Talulah packed up her backpack for the weekend then headed for the bus. She liked having Mom as her bus driver. Each day, Mom would smile and high-five Talulah as she boarded the bus. But today, there was no high five. Her mom just had a silly smile etched on her face that Talulah couldn’t figure out.
As the rollicking school bus sped down the usual route, Talulah searched in her pocket for a mint but felt something in there that she couldn’t identify. When she pulled it out, she saw that it was an old-fashioned compass, the kind sailors used to consult when at sea in the old days.
I wonder where that came from, she thought.
Talulah examined the compass and noticed that its needle pointed south. She had learned long ago that the needle was supposed to point north on every compass. As she considered this, she looked around and noticed that there was no one in the bus but her mom and herself.
A few moments later, Talulah felt her mom make a tight U-turn, and it felt like the bus was rising in the air. She looked out the window. The bus was hovering about ten feet above the ground. It was flying over unfamiliar, desolate prairie land, and its altitude kept rising.
“Mom, where are we going?” Talulah asked.
Talulah’s mom turned to her and smiled. “This is going to be the best day of your life, honey.”
Talulah could feel the bus rising and they were now entering the clouds. She looked down at the compass. The needle was spinning around. Talulah couldn’t even imagine what she would see next.
What is the relationship between Talulah and her mother like?
They enjoy their time together on the bus each day.
They do not agree about what Talulah wants to do for a career.
They spend most of their time trying to play pranks on each other.
They do not talk very often, but they enjoy it when they do.