1941 - Chapter Two (oops a bit late ’cause I started school)

Mother and Father were ready in what felt like forever! In reality, I realized, after I looked at the old plastic clock on the wall, which Mother and Father were leaving at our old house so we wouldn't have to take care of it at the new house, that it had only been a half an hour. I busied myself with helping Mother and Father move boxes out to the car. We owned a '40 Chevy that my father was pretty proud of. I liked it, too, since Mother and Father sat in the front seat and I got the whole backseat to myself, which was especially nice on a road trip like this one. 

When the trailer and car were both full, Father pulled straps over the boxes in the trailer so they wouldn't come open and we couldn't lose any of our possessions. I would hate to lose my new mint green skirt or one of my blouses! 

All three of us got in the car and began to drive. I pulled a book out of my book bag to read, and I got lost in the world of words. 

I only resurfaced from the world of my book when I felt the car stop. I dogeared the page I was on and looked up. We were parked in a line of cars, and if I opened the car window and stuck my head out, I could see around the cars all the way to the ocean! I loved seeing the ocean. We only ever made the three-hour trip to San Francisco a couple of times a year, to spend a weekend at the beach. 

Eventually, the car made its way ahead and we pulled into a large, spacious room inside a boat that looked even more massive than it had from above the line of cars. We parked the car, trailer included, and we all got out. Mother and Father helped me pull three suitcases from the back of the sedan; it was what we'd need for the next five days at sea. Mother and Father each shut a door of the car, and I looked around the large room. 

"Where are we going?" I asked. 

Mother pointed to a staircase at the end of the large room. "That's where we're going." 

We began walking. "Where is our room?" I asked. 

"I think it's on the top level, isn't it, Donald?" Mother looked at Father as we kept walking, almost to the staircase. 

Father nodded. "It's a pretty big room. The top level is usually reserved for navy families, as we are, so that's where we're staying." 

We walked in silence up the stairs and through a doorway. But the best part was what I saw once we emerged from the dark of the lower boat parking lot. We were on the top deck of the ship, and, as far as I could see, there was water. Of course, there was still land behind us, but I wasn't looking there. My eyes were on the water. 

But again, we had to keep walking. We walked down a much shorter flight of stairs to a long hallway with lights on. 

"I think our room number is two-hundred-something, but let me check the paper," Father said. I was rushing ahead, and he said, "Wait for us, Adelaide. Our room could be right here." 

I nodded, sighed, and turned back. Father was looking at a piece of paper. "Oh, never mind," he said, "It's number one-oh-three." 

I looked at the room numbers that were next to us. They read one-oh-seven, one-oh-eight, one-oh-nine. "We have to go back," I said, turning around. Mother and Father walked back down the long hallway with me until we were in front of a door that read one-oh-three. Father dug in his pocket and produced a small key. He fumbled with the lock until the door opened, and inside, was the most beautiful hotel-like room I'd ever seen.