The Exploration

           ‘Goodbye everyone,’ said two boys pointing towards a teacher and some students. It was a fine day as Tobias Livendale and Trevor Oswald walked down the hallways of The University of Toronto. ‘We have to get a good score on this project,’ said Tobias, ‘we are going to take a trip to the United States for our country report.’ They had a country project due three weeks later. Instead of going online and jotting down the words on Google, they had decided to take a trip and visit U.S. Now that is what I call passion! They had a three week break off of school. They had long spring breaks. It was not solo. Mr. Matt, the teacher had decided to go big or go home! He decided to make duos. ‘This project is half of your grade and due two weeks after the 2^nd of June,’ had said Mr. Matt. 

           The bells rang! The boys started brainstorming ideas in their cabin. ‘So,’ Trevor spoke in a sturdy voice, ‘it is final that we are visiting the United States for our project. Dad has booked yours and my ticket.’ Tobias responded, ‘Yes of course. I’ll bring my ipad for recording notes. Anything else we are going to need? Other than clothes and money of course.’ ‘Nope, I think that is it. We are going to explore at least 2-5 states for vital info. Just bring a duffel bag if you have one. Those are easy to carry. We have money for food and water. Well . . . I guess we should bring water. You know, just in case.’ Trevor took a deep breath as he had spoken this without stopping.

           The next day, they left the school grounds and headed home to bid their parents farewell. Trevor and Tobias were neighbors. How predictable!

 They gathered their stuff and met in the next hour. Tobias came with a duffel bag that was labeled, ‘Beware, I am your doom!’ In his hand, was his passport and has wallet, included with his phone. Trevor came with a duffel bag as well. It just had a ‘TREVOR,’ labeled in the front. He had his passport, wallet, and his phone as well. They bid ‘goodbye’ to their parents who were standing at the doorstep. Then, a KIA Seltos came in front of their parking lot. It was Uber. They left their neighborhood and headed towards the airport.

The airport was crowded with people. They got their stamps and tickets and headed towards their gate. It was to be a not so long flight. That was because they were to go to Washington D.C. There was a monitor for entertainment in the aircraft. So they were set. While they were waiting for their flight, Tobias, for the meantime, read a book. Trevor played some games on his phone.

After a few moments, the loudspeaker allowed entrance in the aircraft. They had very soon entered the aircraft. Tobias had called shotgun! He sat at the window seat. They got ready for departure. But an announcement came that the departure would be delayed a few moments because a passenger had not yet entered the aircraft. They waited and waited…

Forty – five minutes later, a passenger entered the aircraft. He wasn’t ashamed that he had delayed the flight. He happily walked down the aisle as passengers glared at him. At last, the announcement came of departure. The flight attendant came by to check everyone. Tobias and Trevor pulled out their earphones and sat back on their seat. They plugged their earphones to the adapter on the seat and waited for departure. They talked to each other about their project. Then the aircraft started moving and the safety video turned on their screens.

As the video finished, the plane turned sideways and stopped. The passengers waited. Then, after a minute or so, the plane headed swiftly towards the end of the road. It lifted itself up vigorously in to the air and headed straight towards the bright, lonely sky. Buildings looked like a colony of ants. Cars looked like crumbles of bread. The plane moved higher into the sky. Now, the aircraft had gained enough height. It was now higher than the clouds. Tobias and Trevor waited greedily for snacks. They were hungry! So, to divert their minds, they watched a movie. Tobias was watching Spider- Man- into the Spider Verse. And Trevor was watching Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Their destination was only a few hours away. Oh and there came the snacks!

The snacks, the snacks! Ah, the glory! They ate quickly and quickly. It was like the snacks had mattered most to them. They finished two glasses of root beer altogether. (If you were there you would have thought that they were competing for first one to finish wins the money.) They were only ten minutes away from Washington D.C. They finished up their movie and their snacks. It was time to be serious. They were to gather up their stuff and head towards their hotel. Tobias looked outside his window. They had lowered the aircraft and could now see land. The announcement came of landing. The buckled their seat belts and sat still, focusing on their television screen. Soon enough, they could feel the plane lowering. They had landed.

‘Yes,’ said the excited voice of Trevor, ‘Step one was a success. Now we have to wait for our taxi!’ They got their stuff and left their airport. When they left the gates of the airport, many billboards greeted them. They went forward. Finally, they saw a billboard that read ‘Sir. Trevor and Tobias.’ They headed towards that man. The man was pudgy and had blonde hair. He spoke in a squeaky voice, ‘My name is Tyson. I am here to drop you off to Reid Hotel.’ Tobias said, ‘Very well, take us to Reid.’

He had a Toyota Camry. It was scarlet in color. It had a scorpion imprinted on it. Tobias and Trevor both said ‘Wow,’ in astounding synchronization. They stepped in the car. Tobias sat in the front and Trevor sat in the back. Their main reason for the visit here was because of the White House and several other monuments. Reid was just across the street from the White House. They came out of the car and entered the hotel. There was an artistic sight that greeted them.

Paintings done by professionals, a fountain with a body of a dryad. They went to the reservation center to get their room keys. They went to a man in the reservation center, Mr. Winscheton. Trevor’s father had already checked them in without telling them. So it was a huge surprise when Mr. Winscheton gave them their room keys without even asking for their phone numbers. ‘The room is being reserved by Tobias and Trevor, right?’Mr. Winscheton had said. So they addressed themselves and got their room keys.

Their room was on the 2nd floor. The keys dangled in Tobias’s hand. They reached the door of 2159, which was their room number. They opened the door and entered an airy room with a comfy bed, a desk, and a bathroom. The normal necessities were water, coffee, and soda. Tobias put down his duffel bag and took out his ipad to search for main attractions in Washington D.C. Meanwhile, Trevor tried to connect the internet with his phone. ‘We will now go to the White House, take some pictures, and head towards the Lincoln Memorial,’ said Tobias. They packed up their stuff, took some soda from the fridge, and took a taxi towards the White House.

It was a moist and rainy sight that greeted them out of the doors of Reid. The driver was waiting patiently for Tobias and Trevor to arrive. They entered the taxi and told the driver about their project. The driver’s name was Orcas Sacharian. He told them about the main attractions they should put in their project. They finally reached the White House. They gave Orcas the money and greeted him a ‘thank you’ for the info.

Trevor took out his camera from his bag and took pictures of the White House while Tobias gazed at his surroundings. ‘Now,’ Trevor said, ‘let’s make this quick and head to the Lincoln Memorial, because we have to cover a lot more states as well.’ So they finished this and now headed towards The Lincoln Memorial. They went in Orcas’s car again. Soon they reached the historical figure of Abraham Lincoln itself. Trevor said, ‘Ah, God bless thee.’ They went near the statue and simply stared at it. Then Trevor took photos and collected information on him. Tobias then took a selfie with Trevor.

They went to the hotel and collected the information they had gathered in his ipad. He sent the pictures they had taken to his and Trevor’s parents. ‘We will take rest for this day and go to Michigan tomorrow,’ said Tobias. I will book the tickets right now. Tobias got up and started working digitally on his project using his ipad. Later they ate lunch. Then they went swimming in the pool. They played a game of cards at their room. Then they had dinner and silently snored in their bed, getting ready for tomorrow.

The sun glittered in their room, leaving bright rays of light on their heads. The alarm rang in Trevor’s phone. Tobias woke up slowly and looked at the time- 8 a.m. He stood up and went to brush his teeth and refreshen. When he came out of the bathroom, he saw Trevor making a cup of cappuccino. Tobias drank the cappuccino while Trevor went to refreshen up. They went down for breakfast. They ate scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and a cup of chocolate mocha. They gathered their stuff and left the hotel after returning the keys to Mr. Winscheton. They left for the airport.

Their flight was only minutes away from arriving to Washington D.C., so they hurried. They got checked-in and gathered their tickets. The flight had started entrance by the time they arrived. Then Tobias exhaled, ‘Whew, we made it just in time,’ said Tobias. They sat down a moment to catch their breath and then entered their flight. There was no entertainment for a six hour flight. ‘Bro, this sucks,’ said an 8 year old boy who was sitting just beside Tobias. Trevor was sitting in the window seat. He was just sitting plainly looking out of the window. Tobias was getting entertained by that pest sitting next to him. Or should I say annoyed?

He was not letting him catch a nap. He was trash talking. He was cursing for the flight and that it doesn’t have a TV. (You know how annoying it can be when a child disturbs you when you are trying to take a nap. I do!) But Tobias made it through the flight safely. Thank god! They firstly went to explore the great lakes. There wasn’t really much to learn about in here so they just took some selfies and looked up the information online.

There next destination was New York. This one was the best. Their flight was three hours long. They still had no TV. But that was fine. They had time to assemble their information on the ipad. That had customized their time very well. Time had passed very quickly. They were about to land in New York.

They left the airport and headed to Radisson Blue. They got rest and ate some snacks. Then, they headed towards the main attraction in New York - the Statue of Liberty. They waited in a tourist line for the boat. The Statue of Liberty is in water, so they had to go by boat. The weather was damp and chilly. They finally reached the end of the line and entered the boat. It was the third day of their visit. The boat was filled with tourists. The boat started with a splash of water flying upwards because of the pressure. The boat was heading towards the Statue of Liberty.

They took photos of the plain but slightly interesting water. Just near the ship, they could see fishes from small to medium sizes. It felt too good! Finally, they could see a huge monument with a torch held in her hand. It was the Statue of Liberty! The ship reached the crowded island. It looked like a swarm of ants from a far distance. Tobias and Trevor stepped on the island and felt a breeze fly over their hair. They went deeper into the island. Only the Statue of Liberty was interesting while the rest was boring. So, before leaving the island, they got their photo taken by a professional. While leaving, Trevor took a couple of photos of The Statue of Liberty. After they reached the hotel, they packed their stuff, headed downstairs for dinner. After dinner, they went to sleep.

The next day, they explored Times Square. They took photos and learned about it. It was a very beautiful place. But the problem was that it was crowded a bit too much. It had beautiful lights. The main thing about Times Square was the lights that glowed in the nighttime. But that wasn’t really that important. While they were leaving, Trevor decided to meet his grandparents. After doing that, they left for their hotel and took rest that whole day.

The next day, they left for the airport. They had to speed things up if they wanted to complete their project on time. It was the fifth day of the trip. This time, they were to go to Boston. This was thirty minutes away. So they did not need to worry.

Thirty minutes later. . .

They reached Boston very quickly. Again this time, they had a flight after three hours to Arizona. They went to explore the Boston Freedom Trial. It was a 2.5 mile walk to explore historical attractions. That was very fun. It was like looking back at history. But it was very tiring. They couldn’t even complete the whole Trial. They called on the taxi and headed to the airport.

There was only an hour left for the flight to arrive. Till then, they had lunch and some Gatorade. Entrance had started for the aircraft. Tobias was thinking, ‘is time passing quickly or am I getting slower?’ He paused to think and then asked Trevor. Trevor said, ‘I was about to ask you that as well. I think it is safe to admit that we are going to need some rest.’

Six hours flight is a long time. But not when you are napping. Tobias and Trevor woke up and saw that they were landing. A flight attendant was standing over them and saying, ‘Hello sirs, we have reached Flagstaff, Arizona. Please get ready for landing. Thank You.’ Tobias woke up making a big yawn. It was 8p.m. Then Trevor said, ‘It is nighttime? I guess we won’t be able to sleep today, right?’ Tobias replied, ‘I am- all right. I couldn’t complete my sleep.’ Trevor smirked, ‘Well, at least you will wake up early for once.’ Tobias replied,’ oh don’t you rely on that.’ They landed very soon and called on a taxi to take them to a motel.

They were running out of money, so they sadly decided to go to a motel. On the way, they had brought some frozen dishes since the motel didn’t serve food. They micro waved the dishes and ate hungrily. Tobias jumped on the bed and started snoring loudly. Trevor questioned himself, ‘How can someone sleep so quickly. I could have never done that.’ He also jumped on the bed and started snoring as well. Just a millisecond before Tobias slept.

The next day, Tobias woke up by the smell of café latte. He opened his eyes and saw Trevor drinking coffee with a smirk on his face. Tobias turned over and looked at his phone. It was 9 a.m. ‘Dude,’ Tobias said, ‘why didn’t you wake me up before?’ He replied, ‘Sorry, I tried but you didn’t wake up. Not my fault.’ Trevor said, ‘We need to hurry, let’s go to the Grand Canyon.’ They ate breakfast from yesterday’s dinner and hurried to the Grand Canyon.

It was sunny and extremely hot. They brought lots of water. They didn’t want to stay long. They hurried through the Grand Canyon, took some photos, and headed towards the airport. ‘We have to catch this flight back home,’ said the panicked voice of Trevor. Again, entrance had started when they entered. They sat at their seats and turned on their television. They watched movies and again assembled their info on their ipad. They didn’t sleep much. They wanted to get home and finish the project as quick as they could.

It was a long and fun experience. They landed in Toronto after a long time. They got their luggage and headed outside. There, Trevor’s dad greeted them. They went in the car and headed home. Tobias was very excited to meet his parents. They only had a period of a fortnight to turn in their project. Tobias entered his home and greeted his mom and dad. Tomorrow, they would start the project and complete it in three days. Now, the real work had started . . .

Three weeks later,

‘Good morning everyone,’ said the voice of Mr. Matt, ‘I have graded your project and found it all very informational. I thank you all for your hard work and effort. I hope you do well in PhD. Thank You, all of you . . .’ Tobias and Trevor later got a 100% for passion and dedication. They had rightfully earned it!!!