Shards: Intro- Part 1 (old)

Chapter Eight: Sighting

DFW International Airport, Texas, United States of America

Travis Nelson
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I looked out the window as our airliner aligned with the runway; bouncing in anticipation like a child. In my mind, I still am a child in many ways. Who cares if I show excitement under these circumstances? I had every reason to be.

"That seat would've been mine if you"-
"Shut up." I commanded my younger brother Chester in a deep authoritative manner. I gave him the 'you're ruining the moment' look. "Kid, stop pestering me about small things. We're going to Europe and you're worried about a window view that I won fair and square. I'm the one who wanted to go in the first place! Not you.....me. When I'm gone, you can have the window seat all you'd like!"

Chester gaped at me like a spoiled child and turned to my parents. "Moooommm, Travis says I can't have the window seat ever again!" Could you be any louder on a crowded airliner?

I hated it when he tells on me, especially in pubic. Then dad gets angry, mom gets stressed for the next day or two, and Adrian plays the family angel and tries to scold us; even though I'm her older brother.
"I never said that!" I huffed in a whisper to dad who was starting to get as red as a tomato. "He's lying! I never said 'ever again'!"

I cringed in embarrassment when dad pointed a finger at me. "Alright you two, no phones. Give them over!" My father hissed at us both in his English accent.

He then pointed at me specifically.

"Start acting like and adult and stop being obnoxious to everyone around you because you two can't get along over a seat! Give over!"

But Chester continued on.

"Even though Travis is the one who started it, he gets away with-."

I took the opportunity to not argue back and put my phone into dad's open palm across the aisle without arguing on purpose to make Chester look like the instigator. I added in a "yes sir" and tried to look as apologetic as possible. Chester scoffed at me while he abdicated his own phone.

Being really discreet, Chester turned towards me and whispered in my ear something meant to anger me and provoke me to do something that would get me in trouble......but actually hurt me to hear.

"You need a bigger prescription to control your ADHD you stupid idiot."

The skin folds on the side of my nose twitched a bit. My dad was still scolding us both, but I wasn't listening. Did Chester just target my medical conditions? I forgot all about why we argued, and went into deep thought over his words. What I can take away from his insult is that Chester clearly didn't understand the impact of what he had just told me. Basically he legitimately believes that he can take advantage of me by using something (anything) I was born with against me; something I can't control.

I shook off the feeling and just looked aimlessly out the window. I didn't even know we started flying. When we travelled by plane, Chester and I used to always see who could find our house first when we took off. We hadn't done that together for years. In the corner of my eye, Chester wasn't looking out the window. He was sulking.

Chester Nelson
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The whole plane was asleep. I woke up to find that it wasn't that late yet. It was around midnight wherever we were over the ocean. To my right, Travis was cracking open the small window to look at the night sky. "Weren't we supposed to shut the windows earlier?" I reminded my brother.