The Road Trip
Chapter 1
The blare of his alarm clock sounded as Hoagie opened his eyes to the newly arrived morning. "Today is the day," he thought as he tried to untangle himself from the sheets.They were going to Disneyland for their summer vacation. He'd have to spend a whole week with his family. He tried to keep this unpleasant thought out of his mind as he walked out of his room.
"Alright, you know what you need to do," he scratched the tangled mess of reddish brown hair on top of his head as he looked in the bathroom mirror at the reflection of his blindingly pale, seventeen year old torso. He turned the shower on to a scalding hot and let the steam fill the room. The pitter-patter of Billy's pajamaed feet resounded through the hallway outside.
"Hoagie, Hoagie, Hoagie, Hoag— BAM!" The bathroom door shook as Billy's forehead smacked against the wood. Hoagie whirled around and opened the door with an annoyed look. His hyper little cousin always sprinted everywhere, as small children do, and he tended to run into things on occasion. "Billy, are you okay?"
He looked up at Hoagie with an energetic expression. "I'm fine! I just slipped. Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?" Billy was shaking with excitement. "We're going to Disneyland!"
How he and Billy were related he had no clue. For one thing, Billy had almost white hair and freckles all over his face. The only things they really shared in common were their two, startlingly azure blue eyes.
"Yeah, bud. You'd better start getting ready." Hoagie shut the door as Billy dashed down the hallway. "Great," he thought, "it's only eight, and I can't stand this trip already." He stepped into the shower and let the water run over his shoulders.
After a few minutes, his mother's shrill voice resounded from the kitchen. "HOAGIE! Hurry up or we're going to be late!"
"I'm coming, mom!" He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. He shivered as a gust of cold air rushed over his body. After getting dressed and going downstairs, he smelled a familiar and delicious scent. "Mmm, waffles," he said as he walked through the kitchen. As soon as he looked at the table he froze, and his eyes grew wide in fear.
"Hurry up with those things! I'm not getting any younger over here!" his grandmother yelled to Tommy as he tried to drag four suitcases through the back door. Billy was sitting across from her drowning his waffle in syrup. Hoagie tried to escape from sight by backing away through the door, but he was too late. "Where do you think you're going, sonny boy?"
Hoagie almost cried as his futile attempt at escape was spotted. He both feared and loathed this elderly creature; she looked like a cross between a gargoyle and a walrus, but without the tusks and horns. She had an incredibly domineering figure, wiry white hair, a grandmotherly, pungent odor that struck him in the face, and a wooden cane that also struck him in the face. "Say hello to your granny, Hoagie!"
Mrs. Gilligan turned around and said "Lydia, what did I tell you about hitting people with your cane? And Hoagie, be a dear and help your brother with getting your grandmother's things. She's decided that she wants to come with us on the trip." A look of horror crossed Hoagie's face. This didn't go unnoticed by his grandmother, and she growled "You got a problem with that, sonny?" She waved her cane threateningly in the air. "No, Grandma," choked Hoagie. He went to get the old woman's luggage. "How could this day get any better?" he wondered.
"Let's get in the car everyone!" Hoagie's mom yelled into the house. Finally, it was time to go. Hoagie got up from the living room couch and walked out onto the driveway. Mrs. Gilligan was putting a blue, Rainbow Monkey themed car seat in for Billy. "Mom, Billy doesn't need a car seat. He's five. Where'd you find that thing anyway?"
"You can never be too careful, Hogarth. I'll have you know that you were breast fed until you were three. And I bought it at a garage sale when I heard your cousin was staying over for the summer." Hoagie gagged as his mother gave a final tug on the car seat. "Alrighty, we're all set. Now where are the rest of you? Oh! There's Tommy and Grandma."
Tommy's red face appeared through the open doorway as he pulled out Grandma Gilligan's luggage. The ornery old woman was ushering him out the door with her cane. "Let's go, sonny! We haven't got all day!" Tommy groaned "Grandma! Why do you have so much stuff? What have you got in here, bricks?" Smacking him on the head, she scolded "Quit whining! When I was your age I had to carry twice as much… in the snow!"
Hoagie felt kind of sorry for Tommy. He always got the short end of the stick when it came to things like this. Ever since he'd turned thirteen and gotten back from boarding school, Tommy was somehow different. He didn't follow Hoagie around as much, and he did everything he was told to do without question. Pushing this thought from his mind, Hoagie decided to watch the rest of the procession.
Following the group was what looked like a black bug with red short-shorts and huge, paper plate eyes. "Hey, wait for me! You can't forget Mickey Mouse!" Hoagie groaned out loud. "God, please, no." Billy hopped over the luggage and jumped into the car. "Look at my costume! I made it myself!" Billy beamed proudly as Mrs. Gillian strapped Billy into the car seat with a flurry of safety belts, locks, and clicks. Though Billy struggled to get free, he was no match for the rigid deathgrip of the child-protective Rainbow Monkey car seat.
Hoagie hopped in the back as Tommy finished loading the luggage into the trunk of the Gilligan minivan. Grandma climbed into the front and muttered something about her bunions as Billy struggled to bounce in his seat. "We're all ready to go!" Mrs. Gilligan sang as she started the car and pulled out of the driveway. "Let's hope we all have a safe trip."
