2:
The blue minivan rolled down the dirt road, stuffed with passengers and parcels. Two women sat in the front, a preschooler and a teen in the next row, and finally two ten-year-olds in the back. The trunk was full of suitcases, blankets, pillows, and boxes.
"…His brother bought the cabin, but after three years, he was transferred to Loring, so he gave it to us as a wedding present." Mom was telling Emily. "We go every summer at the end of August, about three weeks after Andy gets back from camp."
Maxie's sister, Fauna, who had her head stuck in a pair of earphones, was eating baby carrots out of a bag and rocking her head to the music only she could hear.
Molly was looking at the pictures in her "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" book.
Andy and Maxie had their Gameboys connected with a cable and were playing a race car game. "Ok, if I win this one, you gotta give me half your yogurt covered raisins." Said Andy.
"In your dreams." Answered Maxie. "No one gets my yogurt raisins."
Below their sneakers, Andy's toy bag lay on the carpeted floor. It was partially unzipped from Andy taking out his Gameboy, so the toys were unable to talk during the long, three-hour ride.
Half of Woody's face stared out from the sack. The zipper obscured the other half. On his left side was Smudgy; on his right, Bo. Buzz sat on the front seat, squashed between the side of the van and his owner. Unbeknownst to the two kids, he was watching the game too, although he wasn't moving.
Woody's eyes slid to Bo beside him. She shouldn't be in here, he thought. A porcelain doll could get broken or cracked being shoved into a bag like this. As if Bo getting broken wasn't something he already worried about on a daily basis. Bo's eyes were closed, her face and neck reflecting reddish-orange from the light filtering through the plastic tote. He didn't know whether or not she was asleep, but she had had her eyes shut for awhile.
Carefully, Woody moved his hand (The one that couldn't be seen) and affectionately rubbed Bo's arm under the wrist. She opened her eyes and smiled; she hadn't been asleep after all. He smiled back and squeezed her hand.
The van suddenly halted and Woody felt the bag being hoisted into the air. Through the opening in the bag, he could see Buzz tucked under Andy's arm as their owner jumped out of the van and raced toward the cabin.
Woody didn't need to see it to know what it looked like. It was a pretty, old fashioned looking log cabin with a chimney on either end. There were several cabins on either side (though far enough away to ensure privacy) with pine trees dotting the landscape, finally swelling into a forest. A man made lake spread out behind half the cabins, and sometimes early in the morning, if you looked out the window, you could see a deer or two come out of the woods and take a drink.
Woody could see the old-fashioned grill, cemented into the ground, then the picnic table, then the tire swing, and then they were inside.
Andy stopped, Maxie behind him. "Wow!" She said, looking around. The interior spread out into a giant room, a fireplace on one end with two dusty-rose pink couches, positioned so they made an "L" and a matching armchair. On the other end were the stairs, which led up into a loft where the bedrooms were.
"Foosball?" Maxie dropped her bag and ran over to the large table with the armless plastic players speared onto bars. "You have Foosball?"
"Yeah, my uncle left it." Andy set his bag and Buzz beside hers. "He said he didn't have any room for it in Base Housing."
Maxie hunted for the ball. She finally found it and blew the dust off of it. She threw it in the middle and started to kick it. "C'mon! Let's play!"
Andy glanced out the window. ""I think our Moms need help unpacking. Besides, there's other stuff to do here. Like swimming or catching fireflies, and later, we can walk down to the camp store and get a Creamsicle or somethin.' I'll beat you at Foosball later!"
"Will not!" Andy stuck out his tongue and Maxie chased him outside.
After they left, Woody pushed the zipper open and stretched his lanky legs over the side, one at time.
Jessie almost jumped out of the bag behind him, gasping for air as she clutched the side and slid down. "I hate being stuffed inside things!" She seethed, grabbing her hat from where it had fallen off and jamming it on her red head.
The other toys followed her. Woody reached in the tote. He circled Bo's waist and helped pull her out, her arms around his neck so she wouldn't fall.
"You ok?"
"I'm fine. Just a little stiff, that's all." She answered as her feet touched the ground. She smiled, not letting go, even though she was no longer in danger of slipping. "You know what this reminds me of?"
Woody's face glowed scarlet; he could feel the other toy's boring holes into the back of his head with their eyes. "W-what?"
"The first time we met, of course!" Bo said, almost teasingly. "Remember how you helped me out of the box? Just like this."
"Yeah, I remember." His eyes slid to the other toys. They were trying to hide smiles; only Mr. Potato laughed openly, which he quickly stopped when his wife smacked him on the back of the head.
Clearing his throat, he turned to the others. "Ok guys, we'd better get settled in. Buzz, you and Jessie show the new toys around the cabin. Rex, Hamm, Potatoes, check for cockroaches. We don't want any nasty surprises like last year."
"I hate cockroaches!" Rex whimpered as he followed the other three toys.
Bo turned to Woody. "And what about me?"
Woody put his arm around her waist. "You could stop embarrassing me in front of the other guys!"
"But that's no fun!" She rested her head on his shoulder and smiled. "We're going have a good time just like last year, right?"
"Uh-huh." They began to walk toward the living room area.
"Midnight walks, stargazing, watching the sunrise from the dock." Bo said dreamily. "It was the best vacation we'd ever had." She paused. "Up until the poison ivy thing." She turned and embraced him. Woody closed his eyes as he returned the hug.
"I love you, Sweetheart." Bo murmured.
"You too, Hon."