Egyptian Vanity

Avigation

I held my breath and tried to pop my ears as we reached the highest altitude of the flight. I huffed and leaned against the window and watched as the clouds slowly passed around up. I had my earbuds in my ears, blasting my music, hoping my mom would get the hint and leave me alone.

But to no avail, a poke at my shoulder snapped me out of my music bubble. I took the earbud out and turned to my ever eager mother.

"Oh, honey. This trip is just what you need before you start college. Cairo is beautiful, baby. You're going to love it." My mother said in attempt to make me excited about our "vacation" but I knew this trick.

"I can only imagine," I comment and force a fake smile before turning and looking out of the window, trying to block out her faux plans. She didn't plan to do anything but escape with my dad to work on the business. Much like they did last year in Dubai.

I popped my earbud back in and tried to drown out the noise of the plane. She thinks I'm daft, that I didn't notice her and dad gathering papers and shuffling them into their briefcases. I'm 18 and I still have no clue what they actually do, it's all silent and I like it that way. It was just aggravating that they couldn't even spend time with their daughter before sending her off some private college across America.

The flight from Miami to Cairo was almost 17 hours and we had taken off half an hour ago. 16 hours and 30 minutes left. I closed my eyes and tried to think of all the fun things I was going to get to experience alone. It gets quite lonely sometimes, though I never complain. They give me everything, they have to work for it somehow. My only problem is I haven't asked for any of that, and don't get me wrong, I'm so grateful for everything but I've only really asked for their attention and love.

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I know I'm being jostled awake. Sharp kicks are being laid to the back of my seat. I turn slightly in my seat and see a little boy behind me, purposely kicking the back of my seat while his parents are sound asleep. I sigh and turn around, letting him kick my seat. He'll stop soon, anyway.

I was wrong. 20 minutes later, he was still going strong. I tried everything, moving my seat forward, clearing my throat and trying to get someone's attention, I even turned around and gave him a pleading look but he didn't let up. I was trying to avoid confrontation but this was getting a wee bit ridiculous. I turned around and looked the little boy dead in the eye.

"Could you possibly stop kicking the back of my seat, I'm trying to sleep." The little boy feigned sadness before trailing his finger down his cheek, pretending to cry. He then smirked, sending another round of hard kicks to the back of my seat. I gasped, not believing what I was seeing. I was being nice and this little kid is being a little brat. I quickly sat back down in my seat and endured the kicks to my back. Perhaps if I tried hard enough, I could pretend it was a back massage.

The kid must have tired some after a few hours and drifted to sleep like his parents. I sighed in content before closing my own eyes, trying to find my own peace. My phone must have died while I was asleep so when I couldn't sleep, I had to resort to looking out the window. It was completely dark out as we drifted through the sky.