Corinne woke up and felt a breeze rushing over her face. How peculiar, she thought. There is a breeze inside my room. Then she looked over and remembered that she left the sliding door to the porch balcony open all night, and the warm summer wind was coming in through the screen door. Corinne got up out of bed slowly and silently, so as to not wake her sister Sophia. She walked over to the screen door, opened it, and walked out onto the balcony. It overlooked the swimming pool. Corinne stared down into the crystal blue water. A maid wiped the tables on the patio with a wet rag, preparing for the people that would soon emerge from their rooms and go outside to enjoy breakfast.

Corinne, Sophia, and their parents were spending a week of their summer at the Fairwater Hotel. It was an extremely large, opulent hotel. Corinne’s family had two bedrooms and a bathroom. They were spacious rooms and beautifully decorated. Corinne loved the elegant drapes and the fancy bed in her room. She loved the Jacuzzi bath tub that was practically big enough to swim in. The family had paid extra money to get upstairs rooms with porch balconies. Corinne felt very lucky to be affluent enough to stay at the Fairwater Hotel.

The dining hall was a separate building. It had a buffet for every meal. The beautiful pool and hot tub were in front of the dining hall. There were also tennis courts and a golf course a few minutes down the road.

It was Corinne’s first morning at the Fairwater Hotel, and she was very excited. She couldn’t wait to enjoy an all-you-can-eat breakfast and to spend the day in or beside the swimming pool. She left the balcony and entered her room. Corinne checked the time on her bedside clock. It was only 6:30. Corinne was opposite from the rest of her family. To her parents and sister, vacation was for sleeping late and relaxing, but Corinne wanted to get up and get the day started. She wanted to have as much time for fun as possible.

Corinne took a shower and fixed her hair. She put on a tank top, a pair of shorts, and sandals. Mom and Dad won’t mind if I go to breakfast by myself, she thought. Corinne found a piece of paper and a pen and left her parents a note on the bathroom counter where she knew they would see it. It read:

Mom and Dad,

I went over to get breakfast. I’ll be back around 8:00.
Love, Corinne


She put her small purse over her shoulder and left the room. She shut the door as quietly as she could and went down the spiral staircase to the first floor. Corinne went out a back door and found herself at the pool. A lifeguard was just arriving. The only other person by the pool was an old man who sat at a table and read the newspaper. Corinne crossed the patio and entered the tall dining hall. The ceiling was very high and ceiling fans lazily spun around. Approximately ten people were eating breakfast in there. Oh, good, I’ll be able to get a table, Corinne thought. When my parents come, it’ll be really crowded.

She approached the buffet tables. The food smelled so good and there was so much of it; bagels, muffins, doughnuts, eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, hash browns, toast, waffles, pancakes, cereal, oatmeal, croissants, fruit. Corinne couldn’t decide what to get. She wanted to try everything. She grabbed a plate and got a blueberry muffin, a hardboiled egg, three sausage patties, and an orange. She got a plastic cup and poured herself some iced tea. This is a good start, she thought. She could always go back for more.

Corinne got a plastic fork and a napkin and sat at a table. She ate quickly. All the food was delicious. She ate every bite and was stuffed, but she was still lured by the buffet table. She walked over and got a powdered doughnut and some hash browns. This time, Corinne ate more sluggishly. When she was finished, her stomach hurt. Eat less next time, she told herself.

Corinne returned to the hotel room. Her family was sound asleep. She threw the note into the trash and went out to stand on the balcony. Many families ate by the pool. A few children were already swimming. One little boy was crying because he insisted that he didn’t need floaties but his mom made him wear them. Corinne knew she couldn’t swim for a while. The stomach ache was going away, but if she swam it might return.

Suddenly, Corinne heard running water from inside. She poked her head into the bathroom and saw that her mom was awake and washing her face.

“Good morning, Mom,” Corinne said.

“Good morning.” Her mom turned off the water and wiped her face with a towel. “You must be hungry.”

“Nope. I already went to eat breakfast,” Corinne responded.

“Really? What time did you get up?”

“Around 6:30.”

“Wow, you are an early bird.”

Over the next hour, Sophia and the dad woke up and got ready for the day. Corinne got in her bathing suit and stayed at the pool while her family ate breakfast. She lathered on some sunscreen and left her towel and sandals in a chair.

The water in the swimming pool was beautiful. It was a lovely aqua blue. But it was chilly. It was a sunny day but not especially hot, so Corinne shivered as she stepped into the shallow end. I’m never going to get used to the water this way, she thought. She got out of the pool and went around to the deep end. After making sure there wasn’t a sign that said “No Diving”, Corinne dove into the water. When getting used to cold water, she always preferred to jump right in. It was easier than inching your way into the shallow end. Corinne surfaced and pushed back her hair. She climbed up out of the pool, being careful not to scrape her knees on the stone patio. Then she cannon balled into the pool. By that time, the water temperature did not bother her anymore.

Corinne had a grand time swimming around. When Sophia approached the swimming pool in her bathing suit, Corinne called out to her sister, “Come on in! The water feels great!”