
One Friday evening my father walked in with an
enormous smile on his face. It was about 6:00 and
I didn't bother asking him why he was so happy. I
just figured he had a good day at work. My family
and I sat down, including my mother Amber, father
John, brother Matthew and sister Samantha. We
were sitting down to a nice meal of spaghetti. I
sniffed the air. "Mmmm....garlic."

"Oh perfect," said my
father, "a perfect meal for a perfect day."
I was so interested in eating my delicious meal
that I wasn't really listening to what my parents
were talking about. "Well, you seem extra
excited today?"my mom asked my dad
questioningly.
"Well .... I was going to save this for
later, but this seems like the perfect time,"
said my father proudly. This got me interested.
"Well," my father said, almost shouting.
"I GOT A PROMOTION!" By now, he was
shouting "and that's not the best part .....
the best part is that I got tickets for us all to
go to California!" I was stunned, excited
but stunned. I didn't know what to say. But my
sister sure did. She jumped up from the table,
ran over to him, screamed and flung herself onto
his lap.
"Oh congratulations!" I finally got my
voice back and joined my sister on his lap.
"We are leaving in three weeks,"my
father said.

Three weeks later .... I am
minutes away from the hotel, after flying for
hours, and the anticipation is killing me.
"Okay. We are here kids".
"Yeah," we all chorused.
Two hours later, we just finished unpacking and
we were leaving for Six Flags Amusement Park.
"Six Flags is about three minutes away from
here," announced my father. I can't believe
this is actually happening. We all jumped out and
ran to the ...... line ...... uhhh! I hate lines
and this one was llooonnnggg. But surprisingly,
it went by fast and we were through in a matter
of minutes.

"What ride should we go on
first?" asked Matthew. I was standing there,
just taking it all in, when I saw this huge
roller coaster. It was called Mount Everest.
"Ohh my gosh, we have to go on that one!"
I blurted out.
"Sounds great to me," agreed Samantha.
"Wow that was scary!" exclaimed my mom,
when we got off the ride.
With all this fun and excitement, I noticed that
I was really thirsty. "Um ... I'm going to
get a drink at the fountain, Okay, mom?"
"Sure honey," said my mom.
I was running to the fountain and I faintly heard
my brother yell something but I didn't quite hear
so I decided I would ask later. Wow, that water
was good! Usually it is pretty bad. I turned back
to yell to my parents but I didn't see them. Oh,
I said to myself, they must just be sitting on a
bench around the corner. But, when I went back to
where they were supposed to be and looked around
the corner, they weren't there. "Mom, dad,"
I screamed. "Where are you? Matthew?
Samantha?"
Okay, I said to myself, don't panic. I'll just
look around for them. After walking around for
about thirty minutes, I let myself panic. Okay,
think, think. I was looking around and, all of
the sudden, "Ouch!" "Oops, I am so
sorry!" said an unfamiliar voice.

"Oh, it's Okay," I
said, looking into two faces that looked like
identical twins.
"Hi" said both girls.
"Oh, hi. Are you guys twins?" I asked.
"Yeah, we are," said one girl glumly.
"Why are you guys so sad?"
"Well, we are lost," said one girl
almost crying.
"Oh my gosh! I am too. So what are your
guys' names?" I asked.
"I am Karly and, as you know, this is my
twin sister, Kaleigh."
"Do you guys want to help each other find
our families?" I suggested.
"Okay!" said the two girls excitedly.
"Lets get started."
While Karly and Kaleigh and I were walking, I
noticed this weird old man following us. "Wait,"
I said in a whisper.
"What?" Kaleigh asked.
"I think that old man is following us,"
I said, trying to keep the fear from seeping out.
"Well, let's run and hide behind those
bushes. On three, Okay?"
"What?" Kaleigh asked. "I wasn't
really listening!"
"One, two, three, run!" Karly shouted.
"Bushes" I shouted over my shoulder to
Kaliegh. Karly and I were fast runners and
Kaleigh wasn't so fast, so we were way ahead.

"Jump!" I yelled. Karly
and I flung ourselves into the bushes. I looked
back to see where Kaleigh was but I couldn't see
her, but I did see the creepy old man again!
"Oh my gosh!" I whispered to Karly.
"I can't see Kaleigh and that old man is
still following us!"
"Well," said Karly quickly, "she
will have to catch up because we have to run or I
don't know what will happen to us."
"Okay, if you say so," I agreed. Karly
and I bolted out of the bushes and ran as fast as
we could, not knowing where we were going. We
stopped and looked behind us and had a moment of
relief when we noticed that the old man wasn't
following us anymore. The moment was ruined when
we noticed that Kaleigh wasn't behind us either.
"This is trouble," I said, "Kaleigh
isn't behind us."
"We could go back where we started running
but we would have to be really careful for that
weird old man following us," Karly suggested.
"Okay," I said. "I hope it works."
Karly and I ran to the bushes and, when we didn't
see the old man anywhere, we went to where we
first started.
"Kaleigh!" we both shouted.
"I can't believe this is happening,"
Karly said. "First, I get separated from my
parents and now from my sister! Pinch me. I think
I'm having a nightmare."
Meanwhile
..
Kaleigh was sitting on a bench, sobbing. "Karly,
Karly, where are you?" she yelled, while
still crying. How is there a way that I can see
the whole park, wondered Kaleigh.
Just then, a family came screaming overhead
attached to a bungee cord. Hey, would I be able
to see the whole park from that ride, Kaleigh
thought. She looked at her park bracelet on her
wrist. "I could go on that ride!"
exclaimed Kaleigh. "And I am sure that I
could see the whole park!"
She ran up to the ride and was surprised to see
that the line wasn't long at all. This looks
scary, Kaleigh thought, as she was getting on the
ride with another family of four.
"Okay," the instructor said. "Go!"
"Ahhh!" Kaleigh screamed. When she was
up in the air, she noticed that the family of
four was looking for someone too.
"Were you looking for someone?" she
asked, after the ride.
"Yes. I lost my child and I was looking for
her," said the mother, crying.
"My sister and I were lost too and we bumped
into a girl that said she was lost."
"Ohhh!" said the father. "I wonder
if that's her."

"Well," Kaleigh said,
"does she have brown shoulder length hair,
blue eyes and a brown and blue outfit on?"
"Oh yes, yes, that must be her," said
the mother, smiling.
"You don't have to worry abut your daughter.
She's with my sister and she has a park map,"
Kaleigh explained.
All of a sudden, a loud booming voice came over
the loud speaker. "Attention please. We will
be closing the park in a few minutes."
Meanwhile
"Ahhh, no!" cried Karly.
"Let's go to the exit and see if we can see
them come through," I suggested.
"Okay, but I have to go to the washroom,"
said Karly.
"Okay. I'm ready. Let's go," Karly
said, when she came out. "Ooof! Sorry,"
she said, as she banged into a tall man.
"Oh my gosh! Is that you, Karly?" said
the man.
"Ohhh, Dad!" Karly said. "I
thought I would never find you."
"Wait," I said "we're not lost
anymore?"
"Yeah!" screamed Karly.
"Wooo!" I shouted. "But," I
started, "I still can't find my parents."
"Well, I'm sure we will find them,"
said Karly's mom.
We started walking and I turned around and saw
the old man again, following us. "Karly,"
I whispered. "The old man is following us
again."
I was just about to tell Karly's dad when, all of
a sudden, I heard a huffed voice yelling from
behind. "No. Wait! Stop!" I looked
around to see the old man huffing and puffing
behind.
"Young lady," sputtered the man. "Your
parents are looking for you. I am an undercover
security guard and your parents told me they lost
a child that looks just like you."
"Ohhh, mom!" I screamed. "Did my
parents tell you to meet them somewhere when you
found me?"
"They said by the huge roller coaster
called Mount Everest', but I forget where that
is," said the old man.
"Ohhh, I know," I blurted out. "I
saw that. It's right at the entrance."
"I have a map," said Karly.
"Okay, so let's head to the entrance,"
said the undercover security guard.

"Ohhh my gosh! Mom, is that
you?" I said, with tears trickling down my
face, as I saw my whole family coming toward me.
Kaleigh was with them too!
"You're safe!" exclaimed my father.
"Thank you for finding her," my mom
said to the security guard.
"And thank you for looking after Kaleigh," said her parents to mine, as they hugged both of
their daughters.
"We're just glad you're all safe," said
my parents.
"How about we all go out for a nice big
supper to celebrate finding our daughters?" suggested my mom.
"Sure!" we all agreed.
"What about spaghetti?" I asked.
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