Henry was having a rough day. He was trying to have a bit of fun on his three day weekend with his family but everything seemed to be going wrong. Nobody could decide where they wanted to go and with every suggestion there was a disagreement. They each wanted to escape the stresses of their normal week days in different ways. His wife, Bertha thought a refreshing trip to the beach would do the trick. She really missed the ocean breeze on her face. It’s been so long since the last time she was there. Henry however was allergic to sand. If sand touched any part of his body he would break out into rashes. Their son Joey wanted to go snowboarding but no one else really wanted to spend their weekend getting their butt cold and wet in the snow. His sister Lillian thought they should go to the city and do some shopping, but her parents didn’t want to spend money.
Henry made a suggestion to go flying in air balloons over the green hilly hills and then camp under the stars when they were done flying. He thought what a spiritual experience it would be to be high above the world, softly floating. He was getting very excited about the idea until Joey said he thought the idea sounded lame and boring. His wife also didn’t feel like going because of her fear of heights. Lilly didn’t want to go because camping was involved with the idea. She can’t sleep with all those bugs and without her bed. Sadly, Henry decided to give up and watch TV. He checked out what the weather would be like just to see if inspiration strikes another idea in his mind. He found out there was a huge turkey festival in town and forced everyone in the car. Their tiny suburban town was quite well known for its beautiful prize winning turkeys. Nobody really wanted to go but they rather do anything than be in the house all day.
There was a huge traffic jam. Everyone was tired and frustrated. They got bored and started noticing all the angry people around them yelling, cursing, and honking. All this for turkeys they thought. They noticed the man in the car behind them is Henry’s crazy brother in law and in the car next to them on their right was Lillian’s and Joey’s principle, Mr. Rimba. The worst people to be surrounded by in a traffic jam were surrounding them and it was only adding to their stress. Everyone was regretting not going to the places they actually wanted to go. Bertha all of sudden got out of the car and started asking other drivers where they were going. Joey then decided to go out and do the same thing and so did Lillian. Henry stayed in the car confused. His wife and kids were each trying to find a car to ride in that was heading in the direction of the place they said they wanted to go to. Henry’s cell phone started ringing like crazy once he couldn’t see any members of his family walking about in the street. They each had their cell phones with them and were calling him to say where they were going and what time they would come home. Henry felt alone but then he thought once he got to the next block he would turn around and go flying in an air balloon.
The Stinky Backpack 