Chapter 4: First Day of Fun
The next morning, Lindsey was the first one to awaken and sat there for a long moment staring out the window at the rising sun, lost deep in her own thoughts. She wondered why she was still haunted by something that was so long in the past. The incident that she was thinking about had occurred nearly three years before yet, whenever the memory came back to her, it hurt her just as much as it had the day it happened. For the longest time, Lindsey had built a wall up around herself and wouldn't let herself trust again for fear that she would be hurt again in much the same way. In all truth, when she had finally agreed to take the chance in starting a relationship with him, it had been Sparky who had taught her that it was okay to trust again and not everyone she trusted would end up hurting her. With this thought, Lindsey looked down on Sparky, still sleeping peacefully in her lap, and smiled as she gently ran a hand through his hair.
"This is a horrible situation. I love Sparky so much and I can't even tell him about what's bothering me because I'm too afraid of what he'll think. He is so beautiful when he sleeps. He doesn't seem to have a care in the world even though I know he does. I know the reason he was so tense last night is because he's worried about me. I need to figure out a way to tell Sparky about what I'm struggling with because it isn't fair to him to have to bear a burden this great at my expense and not even know what burden I'm carrying. Who knows, maybe if I tell him what's going on with me, it may lift the burden off of both of us." Lindsey thought as she looked back out the window and became lost in her own thoughts again.
* * * * *
An hour later, Trixie woke up and blinked sleepily as she opened her eyes to the sun streaming in through the window. She then reached up and pulled the shade down over the window to dim the light so it wouldn't wake Speed after she looked at her watch and noticed that it was only 6:00. They weren't going to be stopping for breakfast until 8:00 so Trixie decided to let him sleep for a little while longer.
"He seems to be sleeping pretty good. No point in waking him up before I have to. Especially when he looks so peaceful. After fighting insomnia for a week, Speed needs to sleep." Trixie thought as she bent down to give Speed a gentle kiss on the head. Just then Trixie noticed Lindsey staring blankly out the window and thought this a little strange. Seeing the turmoil in Lindsey's eyes, Trixie decided to try and find a time to ask her what the trouble was.
* * * * *
A short time later, as Lindsey continued to stare into space, she felt a movement in her lap and looked down as Sparky began to stir. She smiled down at him as he slowly opened his eyes as he awakened from his slumber.
"Good morning." Lindsey said quietly.
"Hey. What time is it?" Sparky asked sleepily.
"It's 7:15. We'll be stopping for breakfast in 45 minutes. You look like you slept well."
"Yeah. After we got back on the bus this morning, the sound of the rain lulled me to sleep and after that, that was it. I don't remember anything after that until I woke up a few minutes ago to that pretty face." Sparky said, causing Lindsey to smile. "Ah ha. There's that pretty smile that I love to see."
"Well, I'm just glad that you were able to get a good night's sleep. You were up all night the night before we left so I know you had to have been exhausted. You slept pretty soundly last night."
"I was exhausted. Especially after we made that pit stop at 2:00 this morning. After you helped put me to sleep last night I'm surprised you were able to wake me at all. It's not easy to be pulled from a deep sleep in the middle of the night. Then once we were back on here resting and I started listening to the rain it acted as a perfect lullaby. I had planned on staying awake to think for a while but the musical sound of the rain made me so sleepy, I just couldn't keep my eyes open. I tried to fight against the drowsiness I felt but it was no good, it was just too overpowering so eventually I couldn't stay awake any longer so I gave into it and once I did, I was out. It felt so good to get a nice, solid sleep and I felt very peaceful." Sparky said as he began to feel more awake. "Hey, what were you thinking earlier? When I first woke up you were staring out the window and you looked to be pretty deep in thought."
"I was just thinking about things on my mind. You shouldn't worry about it though. This is a vacation and it's supposed to be a chance to relax and escape from everything." Lindsey said, changing the subject off of herself.
"You're right. So did everything go well last night separating any couples?" Sparky asked casually.
"Yeah. Trixie and I got that done rather quickly. It only took a few minutes."
"Okay. I was wondering if you guys even did that because I never even knew you got up at all." Sparky smiled as Lindsey rolled her eyes at him playfully.
* * * * *
Grace opened her eyes to the morning and stretched as she blinked in the sunlight. Then she noticed Chim Chim curled up sleeping in the seat beside her and suddenly she started to panic because she didn't know where Spritle was. He had been sitting next to her when she had fallen asleep the night before and now he was gone. Grace sat up straight and looked around the bus and then she noticed Spritle one seat back across the aisle, sleeping comfortably. She smiled when she saw this and then she vaguely remembered Trixie coming over the night before and moving Spritle to another seat. As she watched her friend sleeping, Grace knew even more than she did before that she wanted him to be more than just a friend to her. Just then she imagined herself sitting next to Spritle, holding him in her arms while he dreamed. As she was lost in her daydream, she didn't even notice Spritle wake up and look straight at her.
"Where were you?" Spritle asked, causing Grace to jump.
"Huh? Oh, I was just daydreaming. Nothing important really. Did you have a good night?"
"Yeah. These buses sure are comfortable. I just wish that I hadn't had to move. Rules really stink sometimes." Spritle said, making a silly face that made Grace laugh.
"What time is it?"
"7:45. The itinerary said we'll be stopping for breakfast at 8:00 so that's in fifteen minutes. That's a good thing because I'm really hungry."
"Spritle, you're always hungry." Grace laughed as Spritle moved to sit back beside her.
* * * * *
At the same time, Trixie was looking out the window at the billboards that they were passing on the highway when she suddenly heard Sparky speaking to her.
"Hey, Trixie. Don't you think it's time for you to wake Speed up so he doesn't miss breakfast?" Sparky said quietly.
"Huh? What time is it?" Trixie asked.
"It's 7:45. We're going to be stopping soon and everyone else is already awake."
Trixie just nodded and smiled as she looked down at Speed, sleeping soundly in her lap. She really hated to have to wake him when he was finally getting to catch up on some lost sleep but Sparky did have a point that they were going to be stopping at any time. So Trixie reached down and shook Speed gently and bent to give him a soft kiss. Slowly, Speed began to stir and he opened his eyes and blinked up at Trixie.
"Good morning, sweetheart."
"Hi. What's going on, Trix?" Speed asked sleepily as he sat up and looked around.
"It's almost time to stop for breakfast. I didn't want to wake you so I let you rest as long as I could. Did you sleep well?" Trixie smiled.
"Yeah. I guess the lack of sleep finally caught up to me last night. About halfway through that movie was when it really hit me. I'm sorry you guys had to separate and move any couples last night by yourselves but there was really no way I could have. Last night I got so drowsy that I couldn't have stayed awake if you'd screamed in my ear."
"Hey, don't worry about that, Speed. You weren't the only one to crash last night before we'd finished our duties. Lindsey decided to give me a massage to relax me and I ended up dozing off too. So the girls handled it themselves." Sparky cut in, hearing what Speed was talking about.
"Besides, I'll bet this morning you're glad that you got such a good night's sleep."
"Mmm hmm. I had the strangest dream though."
"What was it about?" Trixie asked.
"I dreamed that these buses stopped in the middle of the night for some reason and we all had to get off and stand around in some empty parking lot. It was really weird." Speed said as Trixie and Lindsey burst out laughing. "Hey. What the? What's so funny about that?"
"Um. Speed. You didn't dream that. That actually happened." Sparky told him.
"The buses stopped at about two o'clock this morning and because of some kooky government regulation we had to get everyone off of the bus. Then we were hanging around in an empty parking lot while we waited for the buses to get finished fueling so we could get back on." Lindsey explained.
"I wonder why I thought it was a dream?"
"Maybe it's because you were pulled out of a sound sleep in the middle of the night. I really hated to have to disturb you when you were sleeping so well. Actually you looked so peaceful that I almost said forget it but then I knew that wasn't an option. Then as soon as we were back on the bus we hadn't even started moving again before you had fallen sound asleep again. That's probably why it seemed to you that you were dreaming. I'm just glad that you were able to get a good, sound sleep last night."
"Me too. I feel a lot better than I have been lately. I didn't realize what it was doing to me not being able to sleep."
"I'm just glad that you seem to be well rested for the first time in over a week." Trixie said as she gave Speed a big hug.
"Well, we need to decide where we want to eat because we've stopped." Sparky pointed out.
"That sounds good to me because I'm starving." Lindsey said as they climbed off of the bus and stood in the Florida sunshine.
* * * * *
A few minutes later, the group had decided to go and eat at a breakfast buffet right across the street from where the buses had parked. Since it was so early in the morning and the restaurants had just opened for the day, everyone got in and seated rather quickly. After they had gotten settled at a table, Trixie and Lindsey decided to go to the restroom to freshen up so this left the guys at the table by themselves.
"Can you believe we're actually here, away from everything that we normally deal with everyday?" Sparky asked.
"Yeah, it does feel a little strange." Speed said distantly.
"Are you okay, Speed? You seem a thousand miles away right now. What's wrong?"
"I was thinking about last night and everything that happened and there's something that strikes me as more than a little strange. Something's just not right, Spark."
"I don't get it. What do you mean, Speed?" Sparky asked, confused.
"I mean that last night was going really great until after I put a movie in for the kids to watch so we could keep the noise level down. Before that I was fine but after a while I got so sleepy that I just couldn't hold my eyes open. I just don't understand why I felt that way so quickly. It just doesn't add up at all."
"Well, let's brainstorm on this Speed and I'll bet between the two of us we can figure this thing out. Try to remember. What were you doing just before you put that video in?"
"Let me see. Oh, yeah. I asked Trixie to give me some aspirin because I had a headache. Hey! Wait a minute! I think I just figured this whole thing out."
"Huh? What do you mean? What does that have to do with anything?" Sparky tried to figure out what Speed had suddenly gotten so excited about.
"I think I just found the missing piece of the puzzle, Sparky. It wasn't until after Trixie gave me those aspirin that I started getting drowsy. At the time I thought it was a little weird that the aspirin were blue instead of the usual white but my head was pounding so bad at the time that I didn't care. I think that whatever Trixie gave me is what put me out last night." Speed explained.
"Well, how are you going to prove that, Speed? You don't have any proof that Trixie did anything of the sort."
"Yet. What I'm going to do is wait until one point when the girls aren't around and look for myself and see what it is that she has. That way I can know if my theory proves correct."
"I don't know about this, Speed. I mean, going through Trixie's purse and her personal things. How do you think she'll react to that?" Sparky pointed out nervously.
"She doesn't have to know. It's not like I'm prying or anything. I'm just trying to prove a theory. Anyway, we'll talk about this later because there are Spritle and Grace. Looks like they may want to join us."
"Hey, Speedy. Mind if we sit with you guys for breakfast?" Spritle asked with a bright smile, which Speed realized was odd for him first thing in the morning.
"Of course not. Have a seat, guys." Speed smiled as his brother and Grace sat down at their large table.
"So, are you two looking forward to getting to explore Disney World today and tomorrow?" Speed asked.
"You bet. I can't decide what to do first." Spritle grinned.
"Well, there's so much to do that I can understand how you could have that problem." Sparky pointed out, remembering a special on the parks that he had seen on television a few weeks before.
"Hey. Looks like we picked up some company. Good morning, you two." Trixie smiled as she and Lindsey came back to the table and saw Spritle and Grace sitting there as well.
"Hi, Trixie. I hope you don't mind us sitting here." Grace said kindly.
"No, of course not. I hope you're not too mad at me for making you move last night, Spritle. I personally would have left you alone but if we broke the rules then we would have both gotten into hot water."
"It's okay, Trixie. I know it's a rule. I was telling Grace this morning that there are times when rules really stink."
"I understand how you feel. But rules do keep things in line." Trixie smiled as they all went and got their breakfast.
Trixie and Lindsey were back to the table before any of the others so Trixie decided that this would be a good time to try to get her friend to open up about whatever was bothering her.
"Hey, Lindsey. Do you mind if I ask you kind of a personal question?"
"Yeah, I guess. What was it that you wanted to ask me?" Lindsey said.
"Well, this morning when I first woke up I couldn't help but notice that you were staring out the window at nothing and that you looked a little upset. The only reason I didn't ask you then was that we were the only ones awake so I didn't want to wake anybody up. Is everything okay? You and Sparky aren't having an argument or anything are you?" Trixie asked, concerned.
"No, it has nothing to do with Sparky at all. It's me. I've been haunted by something from my past for years. That's really all I can tell you about it right now. I wasn't able to trust anyone for a long time until I met Sparky and he taught me that it was okay to trust without getting hurt the same way I was before. The problem is that I'm afraid to tell him about what it is that I'm struggling with because I don't want him to turn away from me because of it. I can tell that it's weighing on him to see me like this and not know why but I don't know what else to do."
"Hmm. That is a tough one. I can't tell you whether or not you should tell Sparky what's going on with you but there is one thing that I can tell you for sure. I know that Sparky would never turn away from you for anything. Not in a million years. I know how much Sparky loves you because he seems to love you as much as Speed loves me and I've known the guy long enough to know that he wouldn't turn his back on someone that he feels that strongly for. So take your time and when you feel you're ready, you can open up to him." Trixie said reassuringly.
"I know that you're right but it doesn't make this thing any easier. I wish I could leave my relationship with Sparky in tact and turn back the clock and fix this thing that has been disturbing me so much." Lindsey said as she and Trixie dropped their conversation as the others came back to the table. Then they all ate their breakfast amid pleasant conversation.
* * * * *
An hour later, everyone had met back in the parking lot where the convoy was parked and had climbed back onto the buses. They made sure that everyone was present and accounted for before they pulled out to head to Disney World.
On the bus, while they were taking the short remaining ride, the two couples were trying to plan their strategy for tackling the three parks where they could see everything that was worth seeing without completely exhausting themselves in the process.
"Well, I remember reading on the internet that the best thing to do when you get through Main Street is to head left and go in a circle, hitting the main attractions first and then go on to the secondary ones. I think that may be the best strategy that we can take." Sparky shouted over the noise. There was so much excited roar from the kids on the bus that all conversation had to be held at a minimal shouting level.
"That sounds like a pretty solid plan to me. We'll start from Main Street like Sparky said and then go from there." Lindsey said.
"Here we go, guys. Target sited!" Speed said and the others laughed as the buses pulled into the Disney World parking lot.
A/N: Hello fans. I'm sure that most of you think that I've dropped off the face of the planet or something like that. I've been extremely busy since I have been accepted into nursing school and I have been getting ready for that. I am going to try to get this story finished before I start classes on April 5 but I can make no guarantees on that. Just keep checking back and look for more chapters in the next week or so. Please bear with me as I try to finish this up. ;-)
The next morning, Lindsey was the first one to awaken and sat there for a long moment staring out the window at the rising sun, lost deep in her own thoughts. She wondered why she was still haunted by something that was so long in the past. The incident that she was thinking about had occurred nearly three years before yet, whenever the memory came back to her, it hurt her just as much as it had the day it happened. For the longest time, Lindsey had built a wall up around herself and wouldn't let herself trust again for fear that she would be hurt again in much the same way. In all truth, when she had finally agreed to take the chance in starting a relationship with him, it had been Sparky who had taught her that it was okay to trust again and not everyone she trusted would end up hurting her. With this thought, Lindsey looked down on Sparky, still sleeping peacefully in her lap, and smiled as she gently ran a hand through his hair.
"This is a horrible situation. I love Sparky so much and I can't even tell him about what's bothering me because I'm too afraid of what he'll think. He is so beautiful when he sleeps. He doesn't seem to have a care in the world even though I know he does. I know the reason he was so tense last night is because he's worried about me. I need to figure out a way to tell Sparky about what I'm struggling with because it isn't fair to him to have to bear a burden this great at my expense and not even know what burden I'm carrying. Who knows, maybe if I tell him what's going on with me, it may lift the burden off of both of us." Lindsey thought as she looked back out the window and became lost in her own thoughts again.
* * * * *
An hour later, Trixie woke up and blinked sleepily as she opened her eyes to the sun streaming in through the window. She then reached up and pulled the shade down over the window to dim the light so it wouldn't wake Speed after she looked at her watch and noticed that it was only 6:00. They weren't going to be stopping for breakfast until 8:00 so Trixie decided to let him sleep for a little while longer.
"He seems to be sleeping pretty good. No point in waking him up before I have to. Especially when he looks so peaceful. After fighting insomnia for a week, Speed needs to sleep." Trixie thought as she bent down to give Speed a gentle kiss on the head. Just then Trixie noticed Lindsey staring blankly out the window and thought this a little strange. Seeing the turmoil in Lindsey's eyes, Trixie decided to try and find a time to ask her what the trouble was.
* * * * *
A short time later, as Lindsey continued to stare into space, she felt a movement in her lap and looked down as Sparky began to stir. She smiled down at him as he slowly opened his eyes as he awakened from his slumber.
"Good morning." Lindsey said quietly.
"Hey. What time is it?" Sparky asked sleepily.
"It's 7:15. We'll be stopping for breakfast in 45 minutes. You look like you slept well."
"Yeah. After we got back on the bus this morning, the sound of the rain lulled me to sleep and after that, that was it. I don't remember anything after that until I woke up a few minutes ago to that pretty face." Sparky said, causing Lindsey to smile. "Ah ha. There's that pretty smile that I love to see."
"Well, I'm just glad that you were able to get a good night's sleep. You were up all night the night before we left so I know you had to have been exhausted. You slept pretty soundly last night."
"I was exhausted. Especially after we made that pit stop at 2:00 this morning. After you helped put me to sleep last night I'm surprised you were able to wake me at all. It's not easy to be pulled from a deep sleep in the middle of the night. Then once we were back on here resting and I started listening to the rain it acted as a perfect lullaby. I had planned on staying awake to think for a while but the musical sound of the rain made me so sleepy, I just couldn't keep my eyes open. I tried to fight against the drowsiness I felt but it was no good, it was just too overpowering so eventually I couldn't stay awake any longer so I gave into it and once I did, I was out. It felt so good to get a nice, solid sleep and I felt very peaceful." Sparky said as he began to feel more awake. "Hey, what were you thinking earlier? When I first woke up you were staring out the window and you looked to be pretty deep in thought."
"I was just thinking about things on my mind. You shouldn't worry about it though. This is a vacation and it's supposed to be a chance to relax and escape from everything." Lindsey said, changing the subject off of herself.
"You're right. So did everything go well last night separating any couples?" Sparky asked casually.
"Yeah. Trixie and I got that done rather quickly. It only took a few minutes."
"Okay. I was wondering if you guys even did that because I never even knew you got up at all." Sparky smiled as Lindsey rolled her eyes at him playfully.
* * * * *
Grace opened her eyes to the morning and stretched as she blinked in the sunlight. Then she noticed Chim Chim curled up sleeping in the seat beside her and suddenly she started to panic because she didn't know where Spritle was. He had been sitting next to her when she had fallen asleep the night before and now he was gone. Grace sat up straight and looked around the bus and then she noticed Spritle one seat back across the aisle, sleeping comfortably. She smiled when she saw this and then she vaguely remembered Trixie coming over the night before and moving Spritle to another seat. As she watched her friend sleeping, Grace knew even more than she did before that she wanted him to be more than just a friend to her. Just then she imagined herself sitting next to Spritle, holding him in her arms while he dreamed. As she was lost in her daydream, she didn't even notice Spritle wake up and look straight at her.
"Where were you?" Spritle asked, causing Grace to jump.
"Huh? Oh, I was just daydreaming. Nothing important really. Did you have a good night?"
"Yeah. These buses sure are comfortable. I just wish that I hadn't had to move. Rules really stink sometimes." Spritle said, making a silly face that made Grace laugh.
"What time is it?"
"7:45. The itinerary said we'll be stopping for breakfast at 8:00 so that's in fifteen minutes. That's a good thing because I'm really hungry."
"Spritle, you're always hungry." Grace laughed as Spritle moved to sit back beside her.
* * * * *
At the same time, Trixie was looking out the window at the billboards that they were passing on the highway when she suddenly heard Sparky speaking to her.
"Hey, Trixie. Don't you think it's time for you to wake Speed up so he doesn't miss breakfast?" Sparky said quietly.
"Huh? What time is it?" Trixie asked.
"It's 7:45. We're going to be stopping soon and everyone else is already awake."
Trixie just nodded and smiled as she looked down at Speed, sleeping soundly in her lap. She really hated to have to wake him when he was finally getting to catch up on some lost sleep but Sparky did have a point that they were going to be stopping at any time. So Trixie reached down and shook Speed gently and bent to give him a soft kiss. Slowly, Speed began to stir and he opened his eyes and blinked up at Trixie.
"Good morning, sweetheart."
"Hi. What's going on, Trix?" Speed asked sleepily as he sat up and looked around.
"It's almost time to stop for breakfast. I didn't want to wake you so I let you rest as long as I could. Did you sleep well?" Trixie smiled.
"Yeah. I guess the lack of sleep finally caught up to me last night. About halfway through that movie was when it really hit me. I'm sorry you guys had to separate and move any couples last night by yourselves but there was really no way I could have. Last night I got so drowsy that I couldn't have stayed awake if you'd screamed in my ear."
"Hey, don't worry about that, Speed. You weren't the only one to crash last night before we'd finished our duties. Lindsey decided to give me a massage to relax me and I ended up dozing off too. So the girls handled it themselves." Sparky cut in, hearing what Speed was talking about.
"Besides, I'll bet this morning you're glad that you got such a good night's sleep."
"Mmm hmm. I had the strangest dream though."
"What was it about?" Trixie asked.
"I dreamed that these buses stopped in the middle of the night for some reason and we all had to get off and stand around in some empty parking lot. It was really weird." Speed said as Trixie and Lindsey burst out laughing. "Hey. What the? What's so funny about that?"
"Um. Speed. You didn't dream that. That actually happened." Sparky told him.
"The buses stopped at about two o'clock this morning and because of some kooky government regulation we had to get everyone off of the bus. Then we were hanging around in an empty parking lot while we waited for the buses to get finished fueling so we could get back on." Lindsey explained.
"I wonder why I thought it was a dream?"
"Maybe it's because you were pulled out of a sound sleep in the middle of the night. I really hated to have to disturb you when you were sleeping so well. Actually you looked so peaceful that I almost said forget it but then I knew that wasn't an option. Then as soon as we were back on the bus we hadn't even started moving again before you had fallen sound asleep again. That's probably why it seemed to you that you were dreaming. I'm just glad that you were able to get a good, sound sleep last night."
"Me too. I feel a lot better than I have been lately. I didn't realize what it was doing to me not being able to sleep."
"I'm just glad that you seem to be well rested for the first time in over a week." Trixie said as she gave Speed a big hug.
"Well, we need to decide where we want to eat because we've stopped." Sparky pointed out.
"That sounds good to me because I'm starving." Lindsey said as they climbed off of the bus and stood in the Florida sunshine.
* * * * *
A few minutes later, the group had decided to go and eat at a breakfast buffet right across the street from where the buses had parked. Since it was so early in the morning and the restaurants had just opened for the day, everyone got in and seated rather quickly. After they had gotten settled at a table, Trixie and Lindsey decided to go to the restroom to freshen up so this left the guys at the table by themselves.
"Can you believe we're actually here, away from everything that we normally deal with everyday?" Sparky asked.
"Yeah, it does feel a little strange." Speed said distantly.
"Are you okay, Speed? You seem a thousand miles away right now. What's wrong?"
"I was thinking about last night and everything that happened and there's something that strikes me as more than a little strange. Something's just not right, Spark."
"I don't get it. What do you mean, Speed?" Sparky asked, confused.
"I mean that last night was going really great until after I put a movie in for the kids to watch so we could keep the noise level down. Before that I was fine but after a while I got so sleepy that I just couldn't hold my eyes open. I just don't understand why I felt that way so quickly. It just doesn't add up at all."
"Well, let's brainstorm on this Speed and I'll bet between the two of us we can figure this thing out. Try to remember. What were you doing just before you put that video in?"
"Let me see. Oh, yeah. I asked Trixie to give me some aspirin because I had a headache. Hey! Wait a minute! I think I just figured this whole thing out."
"Huh? What do you mean? What does that have to do with anything?" Sparky tried to figure out what Speed had suddenly gotten so excited about.
"I think I just found the missing piece of the puzzle, Sparky. It wasn't until after Trixie gave me those aspirin that I started getting drowsy. At the time I thought it was a little weird that the aspirin were blue instead of the usual white but my head was pounding so bad at the time that I didn't care. I think that whatever Trixie gave me is what put me out last night." Speed explained.
"Well, how are you going to prove that, Speed? You don't have any proof that Trixie did anything of the sort."
"Yet. What I'm going to do is wait until one point when the girls aren't around and look for myself and see what it is that she has. That way I can know if my theory proves correct."
"I don't know about this, Speed. I mean, going through Trixie's purse and her personal things. How do you think she'll react to that?" Sparky pointed out nervously.
"She doesn't have to know. It's not like I'm prying or anything. I'm just trying to prove a theory. Anyway, we'll talk about this later because there are Spritle and Grace. Looks like they may want to join us."
"Hey, Speedy. Mind if we sit with you guys for breakfast?" Spritle asked with a bright smile, which Speed realized was odd for him first thing in the morning.
"Of course not. Have a seat, guys." Speed smiled as his brother and Grace sat down at their large table.
"So, are you two looking forward to getting to explore Disney World today and tomorrow?" Speed asked.
"You bet. I can't decide what to do first." Spritle grinned.
"Well, there's so much to do that I can understand how you could have that problem." Sparky pointed out, remembering a special on the parks that he had seen on television a few weeks before.
"Hey. Looks like we picked up some company. Good morning, you two." Trixie smiled as she and Lindsey came back to the table and saw Spritle and Grace sitting there as well.
"Hi, Trixie. I hope you don't mind us sitting here." Grace said kindly.
"No, of course not. I hope you're not too mad at me for making you move last night, Spritle. I personally would have left you alone but if we broke the rules then we would have both gotten into hot water."
"It's okay, Trixie. I know it's a rule. I was telling Grace this morning that there are times when rules really stink."
"I understand how you feel. But rules do keep things in line." Trixie smiled as they all went and got their breakfast.
Trixie and Lindsey were back to the table before any of the others so Trixie decided that this would be a good time to try to get her friend to open up about whatever was bothering her.
"Hey, Lindsey. Do you mind if I ask you kind of a personal question?"
"Yeah, I guess. What was it that you wanted to ask me?" Lindsey said.
"Well, this morning when I first woke up I couldn't help but notice that you were staring out the window at nothing and that you looked a little upset. The only reason I didn't ask you then was that we were the only ones awake so I didn't want to wake anybody up. Is everything okay? You and Sparky aren't having an argument or anything are you?" Trixie asked, concerned.
"No, it has nothing to do with Sparky at all. It's me. I've been haunted by something from my past for years. That's really all I can tell you about it right now. I wasn't able to trust anyone for a long time until I met Sparky and he taught me that it was okay to trust without getting hurt the same way I was before. The problem is that I'm afraid to tell him about what it is that I'm struggling with because I don't want him to turn away from me because of it. I can tell that it's weighing on him to see me like this and not know why but I don't know what else to do."
"Hmm. That is a tough one. I can't tell you whether or not you should tell Sparky what's going on with you but there is one thing that I can tell you for sure. I know that Sparky would never turn away from you for anything. Not in a million years. I know how much Sparky loves you because he seems to love you as much as Speed loves me and I've known the guy long enough to know that he wouldn't turn his back on someone that he feels that strongly for. So take your time and when you feel you're ready, you can open up to him." Trixie said reassuringly.
"I know that you're right but it doesn't make this thing any easier. I wish I could leave my relationship with Sparky in tact and turn back the clock and fix this thing that has been disturbing me so much." Lindsey said as she and Trixie dropped their conversation as the others came back to the table. Then they all ate their breakfast amid pleasant conversation.
* * * * *
An hour later, everyone had met back in the parking lot where the convoy was parked and had climbed back onto the buses. They made sure that everyone was present and accounted for before they pulled out to head to Disney World.
On the bus, while they were taking the short remaining ride, the two couples were trying to plan their strategy for tackling the three parks where they could see everything that was worth seeing without completely exhausting themselves in the process.
"Well, I remember reading on the internet that the best thing to do when you get through Main Street is to head left and go in a circle, hitting the main attractions first and then go on to the secondary ones. I think that may be the best strategy that we can take." Sparky shouted over the noise. There was so much excited roar from the kids on the bus that all conversation had to be held at a minimal shouting level.
"That sounds like a pretty solid plan to me. We'll start from Main Street like Sparky said and then go from there." Lindsey said.
"Here we go, guys. Target sited!" Speed said and the others laughed as the buses pulled into the Disney World parking lot.
A/N: Hello fans. I'm sure that most of you think that I've dropped off the face of the planet or something like that. I've been extremely busy since I have been accepted into nursing school and I have been getting ready for that. I am going to try to get this story finished before I start classes on April 5 but I can make no guarantees on that. Just keep checking back and look for more chapters in the next week or so. Please bear with me as I try to finish this up. ;-)