I never liked waking up early. Even if I was going somewhere I wanted to, I hated it. I remember when I was still with my family my aunt would come up to Minnesota from Texas and go on these crazy trips. We would have to wake up at 3 a.m and leave at 4 a.m. And I hated it every time we had to. So the next morning wasn't different. I was asleep at 3 a.m happily comfy in my warm bed when my dad come up and pulls off my covers. He turned my uber bright lights and poked me.

"Mmf…go away!"

"Rise and shine! We have sight seeing!"

"At 3 in the morning?"

"Don't you want to see the sunrise?"

"It's the same as the sunset.

"No it's not! Get up, get dressed and let's go!"

I moaned and put my covers over me again. My dad happily took them away from my again. But this time he brought them with him out the door.

"No fair!"

But he couldn't hear me. I finally got up and opened my shade. It was still pitch black outside. I groaned at the darkness. Damn sun can't rise any earlier? I walked slowly over to my radio and turned it on. "Whiskey Lullaby" by Brad Paisley was playing. This was one of my favorite songs of his. I opened my closet and looked at the clothes I had. The clothes I knew I liked were down in the laundry room waiting to be cleaned. So I got on the outfit I thought of first. Some light denim Hollister jeans, olive green v-neck t-shirt from Aeropostale with a white Old Navy beater under it, with my old K-Swiss tennis shoes. I grabbed my Minnesota Wild dark green zip up just in case it was cold outside. I brushed my hair and left it down. I grabbed my cell phone and iPod and stuck it into the pockets of my zip up. I opened the door to find my covers lying in the doorway. I made a

mental note to hurt my dad later when I was awake. I threw the covers on my bed. God it looked so inviting. But I shut my door and walked down the stairs. I went to the kitchen to where my Dad was standing. He was leaning against the counter, his coffee in hand reading yesterday's paper since todays wasn't here yet. God even it was too early for the paper boy! He finally looked up to see me.

"About time you got ready."

"Oh bite me."

"Not a morning person are we?"

"Where are we going anyways?"

"Somewhere. Let's get in the car."

We walked out the door into the cold Boston air. Good thing I brought that zip up. My Dad's car really wasn't that bad. It was a 2003 Mercedes, black to be exact. I got in the passenger. My Dad took his lovely time to get to the car. I was so tempted to honk the horn at him. He finally got in and turned on the car. I stuck my ear buds into my ear and searched through my songs. I put on the old Beatles song, "Hey Jude". It wasn't until I got to at least 20 seconds when my Dad unplugged my ear buds.

"Dad what the heck?"

"I need your opinion on something."

"OK what is it?"

"I made a CD. It's coming out in May, but I want to know if you like it."

"OK put it in."

My Dad put his new CD in. Rap, of course. But this was different somehow. It wasn't really rap, but yet it was. One song that I especially like was "My Time Is Now." Within about an hour, the CD was finished. My Dad looked at me.

"So, do you like it?"

"Dad I love it. It was amazing. I think that the song 'My Time Is Now' should be your new entrance song."

"Really? I was thinking that myself."

"Well, great minds think alike."

"Well, we're here."

It seemed like we had driven forever. We stopped in a little wooded area where you could see the slightest outline of the horizon. The sun was barely peaking over the horizon, but you see it trying to some up. The trees opened up so there was a perfect spot so see the sun on both sides of the road. I gotta say, out of all the sun rises I have seen, this was the most beautiful one ever. I've seen really good ones, like the ones mid morning in Hawaii with the pink closing in on the sun. But this one was different. Maybe it was because there was real nature and the real Earth all around me. Maybe it was because I was with my Dad. Whatever it was, I was in complete and utter awe. I took out my digital camera and took pictures of it.

"Was it worth the early bird call?"

"Definitely. How do you know about this spot? It seems so hidden and deserted."

"One time, when I was at least 19, I got mad at my dad one night. It was about my now ex-girlfriend. So I got in my old car and drove around. My car broke down here right around sunset. When I saw the sunset and how beautiful it looked out here, I couldn't help but be taken away. I stayed out here the whole night until the sun was past risen. Then I left my car and walked home, writing down how I got here. I've been coming here ever since just for some nice down time."

I nodded and looked at the sun again. It was almost 5:30. I looked at how the trees gently hugged the sun as it rose. Then I got a great idea.

"You got a sketch book?"

"Umm…no. I got a notebook though."

"OK good. How about any colored pencils? Water colors?"

"Sorry I left those at art class."

"Dad!"

"OK! I got some colored pens in the back seat."

I rummaged through the seats till I found some colored pens. I hated drawing with pens, but it was all I had. Then I found some old pack of crayons way under the seat. I reached down and got them. I held them up for my Dad to see.

"Looks like you didn't forget them at art class after all."

"I only brought them so Timmy would stop stealing them!"

"Seriously why do you have crayons?"

"To design cars."

I stopped talking and went outside. I got up on his hood and crossed legs. The cold hood felt good against my legs. I opened the notebook and started to draw. My Dad started to bang on the hood.

"What are you doing?"

"Shut up I'm trying to concentrate!"

I started to draw the horizon. I drew it so faint so that you could see it, but it still looked invisible. Then I started with the outline of the sun. Then with the trees, making sure that they hugged the sun the way they did now. Then I started to sketch the rest of the scenery around me. Finally, I started to shade. I blended colors to add the colors coming from the sunrise. I was careful to add the faint ripples of the rays from the sun that shone through the sky. I made the trees a medium brown since that was their color this time of the year. There weren't many leaves, but some were starting to come back or they hung on through the winter. Finally I shaded in everything. I held up my picture to the actual thing in the sky. It changed over the past hour I was drawing, but holding up the picture I took, it looked just right. I slid off the roof into the car through the open window. My Dad was asleep in the driver's seat. I pushed him. He didn't wake. I turned on the car. Didn't wake. Finally I blared the horn. My Dad woke with a start.

"Are you done now?"

"Yeah, we can go now. How about some breakfast?"

"Let me see what you were doing first."

"No way!"

My Dad started to drive, but then grabbed the notebook to fast from me. I tried to get it from him, but he was too strong. Finally he lowered the picture. He stared in awe at the picture for a while.

"I don't know what to say Sarah."

"I know it's horrible so let me take it back and I can throw it away."

"Bull shit! This is the best drawing I've seen in forever. Sweetheart, you have a natural talent at drawing. You captured everything beautifully."

"You really think that? You're not really saying that to be nice?"

"I want you to know I would never EVER lie to you. I want to keep this. Is that OK?"

"Yeah it's fine. Now can we get breakfast? I'm starving."

"Of course. Where to?"

"I don't know. You pick."

"OK…I know this little restraint we can go to. It's called Marie Calendars. We'll head there."

My Dad started to drive again. At the stop sign at an intersection, he bent over and kissed me on the forehead.

"I'm proud of ya kiddo."

"I'm proud of you to Dad."

I badly wanted to say 'I love you.' But the words wouldn't come out of my mouth. Maybe it was too soon. I'll wait a while, or at least for the right time. I yawned and looked at the time. 7:00. We still had the whole day. I closed my eyes to think about the day ahead. Something told me I wouldn't want to forget it. In fact, I didn't want to forget this moment. I opened my eyes slightly to look at my Dad. He looked so calm and at peace. He was focused on the road, yet I could tell he was somewhere else. This was my Dad. Tough in the ring, soft out of it. I knew I would have a great life. But I didn't want to think that far. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, but I was excited for the day ahead of me.