“Flight one twenty eight is canceled.” the loud speaker boomed over the airport. Jessica looked at me with widened eyes, and I looked back at her unsure of her reaction. She quickly opened her boarding pass to see that it was our flight that had been canceled.

     “Oh my God…” her voice quivered. I saw her world come shattering down as the one trip she longed to go on her whole life was ripped away with a few simple words.

      “I’m so sorry Jess…” I whispered. I knew how crushed she was. She had gone on so many trips and vacations in her life and never got to go to the Carribean. It took us months to plan this trip since this is our first time being out of our parents house since we are 18. We planned it to be in the summer before college and now we weren’t sure when we could take the time to plan it again with college coming up. All of the spots on the flights were taken for the last few months of summer anyway. I could not imagine how disappointed she was.

      “What are we going to do now?” she asked.

       “I…I don’t know…” I replied.

       “I’ll never get to there now.” she sighed.

      “I’m sorry…Let’s just go home now.” I said as we got up to leave. I drove home. The whole car ride home she stared out the window without saying anything. I knew that we would not be able to go on this trip again in a very long time. I tried to comfort her.

      “It will be O.K. There will be another time.”

      “No! No there won’t! I’ve waited such a long time for this, and now it’s gone! We planned this for so long! I won’t be able do this again for like ever!” she yelled in frustration.

      “I was just trying to help!” I snapped back.

      “Well, you aren’t!” she pouted. I dropped her off home without saying anything to her. She was in a bad mood and so was I. I tried not to be mad at her for snapping at me, but I couldn’t. A few days went by and we didn’t talk very much until one day I got an amazing surprise in the mail.

       One morning, I woke up and found the mail on the dining room table. As usual, i sifted through with tired eyes until I saw a certain letter that was bright blue. It was addressed to me and it had “American Cruise Lines” printed on the front. I suddenly remembered a contest I had entered at the end of my senior year at school last month.

       “No way.” I whispered to myself in disbelief. I tore open the letter as fast as I could.

        The letter read, “ Congratulations Heather! You have won a Carribean cruise with American Cruise Lines! This cruise is booked for August 20^th though August 28^th. To RSVP and for more information call 1-800-333-3416.” I read the note in awe. I could not believe what I had just read. Jessica’s dream had just been crushed a few days earlier and now here it was again in my hands. Before I could comprehend it I was running to the phone, but then I thought that maybe I should show her in person. I grabbed my keys and ran to the car to drive to her house. So many thoughts ran through my head as I was nearing her house. I could not believe our luck. I jumped out of the car and galloped to her door. I didn’t even knock i just ran inside her house. I saw her watching T.V. In her living room so I ran up to her and shoved the paper in her face.

       “Is this a joke?” she asked.

      “No Jess! I just got it in the mail! It’s something i signed up for at the end of the year and I won! Me and a guest get to go to the Carribean!” I said in glee. She stared at the paper for a long while. She looked up at me with a blank expression, and stared at me for a while too. All of the sudden, she grabbed me and hugged me so tight I could barley breathe.

       “Thank You.” was all she could squeeze out. Her eyes teared for her dream had been restored. She finally would get her chance to go to the only place she had ever longed to go. I called the cruise line and responded to the letter. Jessica did nothing but smile for the rest of the night as she thought about her trip to the Carribean.