Post by mesquite75 on Dec 31, 2009 13:53:13 GMT -5
Ryan:
All my hard planning had finally come to this. With my back against the cold stone wall, I could feel the vibration of every gunshot. I reached my hand across my torso and very carefully pulled my gun from its holster. I had them right where I wanted them. I could hear the sound of their boots scraping the pavement as they ran. Sweat was starting to trickle down my face, and I was sure my heart would give away my position. My hands became clammy as they came closer and closer to my location. Finally, it was time!
I threw my gun out, and just as I was about to nab them before they rounded my corner, I plummeted down to the pavement. My arms still grasping for the criminals, all I could feel was hard, rough concrete. The criminals were rounding on me now. They had me surrounded! I screamed long and hard as they picked me up, and threw me back down to the earth.
“SHUT UP, RYAN!!!!!! SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!”
I awoke to find myself on the floor, tangled in a mass of covers.
“Like any of us will be able to sleep after a shout like that, Paul!” a voice yelled.
“Hey, Ryan already did a good enough job waking us up!”
“BOTH of you shut up!” someone bellowed. “I was having a nice dream about surfing a ginormous wave before you lads made me wipe-out!”
“Well, I never even WENT to sleep. I kept tossing and turning!” the second voice replied.
My ears! Why are they having a shouting contest? I opened my eyes.
“Okay! Sorry to wake everybody up, I had a nightmare.”
“And ended up on the floor, I see,” Paul observed from his bunk.
A snore indicated George’s presence.
“Wow, George could probably sleep through a hailstorm,” Damian observed.
No sooner were these words out of his mouth then George stirred at the sound of his name.
“Sorry,” Damian squeaked apologetically.
“That’s okay, Damy-boy,” George said rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Was somebody shouting? I dreamed I was at a football game with the announcers screaming in my ear.”
“Ryan did it!” Paul exclaimed.
“Hey!”
Uncalled for!!!
George:
“What time is it?” I asked.
“Three fifty,” Damian immediately replied.
I felt like I was made of lead. After re-positioning myself on the bunk , I again closed my eyes. I was bone-tired, but my mind was reeling. I wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep after this. The other lads (namely, Ryan and Paul) were still arguing.
“Okay enough! Who wants to play the game Sarah gave me as a present before I left?”
“What is it?” a yawning Keith asked.
“It’s called Travel Bingo—the Ultimate Travel Game Experience.”
"Catchy title," Paul said.
"So who wants to play?"
"Why not?"
"Sure."
"I will."
"Not me, thanks. Not when there's sleep to be got."
"Aww come on, Keith!" Ryan said.
He lay back down and buried his head under the covers.
"Suit yourself then."
"So George, how exactly do you play this game of yours?" Paul asked.
I had not the slightest idea. To be honest, I hadn't looked at it since Sarah gave it to me. I dug into my duffel bag and pulled it out. It was still nicely wrapped in plastic. I guess you have to start somewhere.
"Does anyone have a pocketknife?" I asked.
"Not in my pajamas, sorry," Ryan said.
"I have one in my blue jeans," Damian said. "Hang in there a minute."
He climbed down from his bunk and made his way to a huge pile of dirty laundry just outside the bathroom door. After digging through the material mountain, he found his desired pair of blue jeans, delved into the pockets, and triumphantly lifted his pocketknife for everyone to see.
"Here you go, George."
Not expecting him to throw it at me, my hands automatically flew up to cover my face, and in the process, I must have accidentally caught the knife. Once I realized this, I unfolded it, slit the plastic, and pulled out the instructions:
TRAVEL BINGO: THE ULTIMATE TRAVEL GAME EXPERIENCE
Are you ready to turn your boring road trip into an exciting journey? You've come to the right place!
First distribute to each player one of our unique Travel cards to begin your adventure. On each card, you will notice such words as "cow," "stop sign," "cell phone tower," etc. Once players find these items, they cover them with our handy Travel stickers! As in BINGO, when a player gets five down, across, or diagonal, he wins! The four corners is also acceptable. The middle space is given as free. Also, once a player has found one of these items, only he can use it. Get ready to have the Ultimate Travel Game Experience!
By this time, all the lads had taken a card from the stack and were busy looking at them. I picked one up and started scanning it myself. Most of these could be found pretty easily (overpass, fields, you know, things like that), but there were just enough strange ones to keep you playing for a while. For instance, some of them just depended on where you lived: a pelican, a mountain, a tractor. But then, there were others.
"A car with eight or more bumper stickers? What the heck?" Paul exclaimed.
"Are we seriously going to find an Alaska license plate way out here in, in, wherever we are?" Damian asked skeptically.
"Louisiana," Ryan provided.
"Thank you! Lousiana."
"I'll treat you to an ice cream cone if ya do." I promised Damian.
"You're on!"
Keith:
I buried myself under the covers and closed my eyes to block out the light. Why do they have to be so loud? All I want to do is sleep! There was relative silence when George read the instructions, and I found myself being lulled to sleep by the quiet monotony of his voice.
"A car with eight or more bumper stickers? What the heck?"
I just felt like groaning and shoving a pillow down Paul's throat. They kept TALKING! Do they not realize that some sane person is trying to sleep in the middle of the night? I mean, how ridiculous could THAT be!?!?!
I rolled over and tried my best to block out their noise. It didn't work.
"I'll treat you to an ice cream cone if ya do."
"You're on!"
I give up.
"I want an ice cream cone," I moaned in a raspy voice (eyes still shut).
"Hey there, Sleeping Beauty! Do you want me to sing to ya?" Paul offered.
I ignored him.
"How about this, Keith. Whoever wins gets an ice cream cone. Will you join us now?" George asked.
"Yeah. Pass me a card, will ya?"
I blindly held my hand out until I felt someone put a card in it.
"Thanks," I mumbled.
I decided to open my eyes. Light flooded in, and I immediately closed them again. Ignoring the guys' snickers, I rubbed my eyes and said, "Can someone give me a quick run-down on the instrucions?"
Damian:
By this time, we had all carved out our own spot in front of a window. Each of us had an "I will conquer you!" look on his face. We were all desperate for a free ice cream apparently. Now, just between you and me, I only had three more to go before that ice cream was mine, and believe me, I was looking hard. Still looking for any trace of anything I could cover with those handy Travel sticker thingamabobbers, I stared out the window. A light flashed in the distance.
"Oh! A cell phone tower!" I exclaimed.
"Where?" Keith asked.
He scrambled over to my window and peered outside, with his boxer shorts waving and his breath fogging up the window.
"Right there, see!"
I pointed so as to show exactly where "right there" is.
"That's not a cell phone tower!"
"It so is! Are you BLIND!?!"
Ryan came over and joined the conversation.
"A blinking light does not distinguish it as a cell phone tower."
"I'm still counting it."
And I did. That ice cream will be mine!
Paul:
One more to go, and I had several options; but they were all the strange ones. I either had to find a tow truck, a sunflower (which I can't even SEE because it's so dark out there!), an oil rig, or a cow. I was leaning heavily towards the cow, but I still kept my eyes open for a tow truck too. I searched every field for some trace of a cow. Whether it be standing or lying down, I will find it!
"Hey guys look! An Alaska license plate!" Ryan called out.
"No way!" Damian exclaimed.
"It's on that red SUV!"
I went over to see all this excitement.
"Whoa, that's unreal," I commented.
"I always wanted to go to Alaska," George said a little dreamily.
"You'll have to ask Sharon to put it on the next tour," Damian said very matter-of-factly.
"Are you kidding me? No way am I going to Alaska in my kilt!" I said.
Are these people crazy?
"Yeeeoow! Bingo!" Keith yelled.
"Whaaat?" Damian said.
"That cow over there was my last one."
"You were supposed to be sleeping!" Ryan exclaimed.
Dang right! He stole my cow!
"Read 'em and weep," he said showing us his card. "Now who's payin' for me ice cream?"
THE END
All my hard planning had finally come to this. With my back against the cold stone wall, I could feel the vibration of every gunshot. I reached my hand across my torso and very carefully pulled my gun from its holster. I had them right where I wanted them. I could hear the sound of their boots scraping the pavement as they ran. Sweat was starting to trickle down my face, and I was sure my heart would give away my position. My hands became clammy as they came closer and closer to my location. Finally, it was time!
I threw my gun out, and just as I was about to nab them before they rounded my corner, I plummeted down to the pavement. My arms still grasping for the criminals, all I could feel was hard, rough concrete. The criminals were rounding on me now. They had me surrounded! I screamed long and hard as they picked me up, and threw me back down to the earth.
“SHUT UP, RYAN!!!!!! SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!”
I awoke to find myself on the floor, tangled in a mass of covers.
“Like any of us will be able to sleep after a shout like that, Paul!” a voice yelled.
“Hey, Ryan already did a good enough job waking us up!”
“BOTH of you shut up!” someone bellowed. “I was having a nice dream about surfing a ginormous wave before you lads made me wipe-out!”
“Well, I never even WENT to sleep. I kept tossing and turning!” the second voice replied.
My ears! Why are they having a shouting contest? I opened my eyes.
“Okay! Sorry to wake everybody up, I had a nightmare.”
“And ended up on the floor, I see,” Paul observed from his bunk.
A snore indicated George’s presence.
“Wow, George could probably sleep through a hailstorm,” Damian observed.
No sooner were these words out of his mouth then George stirred at the sound of his name.
“Sorry,” Damian squeaked apologetically.
“That’s okay, Damy-boy,” George said rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Was somebody shouting? I dreamed I was at a football game with the announcers screaming in my ear.”
“Ryan did it!” Paul exclaimed.
“Hey!”
Uncalled for!!!
George:
“What time is it?” I asked.
“Three fifty,” Damian immediately replied.
I felt like I was made of lead. After re-positioning myself on the bunk , I again closed my eyes. I was bone-tired, but my mind was reeling. I wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep after this. The other lads (namely, Ryan and Paul) were still arguing.
“Okay enough! Who wants to play the game Sarah gave me as a present before I left?”
“What is it?” a yawning Keith asked.
“It’s called Travel Bingo—the Ultimate Travel Game Experience.”
"Catchy title," Paul said.
"So who wants to play?"
"Why not?"
"Sure."
"I will."
"Not me, thanks. Not when there's sleep to be got."
"Aww come on, Keith!" Ryan said.
He lay back down and buried his head under the covers.
"Suit yourself then."
"So George, how exactly do you play this game of yours?" Paul asked.
I had not the slightest idea. To be honest, I hadn't looked at it since Sarah gave it to me. I dug into my duffel bag and pulled it out. It was still nicely wrapped in plastic. I guess you have to start somewhere.
"Does anyone have a pocketknife?" I asked.
"Not in my pajamas, sorry," Ryan said.
"I have one in my blue jeans," Damian said. "Hang in there a minute."
He climbed down from his bunk and made his way to a huge pile of dirty laundry just outside the bathroom door. After digging through the material mountain, he found his desired pair of blue jeans, delved into the pockets, and triumphantly lifted his pocketknife for everyone to see.
"Here you go, George."
Not expecting him to throw it at me, my hands automatically flew up to cover my face, and in the process, I must have accidentally caught the knife. Once I realized this, I unfolded it, slit the plastic, and pulled out the instructions:
TRAVEL BINGO: THE ULTIMATE TRAVEL GAME EXPERIENCE
Are you ready to turn your boring road trip into an exciting journey? You've come to the right place!
First distribute to each player one of our unique Travel cards to begin your adventure. On each card, you will notice such words as "cow," "stop sign," "cell phone tower," etc. Once players find these items, they cover them with our handy Travel stickers! As in BINGO, when a player gets five down, across, or diagonal, he wins! The four corners is also acceptable. The middle space is given as free. Also, once a player has found one of these items, only he can use it. Get ready to have the Ultimate Travel Game Experience!
By this time, all the lads had taken a card from the stack and were busy looking at them. I picked one up and started scanning it myself. Most of these could be found pretty easily (overpass, fields, you know, things like that), but there were just enough strange ones to keep you playing for a while. For instance, some of them just depended on where you lived: a pelican, a mountain, a tractor. But then, there were others.
"A car with eight or more bumper stickers? What the heck?" Paul exclaimed.
"Are we seriously going to find an Alaska license plate way out here in, in, wherever we are?" Damian asked skeptically.
"Louisiana," Ryan provided.
"Thank you! Lousiana."
"I'll treat you to an ice cream cone if ya do." I promised Damian.
"You're on!"
Keith:
I buried myself under the covers and closed my eyes to block out the light. Why do they have to be so loud? All I want to do is sleep! There was relative silence when George read the instructions, and I found myself being lulled to sleep by the quiet monotony of his voice.
"A car with eight or more bumper stickers? What the heck?"
I just felt like groaning and shoving a pillow down Paul's throat. They kept TALKING! Do they not realize that some sane person is trying to sleep in the middle of the night? I mean, how ridiculous could THAT be!?!?!
I rolled over and tried my best to block out their noise. It didn't work.
"I'll treat you to an ice cream cone if ya do."
"You're on!"
I give up.
"I want an ice cream cone," I moaned in a raspy voice (eyes still shut).
"Hey there, Sleeping Beauty! Do you want me to sing to ya?" Paul offered.
I ignored him.
"How about this, Keith. Whoever wins gets an ice cream cone. Will you join us now?" George asked.
"Yeah. Pass me a card, will ya?"
I blindly held my hand out until I felt someone put a card in it.
"Thanks," I mumbled.
I decided to open my eyes. Light flooded in, and I immediately closed them again. Ignoring the guys' snickers, I rubbed my eyes and said, "Can someone give me a quick run-down on the instrucions?"
Damian:
By this time, we had all carved out our own spot in front of a window. Each of us had an "I will conquer you!" look on his face. We were all desperate for a free ice cream apparently. Now, just between you and me, I only had three more to go before that ice cream was mine, and believe me, I was looking hard. Still looking for any trace of anything I could cover with those handy Travel sticker thingamabobbers, I stared out the window. A light flashed in the distance.
"Oh! A cell phone tower!" I exclaimed.
"Where?" Keith asked.
He scrambled over to my window and peered outside, with his boxer shorts waving and his breath fogging up the window.
"Right there, see!"
I pointed so as to show exactly where "right there" is.
"That's not a cell phone tower!"
"It so is! Are you BLIND!?!"
Ryan came over and joined the conversation.
"A blinking light does not distinguish it as a cell phone tower."
"I'm still counting it."
And I did. That ice cream will be mine!
Paul:
One more to go, and I had several options; but they were all the strange ones. I either had to find a tow truck, a sunflower (which I can't even SEE because it's so dark out there!), an oil rig, or a cow. I was leaning heavily towards the cow, but I still kept my eyes open for a tow truck too. I searched every field for some trace of a cow. Whether it be standing or lying down, I will find it!
"Hey guys look! An Alaska license plate!" Ryan called out.
"No way!" Damian exclaimed.
"It's on that red SUV!"
I went over to see all this excitement.
"Whoa, that's unreal," I commented.
"I always wanted to go to Alaska," George said a little dreamily.
"You'll have to ask Sharon to put it on the next tour," Damian said very matter-of-factly.
"Are you kidding me? No way am I going to Alaska in my kilt!" I said.
Are these people crazy?
"Yeeeoow! Bingo!" Keith yelled.
"Whaaat?" Damian said.
"That cow over there was my last one."
"You were supposed to be sleeping!" Ryan exclaimed.
Dang right! He stole my cow!
"Read 'em and weep," he said showing us his card. "Now who's payin' for me ice cream?"
THE END