Morning arose from the bowels of the earth chasing the darkness away. Rising proudly, the sun radiated heat down upon the land, boiling the evening chills and replacing the empty coldness with an engulfing heat. The grass cowered from the sky, withering as it said its’ longing goodbyes. Parched plants thirsted for water and dehydrated trees cried out for rain. A cacophonous noise awoke the silence of the new day and a screeching of brakes shattered the morning stillness. An old, battered, 1986, class C R.V. stumbled along the black pavement disrupting the nature surrounding it. Preparing itself for the large mountain ahead, the RV grumbled and grunted its way towards the rest station. Upon the screeching arrival a family of six scurried out of the ancient vehicle and made their way towards the utilities, each one of them displaying a facial expression about as happy as the sound of the vehicle’s engine. They too were preparing for what was to come.

The, “his, hers and ours,” family was still learning the ropes of how to be one unit. Quarreling often, disagreeing regularly, and having to compromise continuously, they knew that the adventure to come sure would be a test to it all. After each person meandered their way back into the R.V. and found their rightful location, the key found its rightful slot that would start the beast of a vehicle. The man pleading for the engine to start carefully turned the key sideways, hoping to ignite it. A terrible, low cough forcefully escaped the mouth of the engine and it sputtered to life. A sigh of relief was shared throughout the family as they all released the breath they were unknowingly holding. The RV found its way back on to the black pavement like an elderly dog finds its way home, and slowly, but surely, started picking up speed, pointed in the direction of a monster hill ahead.
Perspiration hovered on each member’s brow, weighing them down, not allowing them to dismiss the deadly heat of the day. As cars frustratingly swerved into the opposite lane of traffic to get in front of the snail paced, mammoth like creature that was carrying the family, each member slowly drifted in and out of consciousness, awaiting the climb of the last mountain. Awakened often by a large bump in the road, a shake of the cabin, or an aggressive horn honking outside, getting sleep was not easy. The family consisted of a mom with the eldest boy and girl, a dad with a young boy, and from the two a baby girl and one on the way. Three separate families joined together because of one union. For two agonizingly long weeks now they had been sharing this R.V, sharing their beds, and sharing their personal space. Needless to say, they were all ready to be home and in their own beds, with their own rooms, with their own doors, with those doors shut.
As noon crept up on them the youngest boy, Jacob, began to wriggle in his seat as he became bored and not easily entertained. Tyler, the oldest, was becoming impatient and sassy, spitting out comments as any young teenager would. Sienna, the baby girl, was making giggling noises in her seat, enamored with her toys and Kinley, the middle daughter, was reading in a corner chair next to her mom while slowly being taken over by nausea. The cranky R.V. chugged up and down the last hill and began to ascend the final mountain. Just having barely started the climb, an insistent ringing disrupted the atmosphere of the content family. Alarming the others, the man pulled over the vehicle, yanked it into park, and turned around facing the family to deliver the unfortunate news with a small chuckle on his face and a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.
“Well kids the engine light has turned on saying that we are over heated,” he explained. “I feared this would occur on a day like this. So we must cool it off in order to make it up the mountain. I’m thinking spraying water on it will do the job. So grab a pan and head on out!”
The children sat their wide eyed with their jaws on the floor, all sharing the common expression of, “huh?” and, “you want us to do what?” With a quick glance outside the oldest two noticed that they were next to a water-well and could retrieve water from there. They all grumbled their way out of the R.V. grabbing a cooking pot on the steps and ran towards the water spout. Reaching towards it the water exploded out of the spigot, drowning the pot that was supposed to contain it. Once overflowing, and with their shoes a personal marsh, they carefully walked their full pots back towards the engine sploshing water in every direction while doing so. Exuding all of their lasting energy, they hoisted the pot into the air allowing the water droplets to glitter in the sky like drops of rainbows before crashing down on top of the engine and making a sizzling noise. With steam rising around them smiles erupted from their faces.

Tyler looked down upon the other two with a suspicious expression on his visage. Having caught on quickly, Kinley dumped a pot of water on his head right as he yelled, “Water war!”
The children immediately erupted in screams of joy as water drenched their bodies and their clothes became a second skin. The earth came to life. The soil began to breathe again. Withering grass had color anew. All around the dry desert was now filled with the laughs of the children echoing through the mountains. The sizzling of the engine seemed to subside and the clouds eased the power of the sun.

Soon the whole family was involved in this water fight. Pots could not be filled fast enough to keep up with the use of the water and the droplets filled the sky. Pure bliss surrounded them. After continuous quarts of water being tossed at one another and multiple surprise attacks, the family’s clothes were stuck to their bodies like glue, dripping with the happiness of the morning. Thankfully, the mom had captured the excitement of the morning with her camera and the rest would forever be stored in the hearts of the children. As they wrung out their clothes and skipped gallantly back to the R.V., all of them had a triumphant smile planted on their face. Racing to their seats and excitedly asking if they can play a game together, the R.V. roared to life and charged its’ way towards the newly paved road.
Gleefully talking, the children joked with one another and played with each other as the R.V. mile by mile overtook the mountain. Just as they reached the summit, a booming noise, similar to the sounds of 100 horses stampeding, complemented the laughter of the family. Hope released itself from the dark skies above and rain danced on the ground and showered the dry desert. The plants gulped up the rain and fully returned to life. The children stared out the windows as the water renewed the earth. Feeling their bond stronger than ever, the family realized the positive impact of enjoying their time together by having fun and working. They had been filled with the joy of love, just like the rain filled the plants with the joy of life.