The rest of the afternoon in the car was pure silence. I pulled my feet expertly into the lotus posistion and practiced my meditation, blocking out all of Dad’s inspirational nonsense. I wasn’t sure what his sudden change in lifestyle was all about. He had always been a beatnik extremist. I never had to go to public high school, there were plenty of alternative learning places in the city, and Dad was always against me being involved in formal high school education. He said the best learning didn’t come from lockers and rules, but from artists, and writers and life experience.

And why now the sudden reformation of family ties? Didn’t we live thousands of miles away from my grandmother for a reason? Why now?

How would we ever pass off as normal? I sure hope that wasn’t his next great plan, because I like my life how it already is.

The questions roll over and over, and before I know it, I’m slipping into an unconious state.