Williamsburg had observed visitors from around America with different personalities, stories, and lifestyles. To her, the large, homeschooled family was simply another group of eager sightseers. To my family and me, though, Williamsburg was new territory with a plethora of early American history. The town, built to resemble colonial Williamsburg, fascinated and excited my family. Little did we know how temperamental the East Coast weather was—and how swiftly it could reverse.

Forest Song
Flowers down the mountainside,
Fire on the horizon.
Lupines thick as a waterfall,
Clouds as hued as heaven.

Purple clouds of majesty,
Yellow laughing levity,
Orange streaks of bubbling exuberance,
Pink puffs of winsome effulgence,
And a deep blue sky reaching overhead,
Softly putting the sun to bed.

Lupines in the moonlight,
Pale as snow.
On a new moon night,
The stars are aglow
In clusters made of a million gems
That wink at the rising of the sun again.

This is an account of the vacation that my family took in September of 2004. This is all true.
"Characters"
Mom
Dad
Ray: age 18, my oldest brother
Eric: Age 15, the middle child.
Me, whose real name is never spoken: age 10

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