"How about this place, it looks nice!"

"Do you really want to take the kids there?"

"How about here? They've got some great-"

"Mooom, I don't want to go to a place with snow! We get enough of that here."

"Well, what about a day trip to the-"

"Now, remember what happened to you the last time we went there..."

"Why can't this family pick a vacation spot!" Austin threw up his hands in frustration, sending the travel brochures flying across the table.

Mom sighed.

I sat quietly alongside my aunt, who was holding James.

Phil sat with his head in his hands.

"Why don't we go to Talveila?" Casey suggested. "Mom tells me they have wonderful cuisine there."

Mom looked up, her crystal blue eyes full of exasperation. "Because," she started, "if we go to Talveila, I'm going to have to deal with you-know-who, who'll probably want us to go visit him and rip us off with food-"

"Abraham's quite a businessman now, he's probably changed."

Mom was about to make some witty retort back to her sister, when I perked up.

"Mom, who's Abraham?"

Before Mom could respond, Casey plowed on. "He's an old childhood friend of ours when we were kids; he moved to Talveila years back and apparently now owns some high-class restaurant."

Mom couldn't help but smile at my lack of enthusiasm. "He's just a guy," mom reassured me, then added, "I don't think Mr. Collen, owner of such a huge estate, would take the time to rekindle old friendships."

"Maybe," Austin said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "But an old relationship..."

Mom frowned, somewhat painfully.

"We should visit Mom and Dad while we're there."

James looked eagerly from one individual to the other. "We're going tho Tawveiwa? And we're going to see grandma and grandpa? YAYY!"

Before anyone could stop him, James had jumped down from Casey's lap over to Phil and was off and running down the hall, whooping, "We're going to Tawveiwa! We're going to Tawveiwa!" the whole way.

"I guess we have to go to Talveila now," Mom said. She did her best to look and sound annoyed as she said that, but I could tell that she was really looking forward to seeing grandma and grandpa again, I was too. Though the thought of potentially meeting one of mom's old guy-friends just didn't sit right with me.

However, I smiled. This summer vacation was going to be perfect.

"Wowww."

Ever since we had gotten on the train, my face had been glued to the window. I marvelled at how fast the train was going. In fact, I never rode on one before until now.

"Sweetie," Mom said, "come away from that window. At the speed we're going, you'll get dizzy if you stare out of it for too long."

I sat back from the window, my short hair slightly dull in the artificial lighting of the train car. "It was getting boring anyway. Nothing but trees to look at."

My family and I were on the Talveila railway, it took a circular path, passing through the city itself. The station there is where we would get off, and also where we would board to begin our trip home.

Aunt Casey was holding James, who, until now, had been sleeping soundly. His brown eyes were wide and bright as he was taking in his new surroundings. But now, after three hours of nothing but grassland to look at, James was getting restless.

"Daddy? Are we there yet?"

Phil patted his son's head. "No, not yet."

There was a pause, in which James hopped up onto the seat beside his dad.

"How about now?"

"No, James."

Another pause.

"What about-"

Casey, who had been sitting patiently this whole time, asked, "Soph, why don't you take James to go see if the dining car is ready for lunch yet?"

"Okay," I nodded while James bounced out the open door ahead of me as we headed in the direction of the dining car.

A moment later, James came bounding back with me trailing behind.

"Daddy! Daddy! Guess! Guess what!"

Phil stretched his arms behind his head. "Time for lunch?"

"No, but the-"

"Did you even go to the dining car?" Phil interrupted.

"We were on our way, but then-" I tried to explain before James cut me off.

"I saw the conductor! He'sh reawwy tall, and he wears a bwue hat and he hash a mustache like your friend Mr. Wallace and-"

"James," Phil called as he got sidetracked.

"-and he said" This time he was cut off by a sharp, loud whistle. "We're here! Yay!"

James and I both went running to the window.

Outside, I could see tall, leafy plants that shot up out of the ground, and deep green bushes that were spotted with colour from the exotic flowers.

"I can see why Mom and Dad love it here so much," Mom whispered. She was staring out the window too. Her crystal eyes started to blaze with excitement at the prospect of seeing her parents again, after four long years of being separated from them.

Arriving at my grandparents', grandpa answered the door.

"Girls! You could at least call when you're going to be early!"

"Sorry Dad, but the train was much faster than we were expecting," Mom replied as she gave him a hug, then stepped over the threshold. "Hey, Mom," she said to the older woman in the kitchen.

Mom replied by walking over from the stove and pulled her daughters in closer. "It's so good to see you girls! Did Austin come with you?"

Before Casey could respond, Austin came through the door. "Of course I came with them!"

"We didn't think it was safe to let him travel on his own."

"Casey!"

Suddenly, my grandparents' attention was now on me and the little boy who came charging through the door. He dodged grandpa's arms, but grandpa stuck out his hand and caught him, swinging him up high. James squealed with delight.

Grandma held me tightly in her arms as she held my chin up to get a better look at me. "Look how our little ones have grown," she awed, shaking her head.

"You know you can almost pass as ten," grandpa told me.

"But I'm 14?!" I exclaimed, staring wide-eyed at him, who was smiling back at me as everyone laughed.

Grandpa, still holding James, moved over to stand by Phil. Immediately, he slapped him on the shoulder. "So you finally brought the family down to see us."

Phil smiled sheepishly. "Sorry Pops, but everything's been so busy back home that we just haven't had the time."

Whatever was on the stove started to boil. Grandma set me free, then went to check on her pot.

She came back over to us. "Who wants their first taste of my pepper and chicken panini?"

"Me! Me! I do, I do, I do!" James tried to squirm out of the clutches of our grandpa, but grandpa wasn't letting go that easily.

"Come on, little buddy," he said, swinging James up again to rest on his shoulders, then leading the way into the dining room. Mom and me, along with the others, followed behind.

An hour and a half later, we were sitting on sofas and armchairs, full of grandma's delicious cooking. James had been put to bed not long after supper. With him sleeping soundly upstairs, I was bundled up next to Mom downstairs as the adults discussed the activities for the next two days.

"What are you all planning to do tomorrow?" grandpa asked.

Austin stretched his arms behind his head. "Well, the girls want to go shopping at some point..."

"Oh, fine, I'll take you tomorrow morning," grandma spoke from her spot on the couch. "I know where you can get all the best bargains!"

Mom smiled at her. "Thanks, that sounds wonderful."

"And while the ladies do that," grandpa said to my uncles, "you two and I can take the little guy over to the park next door."

Phil laughed. "James spotted that on the way here. It was all we could do to keep him away from it."

Grandpa smiled. "What about the afternoon? You ladies won't be shopping all day, will you?" The last question was directed toward the women.

"Of course not," Casey said. "We wouldn't want to keep Abraham waiting, now, would we?"

"I still can't believe you managed to get a seat at the Golden Bistro," grandpa said with admiration. "How did you ever do it?"

Austin scratched his head. "Not easily. It took several phone calls with the manager before we got our actual booking with Abraham himself."

The clock on the wall chimed eleven. "We should all go to bed, if we want to get a fresh start tomorrow" grandma said.

Everyone went upstairs; grandpa and grandma into their room as we split up into one of the guest rooms. There was only three, so both Mom and I had to share. A few minutes later, all the lights went out and the house was asleep.

The restaurant was pretty big. It was built out of gray stone, and it was two stories high and one city block long. Leading up to the main entrance doors was a cobblestone path lined with trees, bushes, and flowers. The path was lined with people awaiting to be seated and others who just wanted to admire the flowers. But luckily we didn't have to wait in line, we were escorted through the gardens to a secluded area away from their present customers, on our way to a private dinner with Mr. Collen.

Austin was dressed only slightly more formally than usual. Though he was still wearing a burgundy t-shirt, he had on a clean pair of black pants and polished shoes, whereas Phil had on a grey fitted shirt and dress pants.

Aunt Casey wore her hair long, and was dressed in a flowy white, off the shoulder mini dress with a brown stylish hat and high-heels.

Mom, on the other hand, had on a gorgeous blue dress that came down to mid-calf. Around her neck was a Sapphire blue rose necklace with a gold stem that she had purchased at the mall that morning. Her hair was tied back into a low bun.

James was dressed up cutely. He had on a white, button-down shirt with a black bow-tie, and black-and-white plaid suspender pants. Aunt Casey had even worked through his hair with a wet comb in an attempt to tame it.

I had on a red tunic dress with mesh layered sleeves that Mom had bought me, paired with my red cross-strapped sandals.

In short, my family and I had gone all-out to prepare ourselves for the afternoon.

When we arrived at the large, ornate wooden doors that were the main entrance to the courtyard. We advanced outside, our eyes adjusting to the flickering light shed by the lanterns hanging around the area. Mr. Collen chose this moment to arrive.

He smiled, throwing his arms gleefully into the air. "You finally made it!"

The man's eyes landed on my mother's as he pulled her in for a hug. Mom peered over his shoulder and made a face, causing us who saw to laugh.

She then pulled away from the guy. "Abraham."

Still smiling, he said, "Please, come. I had my finest chef prepare a special feast for us all!" He started to lead the way, when he noticed me, holding onto James' small hand.

"Oh, hello!" he said, crouching down. "What are your names?"

"I'm Sophie," I said, "and this is James."

Mr. Collen turned to him. "How old are you, James?"

"Four!" he cried, holding up four of his fingers.

This made the man smile, then turned back to me. "And how old are you, Sophie?"

"Fourteen."

"Fourteen," he repeated. "Tell me Sophie, do you like cupcakes?"

I nodded delightedly.

"Well, that's wonderful," Mr. Collen exclaimed, "because I told the chef to whip up a special one just for you."Taking me and James by the hand, he led us to our table as the others followed closely behind.

Stretching across the center of the yard was a large oak table surrounded by chairs. Mr. Collen sat at the head of the table. Mom and I sat on either side of him, Austin sat beside Mom and James beside me; further down, Phil sat beside Austin and Aunt Casey was seated next to James.

After three delicious courses, it was finally time for dessert. Where pots and serving plates once sat, there were now myriad cakes, cupcake and dessert tiers, and dishes of sliced fruit. It was impressive.

Both mom and aunt Casey were enjoying the sweet, exotic fruit; Austin was eating whatever he could get his hands on, and Phil ate whatever he could snatch before Austin got it. James was enjoying a small slice of flapper pie with strawberries on top, and I was in awe of my special cupcake.

The chef had prepared a unique golden vanilla cupcake, with red strawberry icing and a black cherry in the middle just for me, and I couldn't have been happier. It was almost too pretty to eat, but I picked up the cupcake anyway and took a big bite. It was delicious.

As the sun set on the courtyard, we waved goodbye and thanked Mr. Collen for a wonderful evening.

"Thank you for having us, Abraham," Casey said.

"Yeah, thanks," Mom continued. "It was pretty nice."

"Thank you for the special cupcake," I tweeted up at him.

"You guys are all welcome," Mr. Collen said, "and make sure you all come visit me again when you come back to Talveila!"

James waved. "Bye-bye, Mr. Collen!"

"Aww, bye-bye James!" he waved back.

"See you, Collen!" Austin waved and called over his shoulder as we got farther down the path.

The next day, mom woke up to four faces staring back at her. Standing at the foot of her bed was me, aunt Casey, James, and uncle Austin. Although the fact that we had been patiently watching her sleep was probably creepy, our intentions were in the right place. Each one of us was dressed in swimsuits.

"Er..." Mom began. "Does somebody want to catch me up?"

James, who was in blue and white striped swim shorts and a nose white with sunscreen, took her up on the offer. "We're going to the beach!" he shrieked delightedly.

A half an hour later with grandpa driving, we arrived at the beach. I was the first one out of the van. Rushing down the sand, I splashed into the water and immediately started to swim around.

Mom, who was in a black one-piece, brought out her towel, spread it out in the shade of a tree, and then lay down on it as Casey then joined her, wearing a green tankini. Austin ran out to join me in the water, his orange swim shorts turning a dark auburn colour when soaked.

James and uncle Phil sat together in the sand, wearing matching swim trunks. In front of them were some of the buckets aunt Casey had brought along, and together they began to build a sand castle.

Grandma had on a royal blue tank with shorts, and grandpa was wearing red swim shorts. Together they spread out a huge beach towel.

An hour after we had arrived, grandpa went to the van and pulled out a large cooler, which he plunked down in the shade beside grandma.

"Lunch, everyone!" he called.

Inside the cooler was a variety of sandwiches, as well as apples, bananas, and several water bottles. As soon as everyone was finished, Austin packed up the cooler and took it to the van, then returned with another surprise: a giant, neon-yellow beach ball. "Anybody wanna play?"

The rules were simple: keep the ball in the air. If it touched the sand or the water, whoever had last touched it got a full bucket of water dumped on them by Austin. In the event that it was Austin who had last touched the ball before it fell, Phil took the responsibility of being the "soaker."

After forty minutes, the only one still dry was Mom, and Austin was the most soaked. Grandma insisted that we take a break for a drink of water, so everyone gathered and sat in a circle under the tree.

James and I came up to the circle. "Mommy, Auntie Morgan, come see!" James begged. "Come see the castle!"

Mom and aunt Casey stood up and went over to where we had been sitting. The castle was made up of one big pile of sand, surrounded by four smaller towers, built using the buckets. There was a makeshift moat half-filled with lake water, and right in the middle of the whole thing was the silver seashell I had found earlier in place of a flag.

"It's beautiful, you two," Casey told us.

"Phil! Austin! Come over here and see what our children built!"

The men came over. Austin applauded James and I; Phil was too pleased to react.

Austin later went back to the tree and retrieved the beach ball; the game was back on!

As the sun reached the top of the hills, we packed ourselves into the van to head home. Aunt Casey and uncle Phil sat in the very back with James, who was fast asleep in his car seat. Uncle Austin, Mom, and I sat in the next row up, with me in the middle. My blue eyes drooped as I lay drowsily against Mom's left arm. Grandma was in the front passenger seat, and grandpa was once again driving.

The half-hour car ride back home was quiet, which wasn't much of a problem because everyone was too exhausted for conversation. When we pulled up outside the house, Phil carried a sleeping James and followed behind me and the women, while uncle Austin and grandpa emptied the car.

Upstairs, I laid rested underneath the warmth of the covers until the room door opened. Then, I felt the bed sink down as Mom crawled into bed beside me, pressing her head on the back of mine. I smiled and within minutes was asleep on my last night in Talveila.

The rumbling of the train along the tracks was soothing. The warm, afternoon sunshine lit up the train car and made us warm and comfortable. It was even enough to lull uncle Austin and Phil to sleep. I was curled up on one half of the bench, my blonde hair falling loosely over my eyes. Mom was sitting beside me, her head across from the window so that she could look out of it. Casey was still awake, leaning her head against the window as James sat contentedly in her lap, sucking on a lollipop the kind conductor had given him when we had climbed aboard.

This time, the train ride would be an extra two hours because the tracks had to swoop in the opposite direction from when we arrived, making the return trip longer than the first one.

As the sun got lower, the lighting in the train car changed from a bright yellow to an orange glow. I looked over at my family. The boys were now snoring gently, and Casey's eyes were closed. James, having finished off his lollipop, was curled up in her arms, fast asleep. Then I looked up, in my mother's arms, to briefly stare at her as she rested. They looked so peaceful.

The sun sank a little lower in the sky. It's warmth was like a hug to me, soothing me, then began to make me drowsy. I leaned back on mom's chest and closed my eyes.

As the train rumbled across the border and neared the station, I sat up suddenly. The first thing I noticed was that it was darker than before I fell asleep, and the sun was just on the edge of the horizon. Phil, Casey, and James were sitting wide awake on the bench across from us. Mom and Austin were up as well as she then looked down at me with a sweet smile. I yawned softly and straightened myself in her arms.

Another whistle sounded, and the train screeched to a stop at the train station. The bright stars on a moonless night gave off just enough light to illuminate the journey home.