“Please put your bag in the back of the truck, buckle your seat belts, and enjoy the ride until we get to the animals”. Poor Rose Beth had to say that at least 100 times a week! Well it all pays off since Rose was a baby she has lived in Africa. With this job, she gets to live in Africa, work on a Safari, and see wild animals. That’s Rose’s whole life showing new people her favorite place in the world – and she loved it However, one day Rose was having a day off. Just like any normal day off, she ate dinner (usually some type of stew with hot spices). After dinner, she typically took a walk, washed up, and went to bed. While Rose was getting her pajamas on, she looked at her watch and the time was about 10:30 p.m. She was a bit scared because she was the only one in camp that night, except for a lot of wild animals. Rose and her husband Jacob owned the Safari Company. Rose’s parents owned the business, but Rose took over when they said they were too old to own the business. They still live at the camp, but currently are on a trip to see their good friends who live in California. Rose’s sister Ellie also worked there, but she and Jacob, were on the last day of a safari tour. Mia and George, and other workers were on another tour. They left this morning. Rose hopped in bed and put the bug net over her and read in bed for about an hour. She got deep into the books characters and felt like she had been in bed for only a couple of minutes. Rose heard this weird noise, but she thought her mind was probably playing tricks. Rose was a very light sleeper. Rose finally fell asleep and woke up a half an hour later with a creepy feeling that something was chewing the tent. The tent’s at home base were tall tents with wood floors. Rose got her flashlight by the bedside and put on her slippers and robe, and unzipped the tent so she could see outside. Rose took a deep breath and right in front of her chewing the tent was a group of giraffes. She almost screamed, but luckily covered her mouth. Rose was so startled she froze for at least ten minutes. She has seen plenty of giraffes on her trips but never this close! She watched them and then quietly crawled to bed. She lay there carefully listened to the giraffes chewing and snorting. She dozed off and when she awoke she didn’t hear anything so she got up again, unzipped the tent, and saw nothing except a big hole. She worried about other animals getting in the tent. Rose peeked at her watch and it was already 4:01 a.m. She went to her nightstand. In the drawer she kept a little bag she purchased from Hong Kong which held all her sewing stuff. Rose threw on a sweatshirt over her pajamas and unzipped the tent. Rose sat on a stool and started sewing very carefully. She was also very nervous to be outside at four in the morning with the animals. Once Rose was done, she put her stuff back in the bag and tried to unzip the tent, but since she was groggy from lack of sleep, Rose accidently sewed the tent’s zipper closed. “Urgggh” she said to herself very quietly so that she would not wake any animals. Rose just sat there for a few minutes really nervous, not showing it. Finally, Rose remembered that she had scissors in her bag. Rose took out the scissors and cut her sewing to open the zipper. She felt bad, but you got to do what you got to do. Rose finally got in to the tent and looked at the time. It was already five a.m., and today was not her day off. Rose woke up at five every day. Rose washed up, put her uniform on, and put her hair back in a big messy ponytail with hair going everywhere. Rose never brushed her hair, because she had to put on her hat. It was a safari hat. Rose was going to lead a three-day safari so she had to pack food and some extra clothes. Rose only packed about five things. Then Rose had her usual breakfast; an egg sandwich with a glass of orange juice. Rose started loading the truck and ran out to say hi to Ellie and Jacob. “How was it?” she asked. “Okay” said Jacob. “We are very tired and are going to take a nap,” replied Ellie. Rose loaded up all the extra stuff into the trunk and went to greet the family she was taking on the safari. “Hello, my name is Rose and I am going to take you on a fun-filled adventure,” she said with a sleepy smile. ” Hello, my name is Margie,” said a tall woman with a dress and high heels. “I would really recommend you put on tennis shoes, because we are walking and exploring and I don’t want you to trash your expensive shoes,” said Rose. “Oh well I don’t even own tennis shoes and I don’t want to go on a safari. I really want a makeover and a manicure but my husband and kids wanted a safari.” “Margie, Margie, Margie lets not be mean okay?” Hi, I’m Bill Margie’s husband, and I was going to tell you ahead of time that Margie is not an outdoor kind but me and the kids are so we wanted to give it a try. It’s going to be a big challenge for all of us,” said Bill. “Okay,” Rose said softly. “Great,” replied Bill.” “Hey I’m Olivia and I am 10 years old. I just recently went to an outdoor adventure camp and I also run track and play volleyball.” “Neat,” said Rose. “Hi I am Oliver and I am twelve and play many sports - baseball, basketball, track, soccer, football, tennis and cross country.” “It was really nice to meet all of you and I am hoping to get on the road so does anybody have to use the restroom,” said Rose. Everybody chimed no. “Okay, great so let’s load up the bags and get going.” Rose took her little step stool ladder and put it against the truck and loaded the food bags on top. All Rose packed was a small duffle bag and the first aid kit. Bill and the kids had two light bags, but guess who had a fifty-pound makeup bag, a heavy bag full of nail polish, mints, cleaner, hand sanitizer and wet wipes. It was Margie. Rose hopped in the wagon and slid her key in the ignition. The key was attached to her favorite keychain that her best friend brought her from Paris. Everyone jumped in the truck behind her. “Okay we will be driving for about an hour until we actually get to the animals habitat. Sadly, they don’t just appear right away.” After about 90 minutes of screaming about bugs. There was a sign that read safari start. “We will be starting the safari but there are some very important rules that we have to follow. Please do not step out of the truck without my permission, don’t feed the animals, don’t make any noises to startle the animals, don’t take pictures unless flash is off and last but not least enjoy the wonderful three day beautiful trip. Please do not panic you are very safe with me,” Rose said. “This is going to be just wonderful,” Margie said with a sarcastic voice. “Mama it’s going to be great,” Olivia said. “Oh no, the car is overheating. It’s coming to a stop. Quick get me some water. Hurry up people we don’t want to be stuck. Hurry,” Rose said in a panic. “No not my special water from the alpines. I have to pay for shipping and anyway I don’t want to get gross dirt all over it,” screamed Margie. “Margie just stop” Bill yelled. Bill yanked the bottle out of Margie’s hands and gave it to Rose. “Thanks I really appreciate the water.” Rose poured the water all over the hot sticky car and then the group heard a loud CRACK. The engine cracked. “Now what are we going to do we are stuck and my water is out. You guys are soooo mean,” Margie yelled. “Everyone please relax we will all stay put while I call up base camp,” Rose stated calmly dialing up home base on the emergency. “Margie you really need to learn that life is full of difficulties and you cannot stress out every second,” Bill said in a calm voice like a mother would sing a baby a lullaby. Rose was using the emergency phone to call base camp but nobody was answering. Rose tried many times but, still no answer. The sky was darkening and it was about 8:00 pm. “Wow it’s getting to be very late and I still did not get a return call, how about starting dinner?” “Oh yes please my stomach REALLY hurts,” said Olivia. Rose made some good soup that everyone gobbled up. She told everyone that it was bedtime and the truck is small so please be respectful of others. She also passed out fleece blankets to everyone. “Rose can you hear me?” Rose thought someone was talking to her in her dreams. Rose suddenly woke up to Ellie screaming in her ear. “Rose can you hear me? “ Ellie shouted. “May I ask what are you doing here at one in the morning?” “I’m here with a tow rope to take your group back to home base,” Ellie replied”. “Thanks Rose said screaming with cheer.” Rose scrambled to the truck and told the family her message had gotten through to base camp and Ellie was going to tow them back to home base. Ellie towed the truck back. When they arrived safely, Rose explained that there was sadly no way that they could finish the tour because all the other trucks were booked for other safaris groups. “Thank you so much for trying to take us on a safari,” Bill said. “No problem, great meeting all of you,” said Rose! “I am so happy that we did not have to go on that rotten trip that would have been just terrible. Anyway now I can text back my makeup specialist Nina to let her know that we are back on for my normal Friday makeup work Margie said.” “Well that is just great I hope you have fun getting your makeover said Rose trying to sound in to the conversation.” “Bye,” the family screamed as they were leaving. “Bye” Rose yelled back. “WAIT” Rose screamed! “Look there is a herd of elephants and some giraffes and lions!” The family ran over to see what Rose was talking about. “Wow, thanks for letting us know. This is great! Now we can see the animals,” Bill said. “They are amazing,” replied Olivia. “This is a great trip.” “Turned out not to be terrible after all”, Margie replied. Rose just smiled and grinned. The End 2 SAFARI ADVENTURE SAFARI ADVENTURE, 6-8 1 SAFARI ADVENTURE, 6-8 1