A Tale of Two Summers

Chapter 2

"And it is currently 8 o'clock in the evening in beautiful Santiago, Dominican Republic," Sean narrated next to Sabrina as the plane lowered itself closer to the ground. Sabrina pressed her forehead against the window in attempt to take in the beautiful scene.

In the soft blanket of the dark night, the city glittered with a thousand lights below. Everywhere Lacey looked there were palm trees reflecting the light of the full moon. The Dominican Republic was stunning, and it was in that moment Sabrina knew she was going to love the country.

"Emma," Sabrina turned around in her seat, "Look at it, we're finally here!"

Emma looked up from her phone and peered out the window, "Oh my gosh, it's amazing,"

"Yeah..." Sabrina breathed in awe at the glimmering city. Sean, the 30-year-old African American next to her, was acting even more excited.

"I can't believe we are actually here, we're here! Wow, the Dominican Republic. We are finally here!"

Sabrina couldn't help but laugh at his childish excitement. As the plane landed to a jolting stop, Sabrina breathed in deep, "This is it," she whispered.

I'll spare you guys the details of our routine of getting off the plane, going through customs, and retrieving their luggage. That's no fun, right? Basically after that, our group of forty adults and teenagers waited outside to be picked up.

"Are we waiting for something?" Emma asked Vince, the pastor leading the trip.

"We're waiting for Jaime to come pick us up in the buses, then we're gonna go to our host homes and go to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow," he said in his husky, but friendly voice. "Now Sabrina, are you going to behave or will I have to call your dad?" he teased as he pointed his finger at her.

Sabrina grinned, "Eh, I'll do my best to behave," she wrinkled her nose.

Sabrina loved Vince, he was like her second dad, and he always treated her like she was his daughter. Sabrina had always been a good kid, which is why Vince always made jokes about him having trouble with her so-called "misbehavior".

After a few minutes, a white van pulled up and Grace jumped up and down in excitement.

"Jaime! Jaime!" she squealed and attacked the man who came out of the drivers seat with a huge hug, and he returned with one in kind.

"Grace! Como estás?" he greeted.

"Awesome," Grace smiled. Her gaze fell on Sabrina and soon her smile melted to an annoyed frown.

A pang of jealousy hit Sabrina's stomach as she thought about how lucky Grace was to have gone on this trip the year before. Grace already knew all of these people, and apparently, they loved her.

Sabrina shrugged off Grace's dirty look as she loaded her bags into the back of the van and took a seat next to Emma.

"So are you excited for the waterfalls tomorrow?" Emma asked.

"Duh," Sabrina replied, "It's not every day you get to jump off of waterfalls in the middle of the jungle."