Empty soda cans rattle against each other under the seat and half a bag of cheese-flavored popcorn spills onto the floorboard of the minivan. Wheat fields blur past the window a mile a minute and telephone poles tick the slow pace of time like a traveler's metronome. Magnetic checkers have lost their charm and the batteries are dead in the Gameboy. There are neck cramps and the sticky halitosis of a snack food diet makes small talk quite avoidable. The question is coming. Are we there yet?

The parents in the front seat know the answer. They guard it like the hole cards of a poker champ before the flop in a Texas Hold ?Em tournament. Peeking quickly while already knowing what's there and evaluating the faces of their opponents to size up the results of their move. "Soon sweety, but not yet. We'll be there in a little while."

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