The Sallows were in their car headed to Cape Cod for a family reunion. “How much longer,” whined Liam. He was the youngest of the two siblings.

“The more you ask the longer it’s going to take,” replied Sybil, the older daughter. “You brought you dinosaur books, right Liam?” said Mrs. Sallow. Liam nodded. “You can read those,” responded Liam’s mom. 

The rest of the car trip was filled with, “Are we there yet?” or “I have to go to the bathroom,” driving from Maine to Massachusetts took a very long time. Eventually, the four Sallow’s reached their final destination, Cape Cod. When the car pulled up Liam jumped out of the car and ran over to a nearby child. “Jack!” exclaimed Liam. “Liam!” gasped Jack. 

The two six-year-olds immediately started talking about a new line of action figures that were coming out in November. Sybil got out of the car and glanced around cautiously. Suddenly, a furry beast ran towards Sybil and leaped on her! “Murphy!” exclaimed Sybil. Murphy the dog wagged his tail. He was happy to see his favorite human. 

The whole family went inside the humongous house where they were soon met by more relatives. That week the whole Sallow family had an enjoyable stay. By Sunday morning the Sallow families soon left for their homes elsewhere in the USA. (And Spain!). The Sallows from Maine soon left. On the way back home, the family chatted. “Apparently, there was a huge snowstorm right before we got to Aunt Camila’s house,” said Mrs. Sallow.

 “We sure are lucky to have missed it,” said Mr. Sallow.

“Don’t jinx it Dad” warned Sybil.

“Come-on that storm happened a week ago… We’ll be fine” responded Mr. Sallow. Halfway through their trip, the wind started picking up. Eventually, it’s started snowing cats and dogs.

“Daaaaad,” said Sybil. “Yes honey” sighed Mr. Sallow. “You totally jinxed us” announced Sybil. “I know… there’s a campsite a few miles away. We could stay there for a couple of hours,” said Sybil’s dad. “Sure!” said all the passengers of the car. 

Mr. Sallow slowly drove to the campsite and they paid for a cabin. Liam started crying. “Oh, what’s wrong sweetie?” asked Liam’s mother.

“What if we have to live in this cabin for the rest of our lives?!” cried Liam. The whole family broke out laughing.

“Don’t worry, we won’t be here even for a week!” said Mrs. Sallow.

“Well…” started Sybil. Her mother gave a stern look. After about three hours the storm let-up. They got back on the road. “Can we agree to not say stupid things and jinx us?” asked Sybil. 

“I agree,” said Mrs. Sallow.

“I second that notion,” said Mr. Sallow. “I thirdeded that notion!” exclaimed Liam. Not long after their first experiencethe family had with the big snowstorm they met again.

“Wait… How did that storm catch up to us?” asked Sybil.

“IDK,” said Mrs. Sallow.

“Let’s see if we can beat it home” exclaimed Mr. Sallow. He pressed on the gas pedal and they sped along. But, soon after the storm started to close in on the family. “Great!” said Mr. Sallow sarcastically. They pulled over on the road and decided to wait out the storm. After an hour the storm was fully upon them. Snow and ice pounded at the roof of the car.

 “Looks like we’ll be here for a while,” sighed Mrs. Sallow.

The family sat in the car thinking different thoughts when Liam asked, “Is there any food?”

“I don’t know” responded Mrs. Sallow. “Check the bag under Sybil’s seat” Before Liam could react Sybil grabbed the bag under her seat and checked inside.

“Aha!” exclaimed Sybil. “Pringles!” She ripped open the container. “Only one left” she murmured. 

She glanced at Liam. Liam glanced back. After a few moments pandemonium erupted. The two siblings started fighting over the last Pringle. When she could Mrs. Sallow grabbed the Pringle, split it in half and gave it to the kids. “There. You both get some” she said. The family had to stay overnight in their car.

In the morning they set off for home. Everybody held their breath, waiting for something bad to happen. Nothing did. They finally reached their destination of home. “I think next time we go on a trip we should check the weather,” said Mr. Sallow. “Agreed,” said the family.