Chapter 3: The Adventure Begins
Once they all got to the middle school, Spritle took Chim Chim and went to find some of his friends and wait to load the buses while Speed, Trixie, Sparky and Lindsey went into the cafeteria where the school principal was going to be having a short meeting with the chaperones before everything got started.
When they got into the cafeteria, they found the school principal, Dr. Steve Jackson, waiting to start the chaperone meeting. He was going to make sure that all of the chaperones were aware of all of the rules for the trip as well as going over a few other minor details and divide the chaperones up and place four chaperones on each of the three buses that they were taking.
"Okay, I know the kids are anxious to get going as I'm sure we all are so I'm going to go ahead and get this meeting started. Now I don't have that many rules for the kids as far as riding on the buses but I do have one main rule that I insist is followed. That rule is that no boys and girls can be sitting together between midnight and 6 a.m. What I'm going to need my chaperones to do is to police your buses at the midnight hour and separate any couples and move them to different seats. When we get to the hotel tomorrow night all of you will be assigned two rooms that you will be responsible for. Make sure that the kids are in their rooms by curfew every night. That will be the same for the cabins once we're on board ship. Other than that the other main thing is that we have fun just like the kids. Now I'm going to tell you who's going to be in charge of each bus and then we'll get on the road." Dr. Jackson said.
Then the chaperones were given their bus assignments. Speed, Trixie, Sparky and Lindsey were all going to be in charge of the same bus. This was the same bus that Spritle and his friends were riding on, which was good for Speed who had promised Pops that he would try to keep an eye on Spritle. After everything was squared away, they all went out to the buses and got ready to get everyone loaded.
"Okay. Now that we have everyone's luggage loaded let's get all of you guys loaded onto the buses so we can get going. Everyone knows which bus they're supposed to be on so hurry up and get on and we'll go." Dr. Jackson announced as the students all climbed on the buses and got settled.
"Wow! This is a groovy bus. It has everything on it that someone would need. It even has a bathroom on here and televisions. Amazing." Spritle said to Chim Chim as he found a seat and sat down.
In the meantime, Speed and Trixie had found seats right across the aisle from Sparky and Lindsey and sat down as well. They all four looked around and were amused as they noticed the awestruck looks on the kids' faces.
"I guess the kids are all pretty amazed by this whole thing. Not that I blame them. This does look like a pretty comfortable way to travel." Speed smiled.
"Yeah. It does seem comfortable at that. I can get used to this." Trixie agreed.
"Comfort is an asset really seeing that this is where we're going to be sleeping tonight." Sparky pointed out.
"Good point." Lindsey agreed.
"Okay. Now that everyone is settled in, why don't we make ourselves comfortable and settle in for the ride. It's going to be a couple of hours before we make our first stop." Speed said.
After checking again to make sure all of the kids were settled, Speed, Trixie, Sparky and Lindsey settled in themselves. They hadn't been on the road very long when the bus they were riding on ran into a minor disaster. A semi trailer that was driving right next to them came a little too close and sideswiped the bus. Once the driver had gotten radio contact with the other three buses the whole convoy pulled to the side of the road so the damage could be checked.
"Is everyone all right here?" The bus driver asked.
"Yeah, everyone's fine." Trixie confirmed. "What happened?"
"A semi trailer sideswiped us. We've pulled over so we can check the damage and make sure everything is okay with the bus. We should be back underway soon."
"Well, I'm a trained mechanic so maybe I can help out." Sparky volunteered.
"Great. Thanks. Let's get started." The bus driver nodded with appreciation as Sparky got up and followed him off of the bus.
A few minutes later, Sparky came back and sat down as the bus driver started the bus back up and they were back on their way. Fortunately the truck hadn't done much damage.
"So what was the problem, Sparky? Is everything okay?" Lindsey asked.
"Everything's fine. The only real damage that was done was that the side mirror was just jarred loose. All I had to do was pop that back in and we were good to go again." Sparky said.
Then the four settled in again and talked and enjoyed the ride for the next hour and a half until it was time for the buses to pull off for a rest stop so that everyone could stretch their legs.
* * * * *
At the rest stop, everyone got off of all the buses and walked around. Several of the kids went to the bathroom and headed for the snack machines. They had fifteen minutes to kill so Speed, Trixie, Sparky and Lindsey sat down at one of the picnic tables and enjoyed the warm evening. Suddenly Spritle came running up to them.
"What's the matter, Spritle?" Speed asked.
"Some of us guys are going to play football and my team needs a couple of more people so we were wondering if you and Sparky would play with us."
"What do you think, Speed? Wanna show them how to play?" Sparky asked.
"It's fine with me. Okay, let's go. Lead the way, Spritle." Speed grinned as he and Sparky followed Spritle to where the football game was going on.
"It looks like they're having as much fun as the kids are. Maybe more." Trixie smiled as she and Lindsey sat at the picnic table and watched the game.
"Yeah. Sparky and Speed are both just kids at heart." Lindsey agreed.
Ten minutes later it was time for everyone to load onto the buses again and once the chaperones had checked to make sure that everyone was on the right bus, the convoy of buses took off again for the long night of travel that was still ahead of them.
* * * * *
When they had been back on the road for about thirty minutes, Speed stood up and put a movie into the VCR for the kids to watch. When he did this, he attracted Trixie's attention.
"What are you doing, Speed?" Trixie asked quietly.
"I'm going to put in one of these movies so the kids can watch it. That way we can kinda keep the noise level down a little bit too."
"That's a good idea. By the way, what time is it, Speed?"
"It's about 9:45. I figured that this would be a good time to put a movie in so we can keep the bus quiet in case anyone wants to try to sleep." Speed answered.
"I guess that is a good idea. It's getting a little bit late at that."
"Listen, Trix. I know you usually carry aspirin or something with you so do you have any on you now?"
"Yeah, I have some in my purse. Why? Are you okay?" Trixie asked, a little concerned.
"I'm okay. It's just that I have a really bad headache. I usually get headaches like this when I don't get much sleep. Will you give me a couple of aspirin so that I can get rid of this thing?" Speed said.
"Sure. Here you go. That should help you feel better." Trixie handed a couple of the aspirin to Speed. It seemed a little strange to him that the pills were blue instead of white but after thinking on this for a moment, Speed finally decided that he didn't care and he popped the pills into his mouth and swallowed them with a drink of water. Then he stood up and placed a movie into the VCR for the kids to watch.
* * * * *
At the same time, Spritle was sitting with his friend Grace and they were talking about the upcoming trip. It was a small secret that the two kept from each other that they both had a deep desire to be more than just friends.
"So are we going to hang out together in the parks once we get to Disney World tomorrow morning?" Grace asked.
"Yeah. That's what I was hoping to do. I think it'll be fun to hang out and ride the rides with you and Chim Chim." Spritle smiled as Chim Chim started chattering happily.
"That's good. I think that this is going to be fun. I'm looking forward to getting to do all of the neat things that we are going to get to do. It's also good to get away from school for a week and not have any homework or tests or anything like that to worry about." Grace said as she started chanting the rhyme about no more pencils or books, causing both her and Spritle to begin laughing.
"Hey, look. Speed put in a movie for us to watch. That's cool. I really like this one." Spritle said happily as he put an arm around Grace and they watched the movie together in silence.
* * * * *
At 11:00, a little over an hour into the movie that they were watching, Speed was beginning to feel very sleepy. He was resting in Trixie's arms with his head resting on her shoulder and he was so relaxed that it was getting hard for him to keep his eyes open. Trixie noticed this and looked at Speed with concern.
"Are you okay, Speed?" Trixie whispered.
"Yeah. I'm okay, Trixie. It's just that I think all of the sleepless nights I've been having lately are starting to catch up to me. Right now I'm so sleepy that I can barely keep my eyes open. But the thing is I have to stay awake for a little while longer because we have to separate any couples that are sitting together." Speed said sleepily.
"Don't worry about that. Sparky, Lindsey and I can handle it. You really need to get some sleep. Here, why don't you rest your head on my lap?" Trixie said as Speed allowed her to ease him onto the pillow in her lap. "There. Now just close your eyes and get some rest."
"Are you sure that you guys can handle everything? I don't mind helping if you need me."
"Yes, I'm sure. Speed, remember that we are going to be spending the day at a theme park tomorrow. You're already so exhausted that you're on the verge of collapse and I know that you aren't going to be worth a flip tomorrow if you don't get some sleep." Trixie confirmed.
"Okay. I guess you're right. Goodnight, Trixie. I love you." Speed said as he settled into Trixie's lap and closed his eyes. Within moments he had fallen into a very sound sleep.
"I love you too, Speed." Trixie whispered as she bent to kiss Speed's head and placed a blanket over him. Then she turned her attention back to the end of the movie.
* * * * *
At the same time, Sparky and Lindsey were also relaxing and enjoying the movie that was on. Sparky was so wrapped up in the movie that he was startled when Lindsey spoke to him.
"Hey. You seem to be off in another galaxy." Lindsey laughed.
"Huh. Oh, sorry. I was just really wrapped up in this movie and plus I was thinking about some things." Sparky admitted.
"Yeah. You seem to be doing a lot of that these past couple of days. Thinking, I mean."
"Well, it's a good habit isn't it?"
"It is only when you don't do it too much to the point where you lose sleep over your thoughts. Then it can be dangerous." Lindsey whispered as she put an arm around Sparky. Then she pulled back and looked at him, concerned.
"Something the matter, hon?" Sparky asked.
"It's just that you seem real tense. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine. I think any tension I have is related to the things I've had on my mind recently. It'll go away in time."
"I think you're probably right. I also think that you need to try to relax just a little bit." Lindsey said as she began to lightly massage Sparky's shoulders.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm just trying to relax you a little to where you won't be as tense."
"It seems nice but don't do that right now, though." Sparky whispered as he took Lindsey's hands in his own.
"Why not?"
"Because we have an hour to stay up so we can make sure any couples are separated like they're supposed to be."
"You don't need to worry about doing that. Trixie and I can handle it ourselves." Lindsey whispered quietly as she began to massage Sparky's shoulders again.
"Well, if you keep this up much longer you're going to have to. I'm getting a little sleepy already and if you do keep up, you're going to put me out for the night. A good massage will put me right to sleep every time." Sparky said sleepily as he closed his eyes and felt his head beginning to nod.
"The reason you're feeling sleepy is because you didn't sleep at all last night. You need to get some rest so you can have energy tomorrow when we're out in the parks and you're going to wish that you'd slept. So just let me help relax you and you'll be asleep before you know it."
"I guess you're right. I can tell you one thing for sure. You sure know how to relax a guy. I think I am going to get some sleep. Goodnight, Lindsey. See you in the morning." Sparky muttered, closing his eyes again. As Lindsey continued to massage his shoulders, Sparky began to feel more and more relaxed until he finally drifted into a restful sleep.
"Goodnight, sweetheart. A good night's rest will do well for you. Sleep well, love." Lindsey whispered as she eased Sparky's head into her lap. Then she turned her attention back to watch the end of the movie.
* * * * *
Trixie was sitting there with Speed sleeping in her lap and she was watching the ending of the film. When it was over she looked around the bus and noticed that all of the kids had fallen asleep and she was also relieved to see that there weren't many of them that had coupled up. Then she looked down at Speed sleeping peacefully in her lap and smiled.
"I have got to be the luckiest woman in the world. Here I am going on the vacation of a lifetime with the man that I love more than anything. There is nothing more wonderful in the world than this. I'm glad Speed finally was able to get some rest after fighting insomnia for a week. He seems so peaceful while he sleeps. I love Speed so much and I would do anything for him. That's why I helped him get to sleep." Trixie thought to herself as she bent down and kissed Speed's head softly.
"Okay. Now it's time to go and get these few couples separated. Hopefully it isn't going to take too long to get this whole thing sorted out." Trixie said as she walked over and got Lindsey's attention quietly once she realized that Sparky was sleeping as well. "Hey. Let's get this thing done so we can get some sleep too."
"Good idea. Let's get down to it." Lindsey said as she carefully got up and went to help Trixie.
A few minutes later, Trixie and Lindsey had managed to separate all of the couples except for Spritle and Grace. Trixie decided that she could handle this last one alone. She turned to Lindsey.
"Hey. I can get this last one. Why don't you go on ahead and get some sleep. I'll join you in a minute." Trixie said.
"Are you sure?" Lindsey asked.
"I'm positive. Go ahead." Trixie confirmed as Lindsey went back and sat down next to where Sparky still slept, placed his head back into her lap, settled in and fell asleep.
Trixie walked over to where Spritle was sleeping next to Grace and reached down to gently shake his shoulder. It took a moment but Spritle opened his eyes and blinked up at her.
"What's the matter, Trixie?" Spritle asked, confused.
"You're going to have to move until tomorrow morning, Spritle. I know you don't want to but if you stay sitting here then we'll both get into a lot of trouble." Trixie whispered.
"Okay. I guess I don't have a choice." Spritle sighed reluctantly as he followed Trixie to a new seat a few rows back from where he had been.
Once Trixie had Spritle settled, she went back to her seat and sat back down, being very careful not to disturb Speed who was still sleeping soundly, and got settled back in. She carefully lifted Speed's head back into her lap and then she leaned her head against the window and fell asleep within moments.
* * * * *
Two hours later, the buses pulled into a service station and stopped. Trixie woke up as the bus driver came back and approached her.
"What's going on?" Trixie asked sleepily.
"I'm terribly sorry to disturb you but we've stopped to refuel the buses and we need to get everyone off of the buses before we can do that."
"Why do we have to get off? I don't understand."
"It's a safety rule set by the government. All the major bus lines do this." The bus driver explained.
"Okay. Give us a minute." Trixie said as she leaned out into the aisle to get Lindsey's attention. "Lindsey. Hey, wake up."
"What? What's the deal, Trixie? What time is it?"
"It's 2 in the morning and we have to get off of the buses so they can fuel them up so we need to wake all these kids up."
"Okay. I really hate to have to do this but we're going to have to wake Speed and Sparky too. We have to get off anyway and having to wake so many kids up we could really use the help." Lindsey said.
"Yeah. I guess you're right."
So Lindsey carefully reached down to where Sparky was sleeping in her lap and gently shook his shoulder and gave him a kiss on the head.
"Sparky. Hon, you need to wake up. We have to get off the bus for a few minutes and we need your help to wake all these kids." Lindsey whispered. Slowly enough, Sparky stirred and opened his eyes. He looked at Lindsey and smiled.
"What's going on, hon?" Sparky asked sleepily.
"Well, they have to refuel the buses and the law says that there can't be anyone on the buses when they do that. We have to wake all these kids and get them off the bus and need help."
"Oh, okay. Let's get down to it." Sparky said as he stood up and stretched.
At the same time, Trixie was trying to wake Speed, who was in a very sound sleep. She reached down and shook Speed's shoulder gently hoping that this would wake him but instead Speed just sighed in his sleep and shifted slightly. Trixie smiled a little at this and felt a little guilty for having to wake her fiancé when he was sleeping so peacefully but she knew that they had to get everyone off of the bus. So Trixie reached down to where Speed was sleeping and lightly tickled his side, causing him to smile in his sleep. Now that she had his attention, Trixie gently shook Speed again and this time he opened his eyes and smiled.
"What's the matter, Trixie? What time is it?" Speed yawned.
"It's only 2 in the morning, Speed. I hated to disturb you when you were sleeping so well but the buses need to be refueled and government safety laws say that they have to get everyone off of these buses before they can do that. We have to wake all these kids up and get them off of the bus." Trixie said as Speed grunted and stood up.
* * * * *
Five minutes later, everyone was successfully off of the buses and standing, sitting, or laying in a parking lot waiting for the buses to be refueled so that they could all get back on and go back to sleep.
"How long does it take to fill up three buses? This is crazy." Lindsey groaned in frustration from where she sat on the curb next to Sparky.
"Well, what you have to remember is that these buses are big vehicles and they have much larger gas tanks therefore they take a little more time to fill up than your average car." Sparky explained looking at his watch. "Shouldn't be too much longer though."
"Still, I don't understand why they had to disturb everyone just to refuel the buses. There doesn't seem to be any danger in that. It just seems foolish to me." Speed pointed out.
"Speed's right. People don't get passengers out of their cars when they refuel. Why does a tour bus have to be any different? If it was in the afternoon or something I might be able to understand it but to wake people up in the middle of the night. It doesn't make any sense to me either." Trixie agreed.
"Well, I guess we'll never know. I don't think we should worry about it though. We'll be getting back on the buses soon and then everyone can go back to sleep."
As if on cue, just as Sparky said this, they heard the bus engines start up in the distance and a few moments later the three massive vehicles rolled quietly into view, much to the relief of the tired travelers standing in the parking lot.
"It's about time."
* * * * *
Soon after they were back on the bus and had gotten settled back in. All of the kids were sleeping and, resting in Trixie's lap again, Speed was very close to that point himself. He was so tired from his sudden awakening that all he wanted to do was rest.
"Are you okay, Speed?" Trixie asked quietly.
"I'm fine, Trixie. Just tired." Speed murmured as he closed his eyes.
"I understand. It's not easy on anyone being disturbed from a sound sleep in the middle of the night. Especially someone who's had as little sleep as you've had lately. I think." Trixie stopped short and smiled as she noticed that fatigue combined with the sudden waking had taken a toll on Speed and he had fallen back into a deep sleep. "Goodnight, Speed. Sleep well."
By this time the buses had driven into a rain shower and the rain could be heard plinking softly off of the roof and windows of the bus. Sparky was listening to the soft, musical sound as he rested in Lindsey's arms.
"You know, I heard something about rain once a few years ago." Sparky whispered.
"What did you hear?"
"Well, someone once told me that the rain is sometimes called nature's lullaby because of the musical sound it makes. Pretty interesting, huh." Sparky said as he settled down to rest his head back in Lindsey's lap.
"Yeah."
After a few minutes of listening to the rain, Sparky became enveloped in a web of drowsiness. He tried to fight it but no matter how hard he fought sleep pulled him irresistibly down into that web. Eventually Sparky's eyes began closing and his breathing became deep and even as he slipped into a peaceful slumber, lulled to sleep by the music of the rain.
Lindsey snapped out of her current thoughts to notice that Sparky had nodded off in her lap. She smiled and ran a hand over his hair. "Sweet dreams, hon. I guess you were right. The rain really is nature's lullaby." Then she settled into a more comfortable position and joined the others in slumber.
For the next several hours, all on the bus was still as all of the passengers were settled in peaceful slumber dreaming of the next day's adventure while the buses traveled on toward Orlando.
Once they all got to the middle school, Spritle took Chim Chim and went to find some of his friends and wait to load the buses while Speed, Trixie, Sparky and Lindsey went into the cafeteria where the school principal was going to be having a short meeting with the chaperones before everything got started.
When they got into the cafeteria, they found the school principal, Dr. Steve Jackson, waiting to start the chaperone meeting. He was going to make sure that all of the chaperones were aware of all of the rules for the trip as well as going over a few other minor details and divide the chaperones up and place four chaperones on each of the three buses that they were taking.
"Okay, I know the kids are anxious to get going as I'm sure we all are so I'm going to go ahead and get this meeting started. Now I don't have that many rules for the kids as far as riding on the buses but I do have one main rule that I insist is followed. That rule is that no boys and girls can be sitting together between midnight and 6 a.m. What I'm going to need my chaperones to do is to police your buses at the midnight hour and separate any couples and move them to different seats. When we get to the hotel tomorrow night all of you will be assigned two rooms that you will be responsible for. Make sure that the kids are in their rooms by curfew every night. That will be the same for the cabins once we're on board ship. Other than that the other main thing is that we have fun just like the kids. Now I'm going to tell you who's going to be in charge of each bus and then we'll get on the road." Dr. Jackson said.
Then the chaperones were given their bus assignments. Speed, Trixie, Sparky and Lindsey were all going to be in charge of the same bus. This was the same bus that Spritle and his friends were riding on, which was good for Speed who had promised Pops that he would try to keep an eye on Spritle. After everything was squared away, they all went out to the buses and got ready to get everyone loaded.
"Okay. Now that we have everyone's luggage loaded let's get all of you guys loaded onto the buses so we can get going. Everyone knows which bus they're supposed to be on so hurry up and get on and we'll go." Dr. Jackson announced as the students all climbed on the buses and got settled.
"Wow! This is a groovy bus. It has everything on it that someone would need. It even has a bathroom on here and televisions. Amazing." Spritle said to Chim Chim as he found a seat and sat down.
In the meantime, Speed and Trixie had found seats right across the aisle from Sparky and Lindsey and sat down as well. They all four looked around and were amused as they noticed the awestruck looks on the kids' faces.
"I guess the kids are all pretty amazed by this whole thing. Not that I blame them. This does look like a pretty comfortable way to travel." Speed smiled.
"Yeah. It does seem comfortable at that. I can get used to this." Trixie agreed.
"Comfort is an asset really seeing that this is where we're going to be sleeping tonight." Sparky pointed out.
"Good point." Lindsey agreed.
"Okay. Now that everyone is settled in, why don't we make ourselves comfortable and settle in for the ride. It's going to be a couple of hours before we make our first stop." Speed said.
After checking again to make sure all of the kids were settled, Speed, Trixie, Sparky and Lindsey settled in themselves. They hadn't been on the road very long when the bus they were riding on ran into a minor disaster. A semi trailer that was driving right next to them came a little too close and sideswiped the bus. Once the driver had gotten radio contact with the other three buses the whole convoy pulled to the side of the road so the damage could be checked.
"Is everyone all right here?" The bus driver asked.
"Yeah, everyone's fine." Trixie confirmed. "What happened?"
"A semi trailer sideswiped us. We've pulled over so we can check the damage and make sure everything is okay with the bus. We should be back underway soon."
"Well, I'm a trained mechanic so maybe I can help out." Sparky volunteered.
"Great. Thanks. Let's get started." The bus driver nodded with appreciation as Sparky got up and followed him off of the bus.
A few minutes later, Sparky came back and sat down as the bus driver started the bus back up and they were back on their way. Fortunately the truck hadn't done much damage.
"So what was the problem, Sparky? Is everything okay?" Lindsey asked.
"Everything's fine. The only real damage that was done was that the side mirror was just jarred loose. All I had to do was pop that back in and we were good to go again." Sparky said.
Then the four settled in again and talked and enjoyed the ride for the next hour and a half until it was time for the buses to pull off for a rest stop so that everyone could stretch their legs.
* * * * *
At the rest stop, everyone got off of all the buses and walked around. Several of the kids went to the bathroom and headed for the snack machines. They had fifteen minutes to kill so Speed, Trixie, Sparky and Lindsey sat down at one of the picnic tables and enjoyed the warm evening. Suddenly Spritle came running up to them.
"What's the matter, Spritle?" Speed asked.
"Some of us guys are going to play football and my team needs a couple of more people so we were wondering if you and Sparky would play with us."
"What do you think, Speed? Wanna show them how to play?" Sparky asked.
"It's fine with me. Okay, let's go. Lead the way, Spritle." Speed grinned as he and Sparky followed Spritle to where the football game was going on.
"It looks like they're having as much fun as the kids are. Maybe more." Trixie smiled as she and Lindsey sat at the picnic table and watched the game.
"Yeah. Sparky and Speed are both just kids at heart." Lindsey agreed.
Ten minutes later it was time for everyone to load onto the buses again and once the chaperones had checked to make sure that everyone was on the right bus, the convoy of buses took off again for the long night of travel that was still ahead of them.
* * * * *
When they had been back on the road for about thirty minutes, Speed stood up and put a movie into the VCR for the kids to watch. When he did this, he attracted Trixie's attention.
"What are you doing, Speed?" Trixie asked quietly.
"I'm going to put in one of these movies so the kids can watch it. That way we can kinda keep the noise level down a little bit too."
"That's a good idea. By the way, what time is it, Speed?"
"It's about 9:45. I figured that this would be a good time to put a movie in so we can keep the bus quiet in case anyone wants to try to sleep." Speed answered.
"I guess that is a good idea. It's getting a little bit late at that."
"Listen, Trix. I know you usually carry aspirin or something with you so do you have any on you now?"
"Yeah, I have some in my purse. Why? Are you okay?" Trixie asked, a little concerned.
"I'm okay. It's just that I have a really bad headache. I usually get headaches like this when I don't get much sleep. Will you give me a couple of aspirin so that I can get rid of this thing?" Speed said.
"Sure. Here you go. That should help you feel better." Trixie handed a couple of the aspirin to Speed. It seemed a little strange to him that the pills were blue instead of white but after thinking on this for a moment, Speed finally decided that he didn't care and he popped the pills into his mouth and swallowed them with a drink of water. Then he stood up and placed a movie into the VCR for the kids to watch.
* * * * *
At the same time, Spritle was sitting with his friend Grace and they were talking about the upcoming trip. It was a small secret that the two kept from each other that they both had a deep desire to be more than just friends.
"So are we going to hang out together in the parks once we get to Disney World tomorrow morning?" Grace asked.
"Yeah. That's what I was hoping to do. I think it'll be fun to hang out and ride the rides with you and Chim Chim." Spritle smiled as Chim Chim started chattering happily.
"That's good. I think that this is going to be fun. I'm looking forward to getting to do all of the neat things that we are going to get to do. It's also good to get away from school for a week and not have any homework or tests or anything like that to worry about." Grace said as she started chanting the rhyme about no more pencils or books, causing both her and Spritle to begin laughing.
"Hey, look. Speed put in a movie for us to watch. That's cool. I really like this one." Spritle said happily as he put an arm around Grace and they watched the movie together in silence.
* * * * *
At 11:00, a little over an hour into the movie that they were watching, Speed was beginning to feel very sleepy. He was resting in Trixie's arms with his head resting on her shoulder and he was so relaxed that it was getting hard for him to keep his eyes open. Trixie noticed this and looked at Speed with concern.
"Are you okay, Speed?" Trixie whispered.
"Yeah. I'm okay, Trixie. It's just that I think all of the sleepless nights I've been having lately are starting to catch up to me. Right now I'm so sleepy that I can barely keep my eyes open. But the thing is I have to stay awake for a little while longer because we have to separate any couples that are sitting together." Speed said sleepily.
"Don't worry about that. Sparky, Lindsey and I can handle it. You really need to get some sleep. Here, why don't you rest your head on my lap?" Trixie said as Speed allowed her to ease him onto the pillow in her lap. "There. Now just close your eyes and get some rest."
"Are you sure that you guys can handle everything? I don't mind helping if you need me."
"Yes, I'm sure. Speed, remember that we are going to be spending the day at a theme park tomorrow. You're already so exhausted that you're on the verge of collapse and I know that you aren't going to be worth a flip tomorrow if you don't get some sleep." Trixie confirmed.
"Okay. I guess you're right. Goodnight, Trixie. I love you." Speed said as he settled into Trixie's lap and closed his eyes. Within moments he had fallen into a very sound sleep.
"I love you too, Speed." Trixie whispered as she bent to kiss Speed's head and placed a blanket over him. Then she turned her attention back to the end of the movie.
* * * * *
At the same time, Sparky and Lindsey were also relaxing and enjoying the movie that was on. Sparky was so wrapped up in the movie that he was startled when Lindsey spoke to him.
"Hey. You seem to be off in another galaxy." Lindsey laughed.
"Huh. Oh, sorry. I was just really wrapped up in this movie and plus I was thinking about some things." Sparky admitted.
"Yeah. You seem to be doing a lot of that these past couple of days. Thinking, I mean."
"Well, it's a good habit isn't it?"
"It is only when you don't do it too much to the point where you lose sleep over your thoughts. Then it can be dangerous." Lindsey whispered as she put an arm around Sparky. Then she pulled back and looked at him, concerned.
"Something the matter, hon?" Sparky asked.
"It's just that you seem real tense. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine. I think any tension I have is related to the things I've had on my mind recently. It'll go away in time."
"I think you're probably right. I also think that you need to try to relax just a little bit." Lindsey said as she began to lightly massage Sparky's shoulders.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm just trying to relax you a little to where you won't be as tense."
"It seems nice but don't do that right now, though." Sparky whispered as he took Lindsey's hands in his own.
"Why not?"
"Because we have an hour to stay up so we can make sure any couples are separated like they're supposed to be."
"You don't need to worry about doing that. Trixie and I can handle it ourselves." Lindsey whispered quietly as she began to massage Sparky's shoulders again.
"Well, if you keep this up much longer you're going to have to. I'm getting a little sleepy already and if you do keep up, you're going to put me out for the night. A good massage will put me right to sleep every time." Sparky said sleepily as he closed his eyes and felt his head beginning to nod.
"The reason you're feeling sleepy is because you didn't sleep at all last night. You need to get some rest so you can have energy tomorrow when we're out in the parks and you're going to wish that you'd slept. So just let me help relax you and you'll be asleep before you know it."
"I guess you're right. I can tell you one thing for sure. You sure know how to relax a guy. I think I am going to get some sleep. Goodnight, Lindsey. See you in the morning." Sparky muttered, closing his eyes again. As Lindsey continued to massage his shoulders, Sparky began to feel more and more relaxed until he finally drifted into a restful sleep.
"Goodnight, sweetheart. A good night's rest will do well for you. Sleep well, love." Lindsey whispered as she eased Sparky's head into her lap. Then she turned her attention back to watch the end of the movie.
* * * * *
Trixie was sitting there with Speed sleeping in her lap and she was watching the ending of the film. When it was over she looked around the bus and noticed that all of the kids had fallen asleep and she was also relieved to see that there weren't many of them that had coupled up. Then she looked down at Speed sleeping peacefully in her lap and smiled.
"I have got to be the luckiest woman in the world. Here I am going on the vacation of a lifetime with the man that I love more than anything. There is nothing more wonderful in the world than this. I'm glad Speed finally was able to get some rest after fighting insomnia for a week. He seems so peaceful while he sleeps. I love Speed so much and I would do anything for him. That's why I helped him get to sleep." Trixie thought to herself as she bent down and kissed Speed's head softly.
"Okay. Now it's time to go and get these few couples separated. Hopefully it isn't going to take too long to get this whole thing sorted out." Trixie said as she walked over and got Lindsey's attention quietly once she realized that Sparky was sleeping as well. "Hey. Let's get this thing done so we can get some sleep too."
"Good idea. Let's get down to it." Lindsey said as she carefully got up and went to help Trixie.
A few minutes later, Trixie and Lindsey had managed to separate all of the couples except for Spritle and Grace. Trixie decided that she could handle this last one alone. She turned to Lindsey.
"Hey. I can get this last one. Why don't you go on ahead and get some sleep. I'll join you in a minute." Trixie said.
"Are you sure?" Lindsey asked.
"I'm positive. Go ahead." Trixie confirmed as Lindsey went back and sat down next to where Sparky still slept, placed his head back into her lap, settled in and fell asleep.
Trixie walked over to where Spritle was sleeping next to Grace and reached down to gently shake his shoulder. It took a moment but Spritle opened his eyes and blinked up at her.
"What's the matter, Trixie?" Spritle asked, confused.
"You're going to have to move until tomorrow morning, Spritle. I know you don't want to but if you stay sitting here then we'll both get into a lot of trouble." Trixie whispered.
"Okay. I guess I don't have a choice." Spritle sighed reluctantly as he followed Trixie to a new seat a few rows back from where he had been.
Once Trixie had Spritle settled, she went back to her seat and sat back down, being very careful not to disturb Speed who was still sleeping soundly, and got settled back in. She carefully lifted Speed's head back into her lap and then she leaned her head against the window and fell asleep within moments.
* * * * *
Two hours later, the buses pulled into a service station and stopped. Trixie woke up as the bus driver came back and approached her.
"What's going on?" Trixie asked sleepily.
"I'm terribly sorry to disturb you but we've stopped to refuel the buses and we need to get everyone off of the buses before we can do that."
"Why do we have to get off? I don't understand."
"It's a safety rule set by the government. All the major bus lines do this." The bus driver explained.
"Okay. Give us a minute." Trixie said as she leaned out into the aisle to get Lindsey's attention. "Lindsey. Hey, wake up."
"What? What's the deal, Trixie? What time is it?"
"It's 2 in the morning and we have to get off of the buses so they can fuel them up so we need to wake all these kids up."
"Okay. I really hate to have to do this but we're going to have to wake Speed and Sparky too. We have to get off anyway and having to wake so many kids up we could really use the help." Lindsey said.
"Yeah. I guess you're right."
So Lindsey carefully reached down to where Sparky was sleeping in her lap and gently shook his shoulder and gave him a kiss on the head.
"Sparky. Hon, you need to wake up. We have to get off the bus for a few minutes and we need your help to wake all these kids." Lindsey whispered. Slowly enough, Sparky stirred and opened his eyes. He looked at Lindsey and smiled.
"What's going on, hon?" Sparky asked sleepily.
"Well, they have to refuel the buses and the law says that there can't be anyone on the buses when they do that. We have to wake all these kids and get them off the bus and need help."
"Oh, okay. Let's get down to it." Sparky said as he stood up and stretched.
At the same time, Trixie was trying to wake Speed, who was in a very sound sleep. She reached down and shook Speed's shoulder gently hoping that this would wake him but instead Speed just sighed in his sleep and shifted slightly. Trixie smiled a little at this and felt a little guilty for having to wake her fiancé when he was sleeping so peacefully but she knew that they had to get everyone off of the bus. So Trixie reached down to where Speed was sleeping and lightly tickled his side, causing him to smile in his sleep. Now that she had his attention, Trixie gently shook Speed again and this time he opened his eyes and smiled.
"What's the matter, Trixie? What time is it?" Speed yawned.
"It's only 2 in the morning, Speed. I hated to disturb you when you were sleeping so well but the buses need to be refueled and government safety laws say that they have to get everyone off of these buses before they can do that. We have to wake all these kids up and get them off of the bus." Trixie said as Speed grunted and stood up.
* * * * *
Five minutes later, everyone was successfully off of the buses and standing, sitting, or laying in a parking lot waiting for the buses to be refueled so that they could all get back on and go back to sleep.
"How long does it take to fill up three buses? This is crazy." Lindsey groaned in frustration from where she sat on the curb next to Sparky.
"Well, what you have to remember is that these buses are big vehicles and they have much larger gas tanks therefore they take a little more time to fill up than your average car." Sparky explained looking at his watch. "Shouldn't be too much longer though."
"Still, I don't understand why they had to disturb everyone just to refuel the buses. There doesn't seem to be any danger in that. It just seems foolish to me." Speed pointed out.
"Speed's right. People don't get passengers out of their cars when they refuel. Why does a tour bus have to be any different? If it was in the afternoon or something I might be able to understand it but to wake people up in the middle of the night. It doesn't make any sense to me either." Trixie agreed.
"Well, I guess we'll never know. I don't think we should worry about it though. We'll be getting back on the buses soon and then everyone can go back to sleep."
As if on cue, just as Sparky said this, they heard the bus engines start up in the distance and a few moments later the three massive vehicles rolled quietly into view, much to the relief of the tired travelers standing in the parking lot.
"It's about time."
* * * * *
Soon after they were back on the bus and had gotten settled back in. All of the kids were sleeping and, resting in Trixie's lap again, Speed was very close to that point himself. He was so tired from his sudden awakening that all he wanted to do was rest.
"Are you okay, Speed?" Trixie asked quietly.
"I'm fine, Trixie. Just tired." Speed murmured as he closed his eyes.
"I understand. It's not easy on anyone being disturbed from a sound sleep in the middle of the night. Especially someone who's had as little sleep as you've had lately. I think." Trixie stopped short and smiled as she noticed that fatigue combined with the sudden waking had taken a toll on Speed and he had fallen back into a deep sleep. "Goodnight, Speed. Sleep well."
By this time the buses had driven into a rain shower and the rain could be heard plinking softly off of the roof and windows of the bus. Sparky was listening to the soft, musical sound as he rested in Lindsey's arms.
"You know, I heard something about rain once a few years ago." Sparky whispered.
"What did you hear?"
"Well, someone once told me that the rain is sometimes called nature's lullaby because of the musical sound it makes. Pretty interesting, huh." Sparky said as he settled down to rest his head back in Lindsey's lap.
"Yeah."
After a few minutes of listening to the rain, Sparky became enveloped in a web of drowsiness. He tried to fight it but no matter how hard he fought sleep pulled him irresistibly down into that web. Eventually Sparky's eyes began closing and his breathing became deep and even as he slipped into a peaceful slumber, lulled to sleep by the music of the rain.
Lindsey snapped out of her current thoughts to notice that Sparky had nodded off in her lap. She smiled and ran a hand over his hair. "Sweet dreams, hon. I guess you were right. The rain really is nature's lullaby." Then she settled into a more comfortable position and joined the others in slumber.
For the next several hours, all on the bus was still as all of the passengers were settled in peaceful slumber dreaming of the next day's adventure while the buses traveled on toward Orlando.