4

Rest Stop

We’ve been driving a long time. We’ve been driving so long that it’s starting to get light outside. Is it morning now? It could be. I’m hungry. I need to stretch my legs. And I really need to go outside.

I wonder if we’re close to Springtown. We should be after this amount of time. But we’re still driving.

Could Kayla and Dad still be in Springtown? Why didn’t they ever come home? And why didn’t they send for me? Is it because of the tornado?

I’ve never been in a tornado, but I’ve seen the Wizard of Oz. So I know a lot about them. Here is what I know about tornados:

They are big, scary clouds that spin ’round and ’round.

They sound like trains.

They can pick up a house, turn it around a few times, and put it down someplace else.

In the Wizard of Oz, the dog, Toto, was the hero. He moved the curtain when his human was talking to that wizard. If he hadn’t done that, his human would never have gotten home.

I want to be a hero like Toto. I want to go to Springtown, find my family, and help them get back home.

It feels like the van is slowing down now. Are we here? Are we finally here? I wish I could see out the window.

“Ready for a rest stop?” Uncle Marty asks.

Rest stop? What’s a rest stop?

“Y-y-ah-choo!” Raina says. Then she adds: “Yes. I’d also like to get some allergy medicine. I think I have some in that bag I tossed in the back.”

The van rolls to a stop, and Uncle Marty turns off the engine.

“Can you reach your bag from here?” Uncle Marty asks.

“No. I’ll need to get it from the back,” Raina replies.

I hear keys jingling. The front doors open and close. Then I hear the latch turn on the back door. As the back door opens, sunlight pours into the back of the van.

I squeeze myself even farther under the chair. As far as I can possibly squeeze. I close my eyes. Please don’t notice me, I say inside my head. Please, please, please don’t notice me!

I feel boxes and furniture shifting around behind me.

“Got it,” Raina says. The back door closes, but does not latch.

I hear Uncle Marty and Raina walking away from the van. I wiggle my way out from under that chair and climb up on top of it. Now I can see out the side window.

It looks like a rest stop is a place with lots of grass and trees. I see cars, trucks and even a bus parked beside us.

There’s a small building straight ahead. I watch as Uncle Marty goes in one side of the building and Raina goes in the other side.

I have a feeling we’re going to be here for a while. Since the back door didn’t latch, I wonder if I can get out and stretch my legs for a few minutes.

I climb over the boxes and furniture and push against the back door. It opens faster than I expect it to. But I land on my feet on the ground below.

Freedom!

First things first. I need to find a tree or the perfect swatch of grass. Sniff ... sniff ... sniff ... a lot of dogs have been here before me. I don’t like to go in exactly the same spot everyone else goes.

But I also don’t like to go in a spot where nobody else has gone before, either.

Sniff ... sniff ... sniff ... ah, here we go. The perfect spot! I lift my leg and relieve myself.

I wonder if there are any dogs in any of those other cars or trucks? If there are, maybe they can tell me how close we are to Springtown.

I go check out the vehicles. The little car that only has one door on each side smells like Dog. Poodle, to be exact. But I don’t see any poodle around.

A rusty truck in the next row smells like German shepherd. German shepherds usually know what’s going on. If this German shepherd was around, he could probably tell me exactly how far Springtown is. But I don’t see any German shepherd, either.

I’m about to go sniff the bus when I notice the back lights on Uncle Marty’s trailer blink on. The back of the van is closed up and the van and trailer are moving forward.

Uh-oh. Uncle Marty and Raina are leaving without me.