The van screeched to a halt and I jumped off, my happiness of being out of the car quickly turning into horror at what I saw. Why was it so…normal? There were tiny, tidy shops and even tinier, tidier houses. There were birds flying in a perfect V, people peacefully walking by and cheerily greeting their neighbors. What was wrong with this place? Had I really traded two months at the pool, amusement parks, beaches, and fun road trips  for spending my entire summer in this boring, ORDINARY place?

My sister raced out of the car as I gaped at the hotel, which towered over all the other buildings, at TWO STORIES high. My parents said something about “A beautiful little hotel” as I rolled my eyes. I lugged my suitcase up the ramp and onto the miniscule porch. 

The door jingled open as I looked around the strangely cheerful place. As a person from a city, and we’re talking New York City, this was just disgusting. There wasn’t a single dog barking, arguments starting, or ambulances wailing. It was too perfect, and I loathed it. After dinner, which we ate in a café in the hotel, I dragged the suitcase up the stairs, because no one made an elevator here, (Who does that? Don’t you think people would bring, I don’t know, suitcases or something to hotels?) as my sister climbed up the stairs, staring at the light pink walls. Pink was ok, but did every wall in the interior of the hotel have to be that color? 

We finally reached our room. Well, it was two separate rooms, one for my parents and one for me and my sister, but really, there was just one room with a wall and a door in the middle of it, and it was seriously small. I  pulled my suitcase to the closet and shoved it in, closing the door and slinking to the beds, tossing and turning in the (not so) joyful place.

The next day, I woke up to a sunny day with what seemed like a bird chirping in my ear. I groaned and flipped over, hoping nobody would realize I was awake. Suddenly, a voice I had never heard before said, “Get up, I know you’re awake!” I jolted to a start, leaped out of bed, and looked around. “Wh-who said that?” I said, and suddenly noticed a bird had come in through an open window. My sister, who was in the bathroom, ran into the room and frantically wiped her hands. I stared at her quizzically. She pointed at her hand, and then groaned. A bolt of ice shot out of her pointed finger and onto her hand. “Not again!” She moaned, slumping back to the bathroom.

I waited for her to leave, then continued my frantic search as what had just happened hit me. Did my sister just freeze herself with her finger in the middle of summer? I rushed to the bathroom and screamed. The entire place was covered in frost. My first thought was; the bathtub was a skating rink! My second thought was; I have to be careful not to fall, but right then I slipped and fell. 

My sister turned around, looking like she was hyperventilating. I stared at her hands, which were turning BLUE. I shrieked once more and my sister ran hot water under her hands. I dragged her out of the bathroom and stared at her, “Do you mind telling me why you’re shooting ICE out of your HANDS?” I asked, confused. My sister sighed, then yelled. “I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA!!! Plus, I’m hot.” She made an ice cube and put it on her head. I glared at her when I heard the voice again. “Can you hear me? I know you can!” I glanced around, terrified. Was I going to get powers too? I didn’t want any, and I don’t think my sister did either, guessing from the way she shook her hand.

Then it struck me. The bird… I looked around, then saw it. It opened its mouth and I heard it cheep-speak again, “Oh, hello, Sherlock Holmes!” I gasped, then screamed. Thuds were heard in my parent’s rooms and they came rushing in. “Wha-what’s wrong?” My dad asked, rubbing his eyes groggily. “Oh,” said my sister, shooting me a look, “nothing much.” I opened my mouth, then closed it and stared at her. “All right then,” said my mom, “We’ll just sleep a bit longer. You two can start unpacking or play a game,” Then, my parents left to sleep. My sister turned to me. 

“Any particular reason you screamed?” She asked. “No, just that I COULD UNDERSTAND A BIRD AND ICE IS COMING OUT OF YOUR HANDS!!!” My sister sighed and said, “We’ll just have to, um, get rid of the…powers.” “Right,” I said sarcastically, “…and I’m guessing you have some kind of master plan?” “No,” she said, embarrassed, “But we should be able to get rid of them somehow, right?” “Okay, then. So we should backtrack, I’m guessing.” “Uh, yeah…Yeah! I was totally going to say that!” I arched an eyebrow and said, “Su-u-u-re you were… Anyway, it all started when…”

After backtracking, we found one thing in common- the last night’s dinner. In fact, while we both had the same thing but our parents had a different item. “That’s it!!!” I said, excited. “Now we have to… take them out…This is going to take a while.” Suddenly, the bird was at my side, “ You have to go back to the café you were at yesterday and eat Switch-It-Salad. It’ll switch you from having powers to not.”  

I scrawled a note to my parents saying we were going to eat breakfast at the café, then my sister, the bird, and I ran (or flew) down the steps. We were about to order the salad when I said, “It’s so cool to have powers.” “Yeah!” said my sister, “I don’t really want to get rid of them.” Neither did I. We looked at each other. It was going to be a long, exhausting summer. I grinned.