There are lots of tests that people are put through throughout their lives. Sometimes it's a test of courage, others it's a test of resilience.
Right now, sitting in the back of my mom's car, being poked repeatedly by one toddler and screamed at by another, having to avoid the spilled chocolate milk and Cheerios on the floor; my test is patience.
Ember and Lottie are twins, and are possibly the most confusing people I have ever had the chance of encountering.
One minute they'll be the sweetest siblings in the world, innocently asking me to read them a story. And then BAM. The next thing you know, you're being pinned down on the couch by Ember, and having your hair turned into a sort of mangled beehive by Lottie.
Most of the time though, I can handle them. My mom yells at me for my tactics saying to use "kid gloves", but I think locking them in the closet, making them believe they were kidnapped by the evil troll that lives inside the junk food pantry is a very effective plan. Plus, they stay away from my junk food pantry.
Pushing my ear buds in further to block the noise, I lean back in the middle seat and attempt to take a nap. Key word in that sentence would be attempt.
My right ear bud is yanked out of my ear and the noise I had been trying to block out comes crashing down on my eardrums.
I whip around to face my younger sister, Bree. She's fourteen and quite the entitled little brat. Sure she can be decent, but most of the time she's just a hormonal mess.
I give her a look that says do that again and I'll launch you out the window. She simply rolls her eyes and nods her head to the front of the car. Turning around I see me father looking at me expectantly.
I sigh and tug out my other ear bud, silencing my music.
"Sorry dad, what?"
"I was asking if you wanted to go fishing while we're there."
"Oh, yeah sure." I replied.
We were currently on our way to a lakeside resort that resided in the northern part of Minnesota. It had barely been thirty minutes on the road and already I was more than ready to get out of this car.
Making sure no one else was trying to talk to me, I put my earbuds back in and turned the volume up as loud as I could stand without losing my hearing altogether.
I'm on the brink of falling asleep when, once again, my earbud is ripped from my ear. Only this time it's Lottie, and she's laughing as if what she did was the funniest thing in the world. I'm about to reprimand her, but Ember pulls my other earbud out and joins Lottie in her giggle fest.
Sitting in the middle of these two, it'll be a miracle if I make it to the resort unharmed.
"Lottie please don't do that. It's rude. You too Ember." I say exasperatedly, pulling my earbuds out of their fists.
"But I wanna play with them." Lottie says trying to grab them back.
"No they're not for playi-no stop that. No, stop sit down. Lottie don- Ember get that out of your mouth. Lottie that's my hair. Ember sit down you're going to hurt yourself."
At this point they're practically clawing to get out of their car seats to get my earbuds.
"Ugh dad can I switch with Bree? They're driving me crazy."
"In a few minutes sweetie, I promise." he says without looking up from his phone.
Ember grabs a fistful of my long hair and just holds onto it as if her life depends on it.
Lottie resorts to trying to grab the bobby pins out of my hair.
"Dad can you please control your children? Your daughter is being mauled back here." I say as calmly as I can, while I try to restrain Lottie and untangle Ember's fingers from my hair.
He finally turns around and says "Girls, stop harassing your sister."
That of course does nothing but he's already turned back around and on his phone again. Maybe I can duct tape them down without him noticing. That should control them.
"Lottie look there's a super rare pine tree over there." I say pointing out the window. She takes the bait and looks excitedly out her window.
"I WANNA SEE! I WANNA SEE!" Ember practically screams and uses my arm as a rope to pull herself up, leaving scratches all down my arm.
Well that kind of backfired.
"Enjoying yourself?" A voice says in my ear.
"Can it, Bree."
"No need to be rude."
"No need to be an incessant little-"
"SOPHIE." My mom cried.
"I was going to say sandwich."
"You were most definitely not." she scolded, glaring at me through the rear view mirror.
"There's a gas station coming up in twenty minutes. Bree I want you to switch with Sophie once we stop." my dad says, finally putting his parental power to use.
"Why can't she just stay there? She's the oldest, she should be practicing for when she becomes a parent. These are skills she needs to have."
I give her an incredulous look.
"Yes, because at eighteen it's about time I settle down and have kids of my own." I say.
She flicks me off, but her timing is off because my mother just happens to look up.
"Bree, I don't want to see that finger again. When we stop I'm taking your
phone."
"What?! No that wasn't even my middle finger! That was my ring finger!"
"No it wasn't. Don't lie to me or it'll
be two weeks without your phone."
Starting the family vacation off with a bang. Two weeks in a cabin with them? This ought to be interesting.
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