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= = =Exposition/Inciting Incident= Every long and hot summer my seven year old brother, my parents, Grandma, Grandpa, my mom's brother, his family, and I visit the exciting Jersey Shore at Long Beach Island for one, fun week. We rent a large, silver truck and drive there together. It is very loud and chaotic in the truck because of all the people inside it. "I want to watch a movie! I'm bored, when will we get there?” My little brother was yelling so loud I thought my ears would pop! "Tommy! Enough already! We are all bored, but you don't see us yelling.” I said. "Quiet! I am trying to read” Maggie said, with an annoyed look on her face. It feels to me that it takes one hundred years to get there because I am always so eager and excited to arrive. I always have a great time because I am with my family and my cousins. My cousin Maggie is eleven years old and my best friend. She comes to Long Beach Island with me, and we have a great time together every summer! "I would not have as much fun on vacation if you weren't with me," I'd always tell Maggie.

"I agree! We always have a great time together”, she'd respond. When I am in Long Beach Island, Maggie and I get to share the same bedroom and sleep on bunk beds. We love to sleep in the same room and eat every meal together. I couldn't stop thinking about how much fun I was going to have on my vacation with Maggie. Even though she lives in Staten Island and I live in New Jersey it is like she is my twin sister, and we have been through so much together. When we finally arrive at our beach house I can smell the salty and fishy aroma of the cool, blue ocean from the inside of the truck. It is like the smell is calling me down saying, “I'm so glad your back”. I quickly grabbed my luggage out of the full and stuffed trunk, and ran straight into the house. Maggie and I threw our bags on the beds in our room, ran out the back door, and headed straight for the beautiful beach. We could hardly wait for our vacation to begin! =Rising Action= "Hurry, get under it! Be ready to catch it", my brother screamed as he threw me the ball. "I can't see. The sun is in my eyes." I yelled, as the ball swished passed me and splashed straight into the ocean. Every summer my family and I play catch in the ocean, and have a lot of fun together. Except this summer Maggie was not feeling up to it. I was really upset when she told me that she was going to sit on the sand and watch. I felt the way a child feels when the air comes out of their bright and shiny balloon. I thought that Maggie was lonely just sitting alone and watching, so I quickly ran out of the chilly, yet beautiful ocean, right after my younger brother yelled at me for not catching the small, yellow, tennis ball. I jumped over an interesting sand castle, and sat beside Maggie with a towel rapped around me. Cold and salty droplets slowly rolled down the sides of my cheeks, and landed in the sand. Before we knew it my cousin and I were laughing loudly at our family fighting to get the ball.

Suddenly, Maggie started to cough violently. Her face was turning red, and I was starting to get nervous. After a while I ran to the shore and called for her mother. "Aunt Rose, come here! Hurry up!” She looked at me and nodded. When she finally got out of the ocean, I was relieved. "Is everything okay?" "Maggie isn't feeling well, and is coughing a lot." She ran over to her oldest daughter and helped her to a shady seat under the umbrella. Aunt Rose kissed Maggie and lay down beside her. Maggie had her warm clothes on, a sweatshirt and jeans, and a towel over her as if the warm summer day had been a breezy fall day. Maggie closed her eyes while lying under the under striped umbrella, which provided shade, and she quickly fell asleep. I was worried about her, and I sat in the sand continuing to watch my family play catch. Her towel slipped off of her body when she turned over, and I quietly grabbed it, shook the sand off, and repositioned it over her slender body. I waited for my cousin to wake up. It seemed to me like she was sleeping for many hours. I just kept thinking she would feel better when she woke up, but was I ever so wrong! She sat up with a frown on her face, and I told her that I never thought she would wake up. Maggie started shivering and soon enough her nose became stuffy. That was when her mom, my aunt, decided my cousin should rest inside the beach house. At the beach for the rest of that day, I was worrying about her and wondering if she would be okay. “Will she have to leave Long Beach Island, and go back home”, I wondered. That night we didn't get to eat together or share the bunk beds. This vacation is something I look forward to all year round, and for my cousin not to be with me, well, it was a thought I didn't even want to think about. I guess I'll just have to wait to tomorrow I whispered to myself, and drifted off to sleep. =Climax= My ears did not hear the sound of bothersome seagulls, which usually seemed to be communicating with each other, or the pleasant sound of the ocean's rough waves crashing up against rocks the next morning. Unfortunately, it was a different sound. It was the terrible sound of someone crying, and coughing. Wishing that I didn't know who was coughing, my feet quickly jumped into my pretty, pink slippers. With my slippers on the wrong feet, I ran straight out of my room and into the hallway. I tripped over a baby toy that my cousin left in the middle of the hallway, but kept on running until I arrived at the last door at the end of the hallway, Maggie's room. Pushing the door open, without knocking I saw her. There was Maggie, lying on her bed with the covers pulled up to her chin. Her face red, tissue's all around her, and cough drop wrappers filled the garbage can next to the bed she laid in. My eyes widened. "Hi Maggs", I said cheerfully, as if pretending not to be so upset, "How do you feel"?

She looked at me with a frown on her face, "Not good at all. My throat hurts, I can hardly breathe because my nose is so stuffy, my head hurts, and everything aches. "

"Well keep your chin up. You'll get better soon", I said, with tears in my eyes, and slowly shut the door behind me as I walked out. I kept thinking to my self this is the worst vacation, because my best friend is so super sick. I didn't know how I would have any fun without my cousin. The next three days, was difficult because I had to leave Maggie and the beach house early in the morning to go to the beach with the rest of my family. I would only see her before I went to bed to say goodnight. Some nights I was too upset to say goodnight to her, and other nights my mom didn't want me to get too close to her because she didn't want me to get sick. This seemed to make everything worse! All of the excitement and anxiousness my stomach felt on the way to Long Beach Island was a waste of my time, because now all I wanted to do was go back home! =Falling Action= I sat up in my tall, wooden bed, the top bunk, the next morning crying. Tears rolled down my thin face and landed on the red and blue quilt that sat over my mattress. I couldn’t even think about going to the beach without Maggie because it made me feel sick. Going to the beach without her seemed like a never ending day. Not only that, but I felt bad for her because she had to stay at the boring beach house all day with her mother. I was glad that she was not angry that she didn't get to come to the beach. Knock, knock, someone was weakly knocking on my bedroom door. I wasn't in the mood for talking, but I wiped the tears off my wet face and quickly tied my hair back. The door slowly opened. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Maggie standing there, and out of bed. "Hey", I said and slowly climbed down the ladder. "How do you feel?" "Well, the doctor told me to keep resting and to stay inside the house, and sooner or later, I will be better than ever!" A large smile grew across my face. "That's great" I told her excitedly. As soon as she left my feeling of wanting to go home vanished. Everything seemed to get better again! The bright sun was brighter, the cool ocean was calmer, and my worried family and I seemed to be having a lot more fun. Now that we knew Maggie was going to get better we were able to enjoy ourselves, and not have to be so worried about Maggie. I can remember all the times my cousin was there for me, and now I wanted to make a tribute to help her get better as soon as possible. While eating breakfast a great idea came to me. After checking with my mom, she authorized me to spend one day with Maggie instead of going to the beach with the rest of my family. It was the best day of my vacation so far. We had a delicious lunch together, and watched television. Although I wasn't at the beach in the relaxing ocean, I knew nothing can be better than me and Maggie spending the day together. =Resolution= Early Saturday morning, our last day on vacation, Maggie was completely healthy again. It was a beautiful sunny day, a perfect day to go to the beach, and that is just where my family and I went. Maggie with her blonde, long, and beautiful hair pulled back in two pigtails, and her purple surfboard under her arms, had lost some weight because she was sick the whole week. I didn't want to think about the terrible beginning of my vacation when she was sick; I was just relieved that she was better again. When we arrived at the beach Maggie stood at the top of the tall sand dunes and smiled at the beautiful sight beneath her- the deep, blue, beautiful ocean crashing up against rocks, the white sand was like baby powder, soft and smooth. "Race you!" Maggie yelled, and started to run. I laughed,” You cheater! Wait up Maggs!" She was the first one to reach the ocean. "Holy moley, I knew you were slow but not that slow", she said. We stood in the sand with our toes reaching out into the ocean, and stared into the horizon. We stood still for a while catching our breath. "Well, are you ready?" I said. "What are we waiting for?" She responded. We grabbed hands and zoomed straight into the ocean. Crash splash! We had so much fun that day, and I knew that I would never forget these wonderful moments. The rest of the day was great! For lunch my grandma made her "famous pasta". I can still taste the warm red sauce swishing around in my mouth. The next day was Sunday, the day when we left Long Beach Island. It was sad and difficult saying goodbye to the people you have lived with for a week. I hugged all my aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins goodbye, and we were ready to hit the road. "Hey, Jackie, wait up" Maggie screamed before I went into my car. She ran over and gave me a hug. "Thanks for every thing". She said. I hugged her back and smiled. "What do you mean? Maggs, that's what best friends do, they are always there for you." She ran back to her car and jumped inside. Right before we went our separate way, I rolled down my window and yelled," See you soon." She looked back and responded,” I’ll miss you. Bye!"