Gianna_Astorino - The Shortcut-ROUGH DRAFT lyrics

Another family vacation. Another dreadful, lengthy 14 hour trip in the minivan from Iowa to Tennessee. It's always worth it when we finally arrive, but being in a car with my entire family for half of a day, no thank you. When my mother told me our vacation plans I thought to myself, “why, why, why, why me,” but I never let my make-believe smile leave my face, letting her believe I was excited. I never want to disappoint her solely because she goes through so much stressful work to plan these twenty-five person vacations. It seems redundant doing the same thing every single summer with the same exact people, but I never complain because I know we are very fortunate to be able to vacation every summer but this time I could only pretend to be thrilled. As if my excitement level could not get any higher, we decided to leave at 4 A.M to arrive at the cabin by 7 P.M “Something exciting had to happen or I will ensure that it does,” I thought to myself as we began our trek to Tennessee. We finally arrived around 8 P.M after all of our unnecessary bathroom stops; all I could think was get me out of this smelly, packed car, get me a hamburger, and get me into the nearest shower. I ran out of the minivan like I hadn't eaten or showered in years. After my shower, I fell asleep in the nearest bunk bed. I awoke the next morning to the sound of a cowbell. This is something very unusual so I jerk up out of bed at the loud and obnoxious ringing noise. I gave my uncle an ugly snarl as I sat up and he giggled as he climbed down the bunk bed ladder. I breathed in the scent of the mahogany wood of the cabin walls that surround me. A distant smell of pancakes and bacon fill my nose. If I wasn't up from the ringing of the cowbell, I sure was now with the growling and rumbling coming from my stomach. I rubbed my eyes until I went into another galaxy and could see floating blue circles in my vision. When I came back into reality, I jumped off the top bunk only to hear the cowbell ringing and giggling in the next room, my uncle waking up the rest of the families. We all ran upstairs like a herd of cattle scavenging for the food at the top as if we hadn't eaten for a few days. We plopped down at the twenty five person table, pa**ing the bowls and pans of food around. Outside I can hear the trees blowing in the wind and the muffle of the boat engines pa**ing by. We can see the shining sun glaring onto the beautiful lake that surrounded three fourths of the cabin walls. As I snap out of my gaze I can't help but sit there, half awake and my eye lids drooping, I felt as though the deer heads on the wall were all staring at me. Everywhere I moved to, they looked. I finally found a spot at the table with my back turned against them and felt comfortable enough to eat my breakfast in peace. After breakfast started our expedition to the boat docks to spend a scorching 90 degree day on the nearby lake. Doing all we could to avoid a sunburn, we lathered on the sunscreen anywhere that was visible, knowing we'd have to reapply 3 or 4 more times that same day. We walked along the gravel road looping right and left, left and right trying to find our way. Some of the children riding in the back of the truck, grinning and giggling as they bounced up and down over the potholes to avoid sweating on the walk and taking the easy way. The older children decide to walk in a pack. We are surrounded by trees on both sides with only a thin path leading us through the woods to our final destination. My cousin, Beth and I were lingering in the back of the group and noticed a path that we thought may be a shortcut so we decided to take it without telling anyone else what we were doing. We ran down the path laughing like crazy people when we noticed it was taking us in the wrong direction, but we didn't stop due to our curious nature. We thought someone had to have come this way many times with the depth of this path. As we peered around a cluster of trees, it looked like boat docks but not the ones we were supposed to be at, maybe a private dock we both murmured at the same time. There was an ample amount of crate-like boxes on the dock, covering most of the view of the water. We could see one giant boat at the dock, no one seemed to be anywhere around. My heart started beating faster, my adrenaline was at an all time high and I knew she felt the same. We just stared at each other blankly at first, obviously both waiting for the others cue to continue on. I noticed her already big eyes grow even bigger and bug-like when she turned back towards the dock. “Do you hear that?!” she turned back to me, looking panicked. She stepped back and snapped a stick under her foot, I noticed her jump as if she was afraid that someone would hear us. “Why are you freaking out?” I asked her. “Do you not hear what those people are yelling about?” She looked at me like I was dumb. “I didn't hear anything, do you think we should keep walking towards the dock?” I knew she wouldn't want to, but I wanted some excitement this vacation. I figured it couldn't be anything too serious or too dangerous, and I wanted a closer look and to hear what she heard. “Couldn't the yelling just be pa**engers on nearby boats having fun?” “It sure didn't sound like that Janie,”she glared at me again,“It sounded like two people arguing over something serious” “I'm sure it's nothing, let's get a little bit closer and check it out.” She reluctantly followed me, knowing everyone else was too far ahead to catch up to. “I hate when you do this sort of stuff Janie, we're going to get in trouble if something happens and no one knows were over here if something does happen!” I can hear the panic in her voice, I try to calm her down by talking about finding our boat after this and how exciting it will be to go tubing and water skiing. I slowly inch forward towards the crates and the dock as I'm distracting her with my thoughts about what antics will happen at the lake and later at the cabin. I saw two people walk behind the crates towards the boat. I grabbed my cousin's hand and quickly pulled her behind the big brown boxes to hide and listen. After hearing the first couple words come out of the two people's mouths I knew that Beth was right; we should not be here. I immediately become angry with myself in making her follow me up closer to these two people. “Where is my money or my product, Carlos?” One man says to another. “I told you, Dale, the money is coming. It should be here any day now.” “You told me this same story last time, and I still let you keep your job even though I am short on product.” I can see the anger form in this man's eyes. He meant serious business and it seemed that he wasn't leaving this dock until he received his money, however that needed to happen. I thought to myself, “Is this seriously happening, am I about to witness a murder?” “OMG, what do I do, I've seen so many crime scene shows I should know what to do in this situation.”. My mind was racing one hundred miles per hour with potential incidents of what could happen in the next five minutes. Do I let the two men know that we are here or do we continue to hide. I immediately wish my cousin was not with me, knowing I will be in even deeper trouble if anything happens because I am the older of us two. “Dale, come on, you know I would never keep that money from you. I gave the man the product and he is gathering the money for you now because he really enjoys it.” “Why would you ever give a client the product without having his money first?” Dale snarls at Carlos. “I wanted to promote the product and make him want more, I thought it was a good business tactic but clearly I was wrong and it won't happen again.” Carlos pleads for Dale's understanding, knowing he can only say so much to convince Dale that the money is coming, whether it was or it wasn't. He knew that he was caught in the middle and that he might be in danger now because of this incident. “You sure are right that it won't be happening again, anytime soon.” The two people's voices fade as they walk towards the boat and away from us. I quietly break mine and Beth's science with an exclaimed “HOLY CRAP!” I look at Beth and see tears well up in her eyes. I ensure her that everything will be okay and tell her to keep low and run back to the gravel road the way that we came. I knew we both couldn't run back at the same time for fear of being caught. Is this the “excitement” that I wanted? Am I getting punished by my wish? It sure seemed like it. I said a quick prayer to the God I had been so distant from for a long time. I knew he would still listen and I would repent to him later for distancing myself from him. I felt like I was living in a show, a nightmare, or a different reality. I had never thought that I would be in a situation like this one. My mind raced again, “Was the last words I heard a threat? Was Dale going to k** Carlos because he didn't have his money? Was he sure it won't happen again because he is going to k** Carlos?” I know I was thinking all worst possibilities, but what would you do if you were in this situation? After I watched Beth make it back to the forest towards our boat dock, I stopped and thought logically. Do I run and let them see me as a witness, but keep running hoping they don't catch me, or do I try to diffuse the situation by showing them that I am there and asking for directions towards our dock? I knew they would be very caught off guard if an awkward frail blonde girl began walking towards them in the middle of their argument. The ideal situation would be that they stop talking and help me get back to my dock. The least ideal situation that came into my mind was that they shoot me and throw me off the pier. Dramatic, I know, but what was I supposed to think when I was standing there alone hiding behind a couple of crates? I finally came to a decision; I was going to run for it. I took a deep breathe, peeked through a hole on the rotting crates to ensure no one was looking my way. I slowly turned to be sure that I didn't make a sound. As soon as I made a full circle, I saw my mom running towards me with the owner of the cabin we were renting; Beth must have told them. I instantly stopped moving and felt frozen, “She's going to k** me,” I thought. They kept making their way towards me, it appeared that they were laughing. I was as confused as could be; what could they be laughing at? When they finally reached me, they asked if I was okay and what had happened. I heard another voice behind me yell, “CUT!”. One of my eyebrows raised as I turned to gaze at the two men on the dock. They were gone. I looked back at the cabin owner and next to her were the two men, Carlos and Dale. “What is happening??” I asked as I step backwards away from the three people. A man with a long beard and hair in a pony tail walked up to the group of people I was standing with. “Hi sweetie,” he looked my way. I stared back, not having much of an idea of what to say. “What's wrong? You look frightened?!” He followed his kind compliment with,“We are filming a scene in a movie here today, would you like to be our live audience?” You're kidding I thought to myself. There is no way this is actually happening. “So you mean all of this arguing and crates and fighting is a set for a movie?” “Yes, of course. What did you think it was?” He gave me an odd look like I was the psychotic one. “I thought I was about to witness a murder” I admitted embarra**ed. “You were!” He joked, “but only a fake murder, for the movie” He smiled at me. I couldn't help but smile back in relief. “A movie! The whole time it was only a movie!” I played it off like I had known the whole time and kept my head held high like I never almost sh** my shorts. I walked back to the gravel road with my mom by my side and promised myself no more shortcuts or wondering mind. I ensured myself a thrill, and that is exactly what I got. That is not the kind of excitement that I had wanted when I wished for it. I promised myself I would stick with the boring family vacations that I am so used to from now on. I would rather have no excitement on vacation than an incident like that. I also jokingly tell people I watch more CSI episodes and will be prepared next time, (hopefully there is no next time). I am now more thankful for the time I get to spend with my family and don't take our vacations for granted because in those moments during our Nashville trip, I was afraid for my own well being.