It was a bright and sunny Friday afternoon in mid-spring. Everyone at the Apple Pine Suites Hotel was in a very cheery mood, from the hotel manager—a tall, broad-shouldered man named Roger Butler—right down to its youngest of guests—a Doe-eyed nine-year-old boy named Christopher Kearn and his twin sister Allison (accompanied, of course, by their parents, Mike and Karen). That particular weekend, the hotel was packed, so much so that if anyone wanted to make last-minute reservations there, they couldn't. Every room in the hotel was about to be occupied that very weekend.
Furthermore, everyone there could look forward to a gargantuan feast at the attached Apple Pie Restaurant, located just off the hotel lobby. The food there was delicious, and there was no shortage of choices on the menu any given day, and the staff there was about to be very busy. For some reason, though, the Kearn twins, Christopher and Allison didn't quite feel like eating there. After all, they were kids, so they preferred eating at the nearby Pizza Circus just a couple of minutes away even by walking. Their parents, on the other hand, weren't all that keen on it.
In the room next to theirs, however, was a well-off couple—named John and Amelia Richarding—and their teenage daughter—Amanda. The daughter, however, wasn't quite as keen on eating at the hotel restaurant either. That's not to say that she didn't want any of the food there. But she was claustrophobic, and huge crowds often led to panic attacks. This often left her parents baffled since more often than not, she had been described as somewhat of a social butterfly by her peers—and even some of her teachers at school. She was, however, comfortable in smaller crowds, but she anticipated that the restaurant was going to be full for much of the weekend.
In any case, somehow, the Kearns and the Richardings met at some point shortly after they had checked in. At least the families did. Mike Kearn and John Richarding had met before at a business conference a while ago and got to know each other over lunch that time, and now, after about a year had passed since, they were finally able to introduce their respective families to each other. While the parents wanted to eat at the hotel restaurant, the kids weren't as enthusiastic about that idea. As stated earlier, they much preferred to dine at the nearby Pizza Circus restaurant. Amanda offered to take the Kearn twins, and their parents agreed to that. Needless to say, a good time was had by all at the Pizza Circus, and the same could be said at the hotel restaurant. But one thing was certain: the kids' collective desire to eat elsewhere would prove to be to their benefit as the weekend progressed.
That particular evening, long after everyone had eaten and, in fact, long after most everyone in the hotel had gone to bed, Karen suddenly awoke in the middle of the night with a little bit of a stomach ache. She got up and went to tend to personal matters. Meanwhile, Christopher could barely sleep a wink. He had a strange case of insomnia that night and couldn't stay asleep longer than about ten minutes at a time to save his life. So, with flashlight in hand, he started reading—and re-reading—some of his favourite Dr. Seuss books until he could once again fall asleep—that is, after he had read Green Eggs and Ham and The Cat in the Hat alternately about four times each. Strangely enough, though, it wasn't until after he had finally fallen asleep that Karen had finally finished tending to her personal matters, left the bathroom and gone back to bed—and back to sleep.
Meanwhile, next-door, chronic insomniac Amanda couldn't even sleep at all. Throughout much of the night, she tossed and turned in vain trying to sleep. Her parents fared no better, but for a different reason. They, too, suddenly woke up in the middle of the night with stomach troubles. So, after a brief session of Rock Paper Scissors, Amelia got up first and went to tend to her personal matters. Needless to say, it took her about 20 minutes, and then she was done. Afterwards, John went to take care of his personal matters, which took him about half-an-hour. Thereafter, they went back to sleep. Sadly, however, Amanda herself felt a rumble in her stomach also. So she got up and went to take care of her personal matters as well. Little did anyone realize, however, that that night—their first night at the hotel—would be the last night anyone—whatsoever—would be able to look after their personal matters comfortably.
