"Lights in the Parkway" is something that people in Allentown, Pennsylvania do every year. I had gone and got this idea.
Transformers belongs to Hasbro. Not me. :(
I paced back and forth by the couch in the Autobot base. I was deep in thought. At least, until...
"Will you stop pacing!?" Ratchet snapped from his place by the computer. "Sit still!"
I glared at him. "It's not my fault that Raf, Jack, and Miko don't get out of school for three more hours!"
I guess I should mention that I do not live in Jasper, Nevada. I live in a rural area in Pennsylvania. I had accidentally discovered the existence of the Autobots and Decepticons when they were fighting in the woods near my house. Because of the three hour time difference between Nevada and Pennsylvania, I got to the Autobot base three hours earlier.
I sighed as I sat down onto the couch. I wanted to bring Raf, Jack, and Miko to something that had become a family tradition with my family, but we needed an Autobot to escort us. I was stuck between Bulkhead and Bumblebee. Finally I jumped up and stumbled, the key on my lanyard that hung on my neck clinking.
"Will you calm down?" Ratchet snapped. I ignored him as I raced down the stairs and headed to Optimus's office. I slowed as I neared it, before stopping entirely at the human-sized door. I took a deep breath to calm myself down before I knocked on the door, fiddling with my house key.
There was a click, and I heard "Come in."
I entered the Autobot leader's office. "Hi Optimus."
He smiled at me from his desk. "Hello, Megan. Is something wrong?" He stood and walked over to me. Then he crouched down and put a servo out. I quickly climbed onto his servo and he sat back down at his desk, placing me on it.
"Can Bumblebee take Raf, Jack, Miko, and I somewhere Saturday? Sometime around 7:00?" I asked.
"Where do you want him to bring you?" Optimus asked me. I explained what I wanted to do, and he was silent for a moment. "Why do you wish for Bumblebee to escort you?"
I sighed. "You, Ratchet, and Arcee won't be able to fit us all in, no offense."
"None taken." Optimus said with a small grin.
"And Bulkhead won't be patient enough to sit in traffic for about an half an hour or more. Besides, Bumblebee is the youngest of the group. It would be good for him to get away from the war. Even for just one night." I finished.
Optimus nodded. "Bumblebee can escort you."
I smiled and glanced at my watch to see what time it was. My watch said 5:30. Oops... I had forgotten about the three hour time difference between Pennsylvania and Nevada. "C... Can you make that three?" I asked, looking up at Optimus sheepishly. "I forgot about the three hour time difference."
Optimus chuckled, obviously noticing my mistake. He put a servo out and I stepped onto it. "Of course." He put me down onto the ground.
"Thanks Optimus." I said as I left the office. It was a few hours later when Raf, Jack, and Miko arrived from school. "Hey guys!" I exclaimed, running up to them.
"What's up?" Miko asked.
"Can you guys come with me somewhere on Saturday?" I asked.
"Where?" Jack asked.
"Pennsylvania." I answered.
"Pennsylvania?" Raf asked. "Why are we going there?"
"No reason." I hummed. "I want to show you something there. It's around 3:00 in the afternoon. And you'll all need jackets."
"I'll ask my mom." Jack said. "She might let me go."
"Same here." Raf said.
"My host parents will surely let me go!" Miko exclaimed.
I smiled. "Cool."
~Saturday~
I sat on the couch until Mrs. Darby drove in in her van. I jumped up as Raf, Jack, and Miko climbed out the back, each wearing a winter jacket.
"Bumblebee." Optimus said.
Bumblebee turned to him and beeped.
"You will bring Megan, Raf, Jack, and Miko to Pennsylvania. When you get there, Megan will tell you where to go." He said.
Bumblebee looked at me curiously and beeped.
"He asked where we are going." Raf translated.
"You'll see." I turned to Ratchet. "Can you groundbridge us to the field? I have something I want to get from my house." Ratchet nodded and opened the groundbridge. "I'll sit in the passenger side. I have to show 'Bee where to go." I told the others as Bumblebee transformed. They nodded.
We climbed into Bumblebee and he drove through the groundbridge. It was dark out, which wasn't odd for it being 7:00 during the winter. Bumblebee turned his headlights on as he drove over ruts until we came to a road.
"Turn right." I told him. "This is a side road that will lead to the main road. Then you turn right, then right at the next road. That will bring us to my house."
He followed my directions, and we were soon at a small, white house. I stepped out, and instantly the cold hit me. I shivered, having forgotten my jacket at the Autobot base. Oh well. I'll get a new one from the house.
"Wow! You're hard core for going without a coat!" Miko exclaimed.
"Snow!" Raf cried out before I could answer Miko.
I smiled. "Sorry, Raf. It's broom snow."
"What?" Jack asked.
"Broom snow. Powder snow. You're able to brush it away with a broom. Can't use it to make a snowball, unfortunately." I said as I walked toward the front door.
My father wasn't home... Odd for a Saturday... Then again, with the snow, he was probably called into work to shovel sidewalks. I fiddled with my key in the dark. I had to tell him our porch light was out... Finally, I got the key in the lock and opened the door. I entered and turned on the light. The Christmas tree was to my right in the kitchen, and I walked past it to the computer desk in the living room, which was connected
"Why are we here?" Miko asked. "Not like it's not cool to see your pad... But why?"
"I need to get something." I answered. I picked my camera case up before opening a jar and taking ten dollars out. We were going to need it.
"What's that?" Jack asked.
"You'll see." I told him as I put the money in my pocket. I walked back to them because they were still standing by the door. I reached up and took a coat off the coat rack from behind the door. I jumped when someone else entered my house. He was a boy with short blonde hair and was wearing a yellow jacket with a black stripe on the sleeves. He wore blue jeans, and waved hi.
"Bumblebee?" I asked. He nodded. I smiled. "Your holoform? We're going to need it... Come on." I gestured to the door. They all went outside and I followed, locking the door on may way out. As we walked back to Bumblebee's Alt. Mode, I stopped, picked up a little bit of snow, and threw it at Raf.
"Hey!" He exclaimed as he turned to me. "You said we couldn't make a snowball with it!"
I shrugged. "There is good snow for it under the broom snow." I told him. "Come on. We don't want to be late." I sat down in the passenger side as the others climbed into the back.
As Bumblebee pulled forward, Miko said, "Put some heavy metal music on!"
"No thanks, Miko." Jack said. "I don't want to have my eardrums not working."
"Please?" Miko asked.
"No. Just... Put something classical on." Jack said.
"No! That's boring!" Miko exclaimed.
"Be quiet!" I said. Everyone shut up. "Bumblebee, put on 98.1. It's what I listen to while I ride the bus." Bumblebee did what I asked. I sighed and lay back on the seat, closing my eyes and feeling the camera on my lap. Bumblebee beeped.
"He's asking where we are going." Raf translated.
"Allentown." I said. Bumblebee beeped again.
It took an hour to get there. For that whole hour, Raf, Jack, and Miko had been talking. Miko had tried to get me to tell them where we were going, but I didn't tell them.
"Bumblebee! Turn here." I told the Autobot. He beeped, sounding confused.
"He's asking why." Raf told me. "He says the next turnoff goes to Allentown."
"Turn here." I repeated. Bumblebee did what I said. We made a few more turns, then we hit traffic.
"Aw..." Miko said. "Traffic?"
I smiled. "Don't worry, Miko. We're almost there."
"Where?" Jack asked.
"I'm going to show you something. I can't tell you what it is though, because it will ruin the surprise." I repeated for what felt like the thousandth time. It was about half an hour before we finally made it.
"'Lights in the Parkway'?" Jack asked, looking at the huge sign to our right. The letters were white with three blue snowflakes around them.
I smiled. "Yeah. Look over there." I said, motioning to the left as I took out my camera.
"Whoa!" Raf exclaimed. There were different lights in the grass, a crocodile with his mouth moving up and down, a lion swishing it's tail back and forth, a rhino, a hippo, and a peacock whose feathers appeared and disappeared.
"You want us to see Christmas lights?" Miko asked in disbelief. "I saw them all the time in Japan."
"Lights in the Parkway is very... neat. I think you'll like it." I told her, snapping a picture of first the entry sign, then the animal lights. "Besides, this is only the beginning of it. There's a lot more to it. Bumblebee, you need to activate your holoform for something further up." I said to 'Bee. He beeped and his holoform appeared beside me in the driver seat.
Slowly we made our way forward. To our right was a yellow stegosaurus, with the end of it's red hat moving back and forth. Click. As we moved forward, a small stone wall appeared. It had flower lights the grassy hill behind it. Click.
"Guys! Look." I pointed to our right. There was a green T-Rex holding two presents in it's arms, it's hat and it's tail moving back and forth. Click. We kept going, following our line of traffic, another line of cars to our right. We went by some trees, and in the tree branches above, a blue eagle with a white head and red eye flew across the road and to it's nest. Click.
Soon we came to the place where, on our left, the flowers became deer lights. There were snowflake lights in the tree, and many deer were scattered about. Click. On our right, we saw two deer, a buck and a doe. The doe's head kept going up and down like it was grazing. Behind it, there was another buck.
"That's what my family calls the 'evil deer'." I told the others as I snapped a picture of it.
"Why?" Raf asked.
"It's eye. The eye is red." I answered, pointing.
We saw several more flowers and deer before we came to the pay booth.
"Here." I handed Bumblebee's holoform the ten dollars I had grabbed.
Bumblebee payed for it and we were able to move forward. There were many more lights, a train, a few lights about Cinderella, a few about the Wizard of Oz, penguins, and more. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.
Finally we came to the last light, which was Santa near a sign that said 'Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!' Click.
I yawned, and glanced at the clock. It was almost 10:00. "Everyone awake back there?" I turned to look. Raf and Miko were asleep.
"Kinda." Jack said.
"You're the only one." I said.
Jack grinned. "Just barely."
I chuckled, then lay back. "Please take me home, 'Bee. Then take the others back to Nevada."
Bumblebee beeped and drove off, now that we were out of traffic.