Turtle Attack BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEE—click! I turned off my alarm and rolled over, groaning. "Five more minutes..." I mumbled. Then I sat up sharply in bed. "Oh, no!" I cried. How many times had I hit 'snooze'? "I'm going to be late for school!" Quickly, I ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a blue T-shirt and ran down the stairs, two at a time, for breakfast. "Mom!" I called. "Do we have any cereal—" I stopped and looked around the kitchen. No one there. I glanced at the clock on the wall. Quarter to seven. Wasn't breakfast usually at around six thirty? "Hey," I called. " Mom? Dad? Anyone?" Had everyone left early? Was there something going on at school that I hadn't known about? Another thought raced through my mind. Had they overslept? Hmm. Pretty unlikely for everyone in the house— except me— to not wake up on time. Besides, Mom's really punctual and can't stand being late for anything, including starting the day. Plus, whenever she wakes up first (which she usually does) she always shakes everyone else awake. Dad, me, my older sister Amy, my younger brother Luke... My thoughts were interrupted by footsteps in the hall, just outside the kitchen door. "Leah?" a voice called. "Leah! What are you DOING down here? Do you have any idea what time it is?" I looked up from the cereal box I was holding. Dad stood in the doorway, squinting in the light. His hair was all messy, and he was wearing a bathrobe and bedroom slippers. "D-Dad?" I stuttered. "Dad! It— It's almost seven o' clock! Why..." "Exactly!" he cried. "What are you doing up so early? And you went to bed at nearly twelve last night! Don't you know that an eleven-year-old girl needs at least ten hours of sleep?" I could only stare. With my mouth open. For a full minute. "Dad," I said finally. "I need to get to school. That is why I'm awake right now." Now it was Dad's turn to stare. "Leah," he said. "Have you looked at the calender lately?" "Huh?" I asked. "No, why?" Dad sighed and said, "Leah, it is summer vacation. You can sleep for as long as you want without worrying about school." He said it very slowly, sounding out each syllable as if I were from the#moonand couldn't speak English. "Summer vacation?" I asked just as slowly. "But... But... Why...? Why did my alarm go off? I never set it on weekends or breaks!" Dad yawned. "I don't know," he replied. "But I do know that I'm really sleepy. I'm going back to bed. You can eat breakfast if you want." he turned and left. I looked around the kitchen, wondering what to do. There was nothing to do, really. Everyone else was still asleep. But then, I wasn't really tired anymore. Might as well make some cereal and maybe go out for a bike ride or something. I opened the kitchen cabinet and reached for a box of Coco Pops. Suddenly I heard a sound coming from the den. I turned around. The sound stopped. I found the cereal and was reaching into the fridge for some milk when I heard it again. A sort of scraping sound, like a chair being pushed across the floor. I decided to go see what it was. Leaving the fridge door wide open, I strode out of the kitchen and into the den, towards the source of the sound. "Hello?" I called, even though everyone was upstairs, in bed. "Anyone?" Silence now. Then... "BOO!" I screamed and turned around. It was only Amy, my older sister. She stepped out from behind the armchair she had obviously been hiding behind. She was wearing a goofy grin that usually brought bad news, for me anyway. And this was no exception. "I totally scared you!" she cried. "You screamed!" "Did not!" I shot back, feeling myself turn red. "What are you doing up so early anyway, Amy?" The stupid grin didn't leave her stupid face. Mischief danced around inside her bright blue eyes. "You tell me, Leah." she said. "Why are you up on s u m m e r v a c a t i o n, hm?" Something about the way she said that made me suspicious. "Why did your a l a r m clock go off? Hmmm..." Suddenly, everything made sense. While I was sleeping, Amy had somehow set my alarm clock so that I would wake up and think I had to go to school. She knows I can't think straight when I'm tired. I blushed for the second time that day. I wasn't sure if it was from anger or sheer humiliation. Amy was now dancing all around the den, singing, "I tricked 'cha, I tricked 'cha, I tricky-tricky-tricked 'cha!" I spotted the milk inside the wide open fridge. At that moment, I would have given ANYTHING to splash the whole carton onto her face, even though she's allergic to cow milk and starts throwing up all over the place if she drinks a drop. If any flies into her mouth as I splash it, well, serve her right. But being the most sensible one in the family i decided otherwise and Only punched her in the stomach instead. Well, I tried. Amy takes karate and dodged. "You missed!" Amy was hysterical now. She doubled over and said something, but she was laughing so hard I didn't hear exactly what. She stood up and flipped back her mane of golden hair. I let out a groan of exaspertion and sank into an armchair. Okay, maybe I should introduce myself, something I should have done earlier. My name is Leah Walker. I'm eleven years old. I have brown hair that goes down a little way past my shoulders, brown eyes, and an actual sense of sanity unlike some people I know. I think that one thing you should know is that my seven-year-old brother Luke, my maniac fifteen-year-old sister Amy, and I are all named after characters from StarWars, the reason for this being that my parents met at a StarWars movie. Amy's real name is Amidala, since she was named after Queen Amidala. She hates her real name though, and if you call her Amidala she pretends you're not even there and doesn't answer until you call her Amy. I was named after Princess Leia. I know it's pronounced "Lay-ah", but I prefer pronouncing it "Lee-ah". Luke (named after Luke Skywalker, in case you couldn't guess) is perfectly happy with his name. Luke is also obsessed with video games like Sonic the Hedgehog, Little Big Planet, Terraria, and Beyblade. And he's got everything from a Wii to an X Box in his room. Luke is an okay brother. He can be annoying sometimes, but most of the time he's fine. I even play Nintendo or Xbox with him sometimes. Anyway, back to what was happening. Amy had finally quieted down a bit. Suddenly, I heard footsteps in the hall. Mom appeared in the doorway, in a faded robe and bedroom slippers. She didn't appear tired or sleepy in the least. I can never figure out just HOW she's so alert every morning, without coffee. Whenever I ask her how come she loves getting out of bed every morning, she says, "What's wrong with starting the day? The dishes aren't going to do themselves with everyone in bed, right?" "What's going on down here?" she asked. "I thought you two would be in bed!" "Mom!" I cried. "Amy tricked me. Again!" "What's wrong with getting you out of bed?" Amy asked innocently. I could see a smirk playing around on her mouth. "Because that's pretty much all I did." "Mom!" I cried again. "Well, I don't see what's wrong with getting you out of bed, Leah. As a matter of fact, I'd better get dressed and start breakfast. The pancakes aren't going to flip themselves, are they?" Mom smiled, turned and left. "Amy, you just wait till I get my hands on you! One more trick and I'll... Uh..." "You'll what, Leah?" she asked. "I'll put cow milk in the pancake batter!" I declared triumphantly. Amy yawned. "Whatever. I have more important things to spend my summer doing." Amy turned and left for her room. That left me on my own in the den. * * * "Pass the bacon, please," Luke said. "Here you go Luke," Dad said, passing him his plate. "May the forks be with you!" Luke and Dad laughed. It was the perfect start to a perfect summer. I could tell. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining. A warm breeze fluttered the napkins on our patio table, and the sky was a brilliant blue. I took a bite of my pancakes, then helped myself to some more toast. Amy sipped her orange juice, Dad and Luke were cracking more puns, and Mom had emerged from the back door with some more butter. "Better eat quick, guys," Mom said. "The suitcases won't pack themselves." I nearly spit out my juice. I managed to swallow, then said, "Pack? For what?" Mom smiled. Dad grinned. Luke and Amy exchanged knowing looks. "Did I let the cat out of the bag?" Mom asked. "Well, we can't keep it in forever, can we?" "Mom!" I cried. "Tell!" "Okay, okay," Mom said with a laugh. "Well, you know how Dad and I said we would be able to go to Lankawi Island for vacation this summer?" I nodded. Mom and Dad had told Amy, Luke, and me a few weeks ago that we would go to Lankawi Island in Malaysia for summer vacation. We had all gone ballistic. Amy left on the bus with her friends to shop for summer clothes. I spent hours on the internet, noting the weather there, the coolest tourist attractions, the best hotels, and I had even learned a bit of Malay, the native language in Malaysia. Luke was deciding which Beyblades and Starwars figures to take with him, and he was also doing a lot of chores around the house in order to get more allowance to buy more video games from Lankawi. The bottom line is: We were ECSTATIC. "Yeah," I said. "What about it, Mom?" "Well," she said. "We got the tickets, but it appears that there's room for three more families." I stopped eating. "What do you mean, Mom?" I asked. "Well," she continued. "Dad and I decided—" "We're going to Lankawi with the members of the Turtle Club!" Luke blurted. "What?" I gasped. "Are you serious?" "We've never been more serious in our lives, Leah," Dad said. "Except for that time, when I was going to make a bowl of cereal." Dad got up and carried his plate inside. He kept talking, mostly to himself, but his voice trailed off. I managed to hear, "Man, I was rarin' to go..." "Mom..." I stuttered. "That's... This... THIS IS AWESOME! Whoo!" I tossed my fork and knife in the air like confetti. Amy caught them, grinning.