[Autobiographical incident, written 10/12/04, school period ½]
I was lying on a cot full of fuzzy comfortable blankets, I was so warm and tired so I didn’t want to get up. I couldn’t ignore that annoying hand that kept coming back and poking and shaking me, nor those strange high pitch noises that the intruder decided to make. I guess it was their way to be sure I couldn’t ignore them or go back to sleep. It was 2:00 AM when I toppled over to the heater still in my sleeping bag. I was relieved that I had gotten rid of the hand and so was my Grandpa when he completed his mission of waking me up. I leaned against the wall by the warmth. I sat there for about five minutes then slowly got up to get dressed. I went into the kitchen and my Grandma handed me a small cup of coffee that consisted mostly of milk and sugar. Soon we all loaded into the old white Dodge pickup truck. It had a big motor, so it vibrated when it ran.
We drove up the big dark mountain to the top of Fremont Peak. Tonight was the big media shower. When we arrived we cozily settled into the back of the pickup full of blankets, pillows, drinks and snacks. We didn’t wait long till we started noticing the shooting stars. Although they were exciting to look at there weren’t any of unusual size at first. Then we saw an amazing one. It was blue then purple, red, yellow, orange, all the colors swirled, mixed and changing. It looked as if it was going to fall on us at first. It got bigger as it fell but then grew smaller as it burned out. It seemed like a large a mount of time to us for a shooting star although it must have been shorter then it seemed. We talked about it some as we snaked on crackers, fruit and coffee.
Around 4:00 we decided to leave. When we got in the truck we discovered that it was low on oil. Luckily we had an extra bottle of it. My grandpa put the oil in and we started down the mountain. Soon he checked the dark dash board with the flash light and there was again almost no oil and the motor was beginning to over heat. It was still dark, and the road was a very narrow winding one. My grandpa quickly pulled over and put in more oil. We were about half way down the mountain when the car was again out of oil, but this time we had no extra. Since it was a very steep hill, my grandpa decided that we didn’t really need the engine, just the brakes, so we turned it off and coasted down the hill. Luckily they only live about six blocks off of the road by the base of the mountain, so we didn’t need the engine much. We started it, accelerated, and turned it off about ten times before finally reaching their home. It was scary but at the same time fun. The shooting stars were quite amazing to look at. Overall it was a pretty fun and exciting adventure.
~ Paris