Chapter 4
The Journey to Disneyworld Begins
"Elizabeth, wake up. You have to get dressed so that we can go," Mrs. Jones whispered to Elizabeth. The moon wasn't visible, but the sun hadn't risen, either. The birds were still asleep, as well as the rest of God's creatures. At five in the morning, all seemed as peaceful as any other morning.
"I'm up, I'm up. I'll get dressed," Elizabeth sleepily replied to her stepmother's shaking and Mrs. Jones' pleads.
"Well, then, come on! The faster we get out of here, the faster we get to Disneyworld," Mrs. Jones rushed out of the room still in her own pajamas.
"I'm hurrying as fast as I can," Elizabeth groaned, slowly getting out of bed. When Elizabeth got out of bed, she slipped on her clothes as fast as her limbs could go. Elizabeth's body quickly became active allowing her body to rush to do what was needed of it.
When everyone was ready, they all piled into the van and buckled up. Once everyone got situated, Mr. Jones started the car and the drive began. Elizabeth fell asleep for all of a half an hour, but that was enough to see the dream once more. Instead of getting out at the start of the dream, however, Elizabeth woke up at the same time as all her other similar dreams before that.
After awakening ever so slightly, Elizabeth heard her parents talking. At first, she didn't quite get what they were saying, and she truly never got it. Elizabeth only caught little snippets of the conversation, but she still couldn't put the words together.
Soon afterward, hunger gnawed Elizabeth's core. Desperate, she nearly spoke, but remained quiet and kept her eyes shut so as not to be discovered. Elizabeth couldn't fall asleep now that hunger was at her door, and she needed to tame the hunger before anything else happened.
I'll wait until after sunup and then ask for food, Elizabeth planned. However, it didn't take long before hunger turned into nearly throwing up. On second thought, maybe I should ask for food, like I don't know, now,Elizabeth reconsidered her plan and immediately put it underway.
"Ugh, Mrs. Jones, I feel like I'm going to throw up," Elizabeth moaned, noticing that hunger had officially taken over happiness.
"We're closing in on a nearby McDonalds. You'll be able to eat soon, don't worry," Mrs. Jones replied, hiding her nervousness. Mrs. Jones suspected flu, but hunger must be the true cause of Elizabeth's pain.
After a few minutes, they all arrived at McDonalds, where hunger finally hurt Elizabeth enough to truly be confused with the flu. After awakening Katrina and her boyfriend, everyone went inside to feed themselves.
"I'll get Elizabeth French toast sticks. Honey, stay with sweetums and I'll take Katrina, alright?" Mr. Jones asked his wife, hoping for a good answer.
"Alright, honey. Let's go, Elizabeth. We'll find a seat and a cup in case Elizabeth does show us her acidic fluids. Come on, Elizabeth, there's an empty table over here," Mrs. Jones directed Elizabeth to a table with four seats.
After a cup was placed near Elizabeth, she almost upchucked, but only a burp came out. Mr. Jones got the food in a jiffy and gave everyone their respectable meals. Elizabeth ate all of her food, which was unusual for her. That signified that the rest of the drive would go more smoothly, now that the episode was over.
Around break time, Elizabeth used the restroom and hustled back to the car with her Pepsi at hand. As the car moved out, Elizabeth pulled out the earphones and continued watching Yu-Gi-Oh! : The Movie. Elizabeth was starting at the part where the duel between Kaiba and Yugi, otherwise known as Yami or Atem had just taken a turn for the worse.
Katrina, on the other hand, was listening to music and chatting with Markus, her boyfriend. As time passed, lunchtime rolled around. However, they were no longer in their own time zone. They were now in Tennessee.
"What time is it, Mr. Jones?" Elizabeth asked, concealing her hunger.
"In what time zone are you asking the time for, sweetums? Do you want our time at home, or Pacific?" Mr. Jones asked, sort of gleeful.
"Oh, alright, then, Mr. Jones, I'll play your game. How's about, what is the time in Tennessee, Mr. Jones?" Elizabeth asked, knowing to add the teasing tone.
"It's nearly twelve thirty. Are you hungry? Oh my gosh, don't faint on me, sweetums!" Mr. Jones teased back, knowing that she would play around with the rest of the family.
"Elizabeth's going to faint?! What are we going to do?!" Katrina and Mrs. Jones cried out. When Elizabeth and Mr. Jones started laughing, Markus tagged along. Katrina and Mrs. Jones began to turn bright red, knowing now that they had been embarrassed by the oldest and the youngest people in the car.
The vacationers stopped at a picnic area, where they normally eat every time that they come this way for Disneyworld.
"Alright, let's grab a bite to eat. That doesn't mean biting someone else for food," Mr. Jones teased the other travelers.
"Finally, time to eat," Elizabeth eagerly waited for the food to be served.
"Aren't you always hungry, Elizabeth?" Katrina asked, being serious, but added a hint of teasing.
"Sort of, yeah, I'm hungry all the time," Elizabeth answered, knowing that her sister was as serious as ever, just acting as if she was teasing.
Mr. Jones passed the food around so that everyone could eat. Elizabeth thought through her head about the dream. She couldn't see how this would apply to the real world if it continued to haunt her.
"What's wrong, sweetums? Are you ok? You're as pale as a ghost," Mr. Jones asked, seeing how worried Elizabeth was.
"Nothing, Mr. Jones, just thinking about this new person," Elizabeth told Mr. Jones. Well, I do think this person has something to do with it I just can't put my finger on it. Elizabeth thought to herself.
Around nightfall, Elizabeth started feeling sleepy. She knew that rest was just beyond her grasp, but getting closer each second. As Elizabeth watched the world around her, she couldn't help but feel happy knowing that in less than a day, she would meet a new friend. Or foe, either way, it should be interesting, Elizabeth thought. Soon afterward, Mr. Jones pulled around the lobby and got out of the car.
"I'll get us a room, just wait here," Mr. Jones said to the others. At this time, Katrina had the DVD player, watching a vampire film. Elizabeth didn't care much, just as long as they were going to sleep soon.
After a few minutes passed, Mr. Jones got back to the driver's seat and parked closer to the room.
"What room is it, Mr. Jones?" Elizabeth curiously asked.
"We are in room 218, that's on the second floor," Mr. Jones replied. Everyone got their suitcases and walked to the nearest elevator. Elizabeth also had an extra pillow, just in case.
As the elevator rose, Elizabeth couldn't help but give a yawn and wished that sleep was on the horizon for her. The elevator got to the second floor, and the pronounced ding shook Elizabeth away from her thoughts.
"Sounds like someone needs some sleep. No worries dear, we're nearly there," Mrs. Jones comforted Elizabeth, and it worked.
Once everyone got in the larger room, everyone picked out their beds, Mr. and Mrs. Jones in the queen bed, Katrina and Markus in the queen, and Elizabeth on the pull-out couch. The pull-out, however, was very comfortable for a sleepy-eyed twelve-year-old.
After all of the 'goodnights' to the others, Elizabeth pulled on her pajamas and crawled into bed, feeling more tired than when she arrived. Once she closed her eyes, sleep fell upon her.