maybe we could figure out a date to go. Ask your mom when you get home, okay Kaitlyn?โ€

โ€œI will.โ€

The walk home from school was very hot, and I was glad to have my iced water to cool down and the big oak trees that provided shade.

I opened the black door that led to the foyer of our big white house and I wasnโ€™t surprised to see my mom running around the house packing and getting the car ready for the road trip.

โ€œHi, Kaitlyn. How was the last day of fourth grade?โ€ Mom asked as she shuffled over to me and kissed my head.

She had pulled her long black hair into a tight bun that rested on the top of her head, and her dusty rose dress accented her hair.

โ€œIt was good, Mom. I have a question.โ€ I waited until she nodded. โ€œCaprice and her family go to their cabin on the lake every Summer and I was wondering if maybe I could go with them. Caprice invited me today.โ€

She shook her head. โ€œYou know we have the annual road trip every summer. This time weโ€™re going to try and go to all the states. Weโ€™ll only have a little over a day in each state, but it should be just enough time to explore a few places in the states. So, no, sorry honey.โ€

โ€œItโ€™s fine, Mom. I'll pack for the trip.โ€

I raced upstairs and found that all my stuff was already packed into two suitcases and one duffel bag. I figured my mom had done it with all her spare time.

โ€œThanks Mom!!โ€ I yelled downstairs and I picked up my luggage to take to the car.

The van barely had any room for my luggage in the trunk, so I put it in the rooftop cargo box.

Afterwards, I ran upstairs to help bring down more luggage.

โ€œNeed me to bring down more luggage?โ€ I asked Mom.

โ€œNo, just go get your siblings and your father.โ€ She said.

I ran upstairs to get all my siblings, and I think I forgot to mention how big my family is. We have to take two vans on the road trip because our family wonโ€™t fit into one.

โ€œEmily! Road trip!โ€ I called into my 15 year old sister's room.

โ€œBlake, Jake! Road trip!โ€ I yelled into the blaring music of the twelve year old twin boys bedroom.

โ€œEliana! Road trip!โ€ I yelled into her room but soon realized she was standing right next to me trying to get into her room.

โ€œSorry, I forgot my phone.โ€ She said, tossing her blonde curls out of the way and squeezing past me.

I ran down the hall and got the rest of my siblings. Hannah, who was nine, Kimberly, who was eight, Samantha and Savannah, twins who were six, Liam, who was four, Oliver, who was three, and finally, last but not least, my baby brother Lucas, who was two.

โ€œEveryone! Letโ€™s go!โ€ I heard Dad call from downstairs.

I ran downstairs in a stampede of children with a drooling Lucas, who was clung to my side.

โ€œNeed me to go over the rules for the trip or does everyone remember from last time?โ€ Asked Mom.

โ€œWe remember!โ€ I shouted along with everyone else.

โ€œOkay, no devices, if I hear even a sound from a device, we will not stop today for ice cream.โ€ Mom said, and of course right when she finished a text message went through with a SWOOSH!

โ€œEliana!โ€ We all called our sister and found her standing with her face stuck in her phone.

โ€œSorry! Sorry, sorry! I was planning to leave it but all my friends are texting on the group chat and-โ€

โ€œI donโ€™t care what the group chat says! Put your phone down and get in the car.โ€

Every year we sat either in the girls van or the boys van. I was obviously in the girls van with Emily, Eliana, Hannah, Kimberly, Samantha and Savannah. And Mom was driving which meant we had to listen to her old songs from the 80โ€™s which we all hated.

The first couple hours of the road trip were boring. I stared out the window and we all played a family game in the car.

โ€œMom?โ€ Asked Samantha.ย 

โ€œHm?โ€ She asked, keeping her eyes on the road.

โ€œI donโ€™t feel so good. I ate a bag of gummy bears.โ€ She said.

โ€œOh, goodness. Emily, get your sister a nauseous pill out of the glovebox, please.โ€ Mom motioned to Emily who was sitting shotgun.

โ€œFine.โ€ Emily said, but by the time she reached into the glovebox and got the pills out, Samanthaโ€™s face was turning paler and paler and soon, a deep green.

And then, she vomited straight at me. And, as the gross, yellow, chunky mess came flying at me I closed my eyes.

SPLAT!!

I had my mouth open and it tasted like- actually, Iโ€™ll save the horrid taste from your imagination. All you need to know is that youโ€™d never want to try it.

It smelled bad too, and I felt like puking. And thatโ€™s just what happened.

I vomited on Eliana, who vomited on Hannah, who vomited on Kimberly, who vomited on Savannah, who shielded her face with her book just in time to save herself from vomiting.

Savannah put her book down, and breathed in the air of the car she better not, and just from the stench, she puked on Mom who swerved to the side of the road and pulled over.

The only one who didnโ€™t get vomited on was Emily because she was listening to music on her iPod. That was the only device we were allowed to have on the trip because it was so old, all you could do was listen to music.

Emily yanked out her earbuds and stopped her music to look at the rest of us.

โ€œWhat did you guys get yourselves into?โ€ She asked. We all answered with an epic eye roll.

We stopped at a motel in Oklahoma because that was our first stop since home. We lived in Texas.

Everyone needed to shower off before we hit the road again. We couldnโ€™t afford to lose this much time if we wanted to go to all the states.

And what was much, much worse was that Dad and the boys had already got to the hotel in Oklahoma we were supposed to stay at. We had a long drive ahead of us.

โ€œIs everyone showered?โ€ Mom asked as she dried her soaked hair with a towel.

โ€œYep!โ€ We all replied in unison.

โ€œOk, get your stuff and letโ€™s get on the road to catch up with Dad!โ€

We started on the road a little after 7:00 P.M. The sky was changing from orange, to pink, to purple, to a deep, dark sky filled with tiny dancing stars. And as it got later and later we all closed our eyes and leaned against the car doors and fell asleep.

โ€œEverybody up!!โ€ Mom called us after about two hours.

We were in the car, in our old clothes from yesterday and the smaller kids in the back were still sleeping, sprawled out across the seats.

โ€œDid we ever get out of the car last night?โ€ I asked the question that everyone else had on their minds.

โ€œYes, actually. Dad and I couldnโ€™t seem to wake you up after you fell asleep.โ€ Mom replied.

โ€œAHHHH!โ€ Emily screamed from the front and we all turned to see what was wrong. Apparently, a mouse had somehow gotten into the car last night and was curled up in a ball on the car door.

Emily ran out of the car with her hair a tousled and frizzy mess as I climbed to the front and picked up the little mouse.

He was sweet, but we had to let him go, So, I climbed out of the car and let him down in the grass.

โ€œI canโ€™t believe you picked the gross thing up,โ€ Mom said from behind me. โ€œGo wash your hands and get in the car with Dad and your brothers. Our car is too crazy.โ€

I rinsed off my hands and hopped into Dadโ€™s car.

I swear, I would scream as loud as Emily did, just from the look and smell of the car.

Trash was everywhere! There were empty Goldfish packages all over the floor of the car, and plastic bottles thrown wherever the boys felt like throwing them. And the car smelled like stinky socks and McDonalds. I found that out because right as I went to sit down between Blake and Jake, I sat right on top of chicken nuggets and french fries. They were soggy and very. . . sticky.

โ€œYou guys seriously need to clean this place up.โ€ I told the boys.

โ€œThe carโ€™s fine, Kaitlyn.โ€ Blake says, his face stuck in a Nintendo Switch.ย 

I snatch it out of his hand.ย 

โ€œHey!โ€ He yells.

โ€œYou arenโ€™t supposed to have screen time!โ€ I argue.

โ€œDad letโ€™s us,โ€ He says. โ€œBut you canโ€™t tell mom or sheโ€™ll kill him. If you promise, Iโ€™ll let you have one hour on my Nintendo.โ€ย 

โ€œFine!โ€

For the first hour of the car ride, I play Nintendo with Blake and Jake and we snack on Pirateโ€™s Booty. Itโ€™s a little better in the boys' car. Yโ€™know, without the stench and trash.

โ€œEXIT! DAD EXIT!!โ€ Jake is a backseat driver and heโ€™s always telling Dad to do things. Earlier, Dad had to swerve off the highway because he almost missed one turn that would take a couple minutes to make up.

The car jerked to the right and we all went flying in the backseat. Then, there was lots of honking coming from behind Dad, and much swerving we could see from other cars in his mirror.

And then, something flew off the top of the car.

We didnโ€™t have to say anything because we all knew what it was. It was the cargo that sat on top of the car. And there was no turning around to get it now because, well,ย  it was the highway.

โ€œYour mother is going to kill me,โ€ Dad said.

Soon, Mom texted Dad to meet her at a restaurant for dinner in Colorado, so Dad took the next exit.

When we first got to the restaurant we watched Mom and Dad fight about the cargo and where to get a new one, as well as more clothes, shoes, and toiletries for the trip. Why did we have to put all the necessities in the cargo?!

Then, we get to go have dinner, and at first Iโ€™m really excited. Oysters are my favorite! But the place we go to isnโ€™t very good. The oysters have been sitting for a while, we can tell, and theyโ€™re isnโ€™t many of them.

โ€œCan I get you guys dessert?โ€ Asks the waiter. She had a nice smile on her face but it soon turned to a frown as we all replied in unison, โ€œNO!โ€

โ€œWell, do you at least need a box?โ€ She asks, pointing to all the horrible food we didnโ€™t eat.

Once again, โ€œNO!โ€

We got on the road after a crazy price Mom and Dad argued about with the waiter. Itโ€™s around five, rush hour.

โ€œUgh!โ€ Liam complains from the front of us.

โ€œBabble babble!โ€ Is all we hear of Lucas, and Oliver is being quiet while he eats trail mix and picks out the M&Mโ€™s.

โ€œThis is going to take forever!โ€ Dad says, and we can tell heโ€™s frustrated.

Jake mumbled something but we couldnโ€™t hear him all that well over the honking cars.

โ€œWhat?โ€ We asked him.

โ€œI said, we could go through the woods. Itโ€™s a shortcut. See, there on the map!โ€ He points to the map and it does look like thereโ€™s a straight path through the woods.

So, Dad texts Mom to follow him, and he magically manages to cut through the line of angry cars and go into the woods.

The woods were dark, like we were just out in the burning hot sunshine, and we drove through a storm. And Dad was driving super slow so it made it even more scary.

And then we stopped and Mom hit the back of our car. Iโ€™m sure thatโ€™ll make a dent.

Dad gets out of the car, and surprisingly not to make sure his car is okay, but to go to the front of the car where it stopped. And sure enough, to slow this trip down even more, we are stuck in a big puddle of mud.

โ€œCan you get it out, Honey?โ€ Mom calls Dad.

โ€œMaybe I could try going super fast and see if that gets us out.โ€ He suggests.

He steps on the gas and I can feel the engine humming, and just when I think weโ€™re getting out, the car. . . blows up, or at least the hood does.

โ€œCan you fix it?โ€ Mom asks.

โ€œI honestly. . . canโ€™t. Got any duck tape?โ€ We all share a laugh.

We decide we all need to push it, and with all our strength, it starts to roll down the small hill there is. But it picks up speed, and when we try to stop it, we all fall forward and the car drags us by the hands.

Iโ€™m smart enough to let go of the car before it rolls out of the woods and goes down the hill, but some others are too scared. I tell them to drop their hold on the car and all of them do. All except Dad.

Dad is dragged down the muddy, grassy, gross hill trying to stop the car. And finally, after painful minutes of watching Dad get hurt and pulled down the hill, he somehow found the energy to run up the hill to us.

โ€œI think itโ€™s safe to say weโ€™re never doing this road trip again.โ€ He said, picking mud clumps off his tunic.

โ€œYes!โ€ We all agree in unison.

June 22, 2021 15:09

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13 comments

Caroline Fonteno
13:53 Jul 01, 2021

That was a great story! I loved it!

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Chinmoy Nath
17:36 Jul 21, 2021

It was a nice read, I really liked it. Keep on writing.

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Chinmoy Nath
18:21 Jul 21, 2021

Nice.....best of luck.

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Dhwani Jain
11:18 Jul 19, 2021

Whoa! THAT STORY IS THE DEFINITION OF FUNNY! Here's my review: --> THE TITLE ~ Cool! It really speaks up for itself and the story. --> THE NAMES OF THE CHARACTERS ~ Hats off! I really struggle with that. But your story and it's characters were awesome and I was able to really connect with them. --> THE BEGINNING ~ It kept me hooked! --> THE PLOT ~I can't say much about it. I am speechless. --> THE ENDING ~ Nice! --> ANYTHING I LIKED/ DISLIKED ~ I'd love another part for this. --> RANDOM THOUGHTS ~ Please read and comment your review on my ...

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Hey, thank you! This comment really made my day. :) Maybe I'll write more parts to this since you enjoyed it so much. And I'll head over to your page right now to check out your stories! Thank you!! :)

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Dhwani Jain
13:22 Jul 19, 2021

Thanks a lot for this beautiful gesture, Bella! XD...waiting for them eagerly. Where are you from?

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Kendall Defoe
22:09 Jul 16, 2021

Weirdest sense of deja vu hitting me between the eyes right now (well done)! Now, I need to get some more duck tape...

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18:15 Jul 16, 2021

Loved this fun and very funny story! Hope to read more of your writing!

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Thanks so much! I'm working on a story right now!

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