Road to Paradise
The road to paradise was not easy for
Lucas. It was full of sharp turns and
steep cliffs causing Lucas to feel carsick.
His excitement for camping was quickly
fading as he watched the world around him turn, just like his stomach.
His parents Talitha and John Henry Fern
suggested he watch the road to feel a
little better.
So far it wasn’t working.
Lucy, his much taller twin sister was
sound asleep under her favorite blanket next to Lucas.
It was not long before Lucas was so sick
he closed his eyes and covered his mouth as his tummy began to give.
“Buuurrrp!” Lucas burped making a sound
that was like hurling.
Lucy instantly flew across her seat as
fast as she could, moving as far away from Lucas as she could.
“Holy cow, Mom! Lucas is getting get
sick back here!” she squealed.
Lucas covered his mouth mumbling.
“I am not feeling very good!”
John quickly turned to hand him a small
paper bag.
“We are almost there,” John explained.
Lucy opened her eyes as wide as she could.
“That paper bag can’t help!” she
declared.
Lucas looked curiously at the bag before
opening it up to look inside.
“Here he goes!” Lucy announced thinking
Lucas was going to fill it up.
“What’s it for?” he asked, looking over
at Lucy.
Lucy tried moving closer to the door but
she had nowhere else to go. If she
pushed any harder, she would hurt her arm.
“It’s for lunches,” she claimed.
John turned to hear Lucy’s explanation.
“What lunch?” he asked.
“It’s
to put your lunch back in it after you eat it,”
she clarified.
“Now I’m feeling sick,” Tali interrupted, looking at Lucy in the rearview mirror.
“Just roll your window down,” Lucy insisted. “The fresh air will make
you feel better.”
Lucas peeked inside the lunch bag again.
“There’s nothing in my stomach,” he
mumbled.
John looked over at Tali.
“Should we pull over for a few minutes?”
he asked.
“I got this,” she replied, turning on
the GPS to show Lucas how close they were.
“You see!” John declared, “We are only a
few miles away.”
Lucas finally rolled the window down for
some fresh air as he watched out his window for the Ranger Station.
He tried thinking of all the fun places
his parents told him about going during their camping trip in Yosemite.
River rafting, bike riding, the Curry swimming
pool, hiking, Junior Ranger exploring, and more.
After a few minutes, it started working.
The more he used his imagination, the
better his stomach started feeling.
Lucy was still worried about Lucas. She
would not take her eyes off him, thinking he would explode at any moment.
“I see a building!” Lucas declared.
“This is Wawona,” Tali explained.
“That’s a strange name!” Lucy replied.
She saw the large white hotel in the
distance, almost forgetting about Lucas.
“It looks like a beautiful place to stay,”
Lucas added.
“Funny you say that,” replied Tali. “The
Native Americans who first traveled to Yosemite Valley from Fresno named this
place ‘Pallachun’ meaning a good place to stay,” Tali explained.
A few minutes later they finally came
around to the entrance of Yosemite.
“There’s the Ranger station!” John
announced.
“I SEE IT,” Lucas shouted.
The car sickness scare was finally over,
and Lucy was relaxed knowing that this long drive was over.
“Where is the camp?” she asked, looking
out her window looking for a place to park.
“The trees are wonderful!” Lucas
declared.
John turned around in his seat to face
them both.
“We are not at camp just yet! First, we
will spend a couple of hours in the Mariposa grove, then we have another
thirty-minute drive to our camp,” he explained.
Lucas noticed a closed sign on the
Ranger station window.
“Why is it closed?” he asked. “Do we
need to wait?”
“No, we can drive right on through,”
Tali replied.
Lucy rolled down her window, allowing
more of the cool morning breeze to fill the truck. Yosemite’s heavenly scent was
wonderful.
“I can almost taste pure oxygen,” she
said, closing her eyes to breathe it in.
Lucas immediately took a deep breath trying
to taste it too.
“I can’t taste it but I can feel it,” he
explained.
Lucy saw Lucas make a weird face.
“Just stay on your side of the truck for
me, please,” she insisted.
John turned to notice the change in
Lucas’s face also. He knew that Lucas and Lucy were both gifted, but he had
never thought his face would fill with light.
“What are you feeling?” John asked.
“You are lighting up like a light bulb,”
Lucy teased.
“I’m what?” asked Lucas, trying to look
in the mirror.
Talitha was aware of the reaction Lucas
was having. It was just how his body communicated with the trees.
“You’re just fine!” Tali insisted. “Just
stay in your seat.”
Lucas closed his eyes and took a few
deep breaths, and it was obvious that he was feeling something special.
“I just can’t describe it,” Lucas muttered.
Lucy looked at Lucas, puzzled.
“What does it feel like?” she asked.
Lucas tried harder to focus on what he
was feeling.
“I don’t feel sick anymore and I can
feel that the trees are aware that we are here,” he explained.
“Are you sure?” Lucy asked.
Tali looked back at Lucas in the mirror
again.
“This connection is called ESP, and the
feelings are only going to get stronger the older
you get,” she explained. “It’s a good thing?” Lucas asked.
“You bring them hope and they are just
letting you know that,” Tali replied.
Lucas just closed his eyes wondering
what kind of hope he could bring to a grove of trees.