The Terrible Togetherness Test: My Story of Our Trip to Indiana

Chapter One
It was Friday, July 22nd. The sun had just started to peek through the corn in the open country of Nebraska around 7:00am, but while the sleepy country was slow in waking up, we sense something bigger and scarier… and probably quiet disruptive starting to stir. We walk along a country road and peek around a grove of trees at a large grey house surrounded by large pine trees, with a rope swing and play set to the east side. Something about this scene tells us that something very out of the ordinary resides here… and we decide to stick around for a while.

Every once in a while a skinny man with grey/black hair and toned muscles storms back and forth from house to a blue minivan (we notice how clean and unblemished it is) with his arms full of bags and bedding, followed by a trail of constantly inquiring little boys. It’s not long before the frustrated father (obviously) yells for someone to “please get the baby!”, at which point a frustrated sister would run out to catch up the constantly talking two year-old and take him into the house.

This routine continues for another hour before four little boys, two older girls and two parents finally squeeze into the packed minivan (which seems to have strangely sunk into the ground as time has passed). As they back out of the gravel driveway we hear the father declaring that this is the last chance and they are “not going back for more” while the mother is busy verbally checking off a list in her head, and the kids make comments on reduced space; which seems to have claimed all those claustrophobic. Once on the deserted highway the father prays, and the minivan picks up speed as the Duff family begins their twelve-hour journey to Indiana.