The walk back to the cabin was long and especially tedious. There were so many hills, ditches and animals everywhere (which was frequent weather in Canada) but regardless, Ellie still enjoyed it. The cool breeze running up her arms and flowing through her hair, the birds singing their different songs to one another, the leaves rustling each other. She quite enjoyed these types of walks by herself, especially since her whole family had come to visit. It was stressful getting everything organized before they all came, but her parents, younger brother and she got it done just on time before the first family members arrived. This was around nine in the morning. After that, her family members appeared one-by-one. It was now approaching half past six, and Ellie needed a break. She walked around for an hour before she decided to head back home.

The cabin was about the size of a mansion, brown on the outside with many windows and a long driveway. At least it’s big enough to fit everyone, she thought. She was looking forward to meeting everyone, but most importantly, she was looking forward to meet her older cousin and best friend Max. He was good child, but he had his moments of mischief. Though what connected them the most was their shared love for reading and how they were close in age, him being 20 and she being 18. As she walked to the door, she heard a loud voice.

“You give that back right now before you lose your precious Barbie doll!”

A smile began to grow on her face. Max. She opened the front door and began to take her shoes off when she heard another voice. This one was the unmistakably high pitch voice of her younger cousin and Max's sister, Selena.

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Try me,” Max replied with a glare.

Knowing he wasn’t lying, Selena handed the object back to him and stomped away. He sighed and saw Ellie.

“What did she take this time?” she asked with an amused smile on her face.

“My book. I mean, seriously! Come on, it’s a prize possession. I wasn’t kidding either when I said I would take her doll," at which Ellie started laughing.

“I get laughed at, but I don’t get a hug from my best friend. That’s just wrong.”

He came running at her like a two-year-old and hugged her. Ellie hugged back with a wide smile still on her face.

“What’s everyone doing?” she asked as they let go.

“Well, you see, everyone one was chatting nicely and then —"

“And then what? What happened...”

She stopped before realization fell upon her. “Someone asked the question, didn’t they?”

“Aunt Millie asked what were we eating for dinner.”

“In front of everyone?” Ellie asked with a frustrated look on her face, to which Max replied with a nod.

“This is not good. Come on.”

They both rushed into the main room where everyone was arguing on what to eat.

“Let’s eat Indian!”

“No! We already had that. Italian!”

“Chinese!”

“Indian!”

Everyone was shouting at once, confusing not only Ellie but her mother as well.

“Be quiet!” her mother shouted. “Why don’t we take a vote? Huh? That would be fair.”

A bunch of OK's and sighs ran across the room. Max walked across the room and sat on a rocking chair. He took his phone out and began to scroll through social media. Everyone stared at him since he caught their attention.

“Don’t mind me; I’m just live-tweeting the insanity of our family reunion.” He replied with a sweet smile.

Their attention turned away as Ellie’s younger brother, Ryan, came running down the stairs.

“Can we have Mexican?”

There was a long pause of silence. Her mother face-palmed while her father let out a long sigh, and Ellie just stared at Max with the same thought running through everyone's head: Uh oh! All at once, the arguments sprouted out like a water fountain, causing Ryan’s eyes to widen.

What a great start to the family reunion.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.