Repairing His Broken Heart

Family Time

  Shawna lives a simple and happy life as a cheerful pink airplane with her parents (Sonja and Kevin) and brother (Bubba) in Texas.

Sonja, the mother of Shawna and Bubba, was a beautiful blue color. She was tough, but she was very motherly and cared very deeply for her husband, daughter, and son. She had bright white stars lining up on her fuselage and a red stripe above and two red swipes below the stars. She sported red and white stripes on her wings. Her propeller had four blades. On each blade, she sported a red stripe and a blue stripe. To top off her patriotic design, she wore a beautiful headdress that contained a star covered in red glitter, a star covered in white glitter, a star covered in blue glitter, and a red dovetail-cut ribbon. Her eyes were brown.
Kevin, who was the husband of Sonja, and the father of Shawna and Bubba was a silver airplane. He was tough and hard-working. Like his son and his wife, he also had three big bright stars lining up on his fuselage. His silver wings also contained white stars. His propeller had three blades and the tips were silver. His eyes were hazel
Bubba was the (younger) brother of Shawna. He was playful, sporty, and a pain in his sister's tail! He was blue and also sported stars on his fuselage and wings. His propeller was similar to Kevin's, except Bubba's was smaller and the tips were blue. He had his father's eyes.

Shawna was the "black sheep" of the four. Her parents and her brother all had stars on there fuselages and/or wings. However, Shawna's paint job was very different. Her front was a light pink, which faded into a darker shade of pink towards the back. Her wings also had this. They started as a lighter pink towards her fuselage but faded into a darker pink towards the edge. She also had an elegant light purple accent hugging her fuselage and landing gear caps. She wore a beautiful headdress with purple, pink, and red roses. Her eyes were similar to her father's and brother's, but had more green in them.

Unlike them, Shawna never really took an interest in watching air-racing, or any sports for that matter (despite being a plane). While they were loudly cheering for their favorite racers, Shawna would seek peace and a quiet environment and contemplate why they took this sport as seriously as they did. Despite being a plane, air-racing just wasn't one of her many interests. And Shawna never participated in watching air-racing until they all had to go to one together. Shawna wasn't trilled of this, of course. She could be at home, watching funny videos on her skyPad.

"Get ready! We are going to fly to 7:00pm's air race!", the father commanded.

"Do I have to go to that thing? I want to stay house and watch FlewTube.", Shawna responded.

"I want you to go to this with us. We need to start doing more as a family. This is only a couple hours out of your day!", the mother responded sternly.

"There are plenty of things we can do as a family.", Shawna reminded her parents. "Going to air-races doesn't have to be one of them. If you force someone to go to something they don't want to, it will ruin the fun for the whole family."

"Shawna, if you kept an opened mind, you might find out that this could be one of your favorite things to watch.", Sonja assured her daughter.

"I watched it on T.V. for 19 years and never took in interest in it. What makes you think I'm gonna start now?", Shawna wondered.

"Shawna, you never watched any air-racing! Everytime we watch it, you lock yourself in your room and huff-and-puff about how 'we watch too much sports'", Bubba commented.

"I watch it when I have to go to the main room for something.", Shawna argued.

"Shawna, your are a plane, but you don't like to watch air-racing...what kinda of logic is that?", her father was curious.

"Plenty of planes aren't big racing fans.", Shawna argued. "Why does that have to affect my likes and dislikes?"

"As a plane, you are supposed to be interested in things having to do with flying and excitement.", her father believed.

"And I am. But sitting down and watching a bunch of stuck-up airplanes fly as high as their egos just isn't one of them.", Shawna replied with sass.

"Don't be like that, Shawna.", Shawna's mother commanded. "Just because someone is famous, doesn't mean them rude and selfish."

"Well, that's not what I hear all the time.", Shawna replied.

"I'm not assuming that all of the air-racers are good planes outside of air-racing, but I'm also not assuming that they are all stuck-up.", the mother clarified.

"Look, that isn't my point!", Shawna snapped. "My point is that I don't want to be crammed in the bleachers for three hours just to watch a bunch of planes fly around."

"But you're not just watching them fly. They do all this amazing tricks and overcome obstacles!", the mother responded, trying to get Shawna to change her tune about this

"Okay, I'll go. But of I don't like it, please don't make me go to the next one.", Shawna responded, finally giving in.

"All your father and I are trying to do is finding events we four can go to as a family. If you enjoy the race, cool! If not, we won't bring you back."

"Okay, But please don't complain if I come back not liking it.", Shawna warned her parents.

Shawna, her parents, and her brother all took a flight to San Antonio, the location of the race. The flight was really enjoyable for Shawna in particular. Since Shawna is a homebody, she usually prefers to play-fly around the house. Shawna was never one for traveling. She was interested enough with the entertainment provided for her at home. So, despite not wanting to go to the event she was flying to. She enjoyed viewing the world below her, flying in silence. Still, this wasn't worth a sitting still in the bleechers for three hours. Their seats were reserved a week in advance, so they could all sit together. Shawna watched the racers line up and looked at the placing list, trying who is who. The announcer came on after five minutes.

"It's is a beautiful evening here in San Antonio, Texas!", Brent Mustangburger said enthusiastically. The evening sky is slowly fading into night, it's nice and warm, and crickets are chirping peacefully. Perfect weather for a little racing, I must say! Dusty Crophopper and Ripslinger are seriously propeller-to-propeller in their racing careers! They are always coming in at first and second together! Last week, Ripslinger won the obstacle race by a mere MILLISECOND to Dusty Crophopper in Concord, New Hampshire. It is very possible for the tables to be turned this time around! Dusty is looking pretty determined with his lucky #7 he inherited from former U.S. Navy plane, Skipper!"

Dusty shoots a smug look at Ripslinger. "Ready to lose, Ripstinker?", Dusty teased.

Ripslinger heard the piercing excitable voice shoot through his ears. He turns to the orange trash-talking plane right behind him. "Ha! You're wanting to talk! You slaved on a small farm for five years straight while I've been getting better at air-racing around the ENTIRE WORLD! Who seems more worthy of the gold medal now, farmboy?", Ripslinger teased back making an angry face.

"You are the one who crashed into the porta johns!", Dusty reminded Ripslinger "While I was celebrating my first victory! If you wouldn't have been too busy shooting for the cameras, you wouldn't have crashed and been teased."

"Haha! As if you weren't stupid enough...you are supposed to have the crowd shoot pictures right before you cross the finish line, you twit!", Ripslinger responded with anger.

"Actually, right AFTER you cross the finish line So you don't screw up and let someone pass you!"

Ishani, one of the most skillful female racers was considered one of the most aerodynamic planes to ever grace the sky was qualified just behind Dusty. She heard the argument that was breaking out in front of her.

"You need to get a grip!", Ishani reminded sternly reminded Ripslinger. "Any real champion knows that they can't win them all."

"Stay out of this, girl!", Ripslinger snapped. "You had the chance to earn my greatness, but you failed!"

"Don't you talk to her like that!", Dusty commanded, defending Ishani. "You know what, Ripslinger?! It can do you good to lose a couple of races. It's okay to be happy for someone once in a while."

"Ha! I can't believe I have to race with a bunch of fakers! Why would I be happy for a bunch of piles of scrap that call themselves racers?! I'm not here to watch you so-called racers win. I'm here to show the world how good of a role model and racer I am!"

"You know, Ripslinger? There is more to life than victory and fame!", Ishani responded, trying to remind the mean, green airplane ahead of her and Dusty.

"Ha! Well, the one thing I'm in pursuit of is fame, the only thing that means anything to me... Besides myself, of course...haha!"

"That's sad.", Ishani thought. "There is so much more to life than winning and becoming famous for it. This career we chose isn't just about winning. It's about making friends and building a family."

"Why would I be friends with a bunch of losers? Let alone consider you guys FAMILY?! You guys don't treat me like the amazing role model I am, so you guys don't deserve my companionship!"

Brent didn't hear what the top three placers were arguing about, but he could tell they were arguing about something by studying their facial expressions and gestures.

"It looks like there is an argument breaking out between Ripslinger, Dusty, and Ishani!", Brent figured out. "The rivalry is really heating up between these three!"

El Chupacabra and Rochelle were placed in 4th and 5th place respectively. These two love planes have been dating since 2013 and still have the feeling of "new love" when they bat their windscreens at each other.

"I'll be waiting for you at the finish line, my chica!", El Chupacabra winked.

"No, no, no. I'll will be waiting for you, my little burrito.", Rochelle replied flirtatiously.

"And it looks like our 4th and 5th placers are in love!", Brent stated in a sing-song tone.

The announcer saw the two love planes making flirty gestures at each other. Rochelle was Canadian and El Chupacabra was Mexican. It was pure fate that brought these two lovebirds together.

Bulldog stood in sixth place, trying to decipher the fighting between Ripslinger, Dusty, and Ishani and the flirting between El Chupacabra and Rochelle. They were both happening at once.

After 10 minutes of arguing and flirting, which the audience didn't know about, it was finally time for the race to start.

"Ladies and gentleplanes! It it time to take to the skies!", Brent announced, followed by a passionate wave of a green flag.

"GO, DUSTY!", Bubba cheered.

"WOOOOOOOOO!", Kevin exclaimed.

"Mom, who are you rooting for?", Shawna wondered.

"Hmm, I like Ishani." her mother answered.

"Which plane is that?", Shawna wondered.

"She has the fiery colors and has a green 6.", her mother answered.

"Number 13 is killing it out there! He isn't bad-looking either!", Shawna thought.

"That's Ripslinger!", her father told her. "So far, he is the only four-time winner in the Wings Around the Globe Rally!"

"Wow! That's impressive.", Shawna said, widening her eyes.

"We may go the one coming up in three mouths.", Kevin announced to his wife, daughter and son. "It will be nice to travel around the globe, take in new scenery, and learn about different cultures."

"Man! I wanna go to ITALY!", Sonja stated with excitement.

"We will check the race locations for the next rally and see if Italy is one of them."

"I think it will be good for Shawna and Bubba to learn different cultures.", Sonja agreed.

"We'll get the dates and the locations for the next Wings Around the Globe Rally as soon as we can. We still have a good few months before then."

"Ripslinger and the orange plane are head to head!", Shawna commented enthusiastically.

"The orange plane is Dusty Crophopper, dork.", her father laughed.

"Well, excuse me for not paying attention to something I was never interested in.", Shawna replied with sass.

"Well, are you enjoying now?", her mother wondered.

"Yeah, I guess this is pretty exciting. Ripslinger is really showing the others how it's done."

"I thought you would be more interested in Ishani.", her mother commented.

"She is pretty neat, too, but Ripslinger is really delivering what is expected in sports!"

"I still can't get over the time Dusty Crophopper beat Ripslinger in the Wings Around the Globe in 2013! That was the most amazing thing in sports history!", Bubba thought.

"How does a BEGINNER beat the world's greatest CHAMPION?!", Shawna freaked.

"Stranger things have happened, babe.", the mother added

"You do know 'Stranger things have happened' is code for 'I'm too lazy to answer that question', right?", Shawna asked.

"Dusty happened to be dominant enough during the race to cut the ribbon before Ripslinger did. How's that for a good answer?"

"That's about the best answer I'm gonna get, huh?"

"Yep!"

"I still don't understand how someone new to racing can be more dominant and skillful than someone who has been in the racing world for 14 years", Shawna commented.

"I almost forgot! Ripslinger suffered a terrible crash as well. He crashed into the porta johns! Couldn't even fly after that. He was almost in TEARS when he left New York.", Bubba brought up.

"Aww, poor guy.", Shawna thought. "It's good to see that he has recovered well.",

"Remember when one of the forklifts called him RipSTINKER? That cracked me up!", Kevin wondered, followed by a brief laugh.

"That made me laugh really hard! He probably did stink from crashing into all those porta johns.", Bubba responded

"Dad, Bubba, that's mean...", Shawna responded with sadness in her tone. "How would you guys feel if you crashed, lost a race that meant the world to you, and got tased on top of that?"

"I thought you didn't care about air-racing.", her father commented.

"That doesn't mean I can't feel sorry for one of the racers.", Shawna argued.

"You know, I heard Ripslinger is a total JERK! Especially to his fellow racers.", Bubba announced.

"A lot of famous planes are assumed to be jerks that only care about money, fame, and themselves. Just because it's assumed, it don't mean it's true.", Shawna believed.

"No. You don't get it. I go to to do my research. Rip actually tried to get Dusty fired from racing."

"Holy crap!", Shawna exclaimed.

"RSN is the most reliable website for sports.", her father added.

"Is there still an article about Ripslinger on ?", Shawna wondered.

"Yes, there is.". Bubba whips out his skyPhone and brings up the most notorious article on the site about Ripslinger. He then gives his phone to Shawna so she can read it for herself.

~Ripslinger has been apart of air-racing since he was 13 (August 2003). He won countless races. In 2010, he began his three-time Wings Around the Globe Rally streak and won the big race in 2011 and in 2012. In 2013, former famer Dusty Crophopper joins the racing world and breaks Ripslinger's winning streak against all odds. Angry about being surpassed by the new racer, Ripslinger plots to ruin Dusty's career.

He ruined his farm in Propwash Junction, hoping it will make Dusty "too busy to race". He also wrecks an entire course, disguised as Dusty, making it look like he was the one to do the damage. Cameras caught him before the disguise, which was the part Ripslinger overlooked. This act got Ripslinger suspended for the Wings Around the Globe Rally in 2014.

He was able to race again in 2015 and wins his fourth Wings Around the Globe Rally. However, he was able to win by brutally and purposefully crashing into Dusty 10 feet from the finish line. Dusty wasn't able to finish the race and was taken to the emergency room. Ripslinger was booed by the entire audience, including the ones who were his fan before.~

"Wow! You weren't kidding! He's a real jerk!", Shawna's reaction was.

"You can't doubt what's on . They only put things on there that have been proven.", Bubba stated.

"Is there anything on there about his personal life?", Shawna asked.

"The site isn't allowed to release anything about the personal lives of racers without their permission.", Bubba answered.

"I guess that's a no?"

"Yes, Shawna. I thought it should be pretty obvious."

"What's Ripslinger's problem?", Shawna wondered.

"Shh! Keep it down! Everybody can hear you!", Sonja whispered .

"Read what his biography says, mom!". Shawna gives Bubba's phone to her mom, so she can read it.

Sonja lifts the phone from Shawna's wing using hers and Sonja also reads about Ripslinger's racing past. Her reaction was just as strong as Shawna's.

"Holy shit!", Sonja exclaimed. "Yeah, Shawna. You don't need to be looking up to him."

"This is the first race I've watched and he seems like an outstanding racer. Why can't his conduct be as good?"

"Some racers go to drastic measures just to move up in their career, babe.", Sonja answered her daughter.

"How am I supposed to know what racers have good sportsmanship?", Shawna wondered.

"Most of them do! It's really only Ripslinger that shows a lack of sportsmanship."

"I gotta say. I'm kinda disappointed finding that out. I was getting ready to give my rootings to him.", Shawna commented.

"There are plenty of good racers to choose from You can root for Ishani with me", her mother suggested.

"I really don't know if this is going to be my quart of oil...", Shawna doubted.

. . .

Before the family knew it, the race was wrapping up. Nothing but screaming and cheering were heard in the bleechers. Most of those cheers were for Dusty, who became the most popular air racer after his very first race. After all, he was a rookie who beat a racing champion!

"And Dusty wins the race! ", Brent shouted.

Orange fireworks went off as the excitement in the bleachers increased. Even those who were fans of other air racers were excited.

Ishani flies down to meet Dusty. "Congratulations, my champion!". Ishani tightly embraces Dusty in her wings. "I'm so proud of you, sweetie!"

Dusty hugs her back. "Thanks, Ishani.", he whispers.

"WHOO! That race was AWESOME!", Kevin shouted!

"You bet your tail it was!", Bubba agreed.

"I'm happy y'all's favorite racer won!". Even though Sonja's favorite racer was Ishani, she also had a lot of respect for Dusty. Not just because of his racing past, but because her husband and her son were passionate fans of him.

"Thanks, babe.". Kevin reaches over and gives his wife a kiss.

Shawna flew back home, doubting if this was going to be a good new hobby she can have with her family. She didn't like being crammed in the bleechers with a million other planes, she was sensitive to all the screaming, and she didn't have anybody her heart told her to root for. She wasn't sure about this.

"So, Shawna, how did you enjoy the race?", her mother asked.

"It was alright.", Shawna answered briefly. "I don't think going to these is going to be my thing."

"You seemed have enjoyed yourself towards the beginning", her mother pointed out.

"I did.", Shawna admitted. "But after a while, I just got tired of all the other planes and their loud noises. You know I don't like my atmosphere to be like that."

"Okay. You tried going to one and you didn't like it. We won't make you go to anymore."

Shawna sighed. "Thank you, mom.", Shawna gently hugs her mother. "Maybe, I'll change my mind soon.", Shawna assured her mother.