My American Dream

Chapter 1

The great beast's resounding roar echoed across the walls, shaking the entire room. It's massive mane, though magnificent, made it's appearance much more intimidating.

My twin brother, Ivan, stared intently at the king of the jungle from his place in the hotel bed.

The fierce lion swatted a powerful paw, dagger-like claws and all, into the air.

"One swing of this great beast's paw can slaughter almost any prey he would care to eat," the resonant documentary voice rang over the TV speakers.

I didn't pay any attention to the animal planet show, despite it being my favourite channel.

This had been my life for an entire week now:  Animal planet in a California hotel room, never even changing out of my pajamas, nor even leaving my shared bed, knowing I would stay here all day.

I gazed around our Holiday inn room, for lack of something better to do. Our hotel accommodations, though inexpensive, were much more comfortable than those in my home country of Serbia.

The large, queen sized bed Ivan and I shared had been dutifully made in the morning.

Due to my parent's over loaded schedule, their duplicate bed remained untouched.

I knew my perfectionist personality would have not conceded in exasperating me with anxious annoyance at any sight of the bed unmade. For this reason, I fixed it.

Our family four-piece identical luggage set remained virtually untouched on the couch next to the door.

I twitched my nose at the awful smell of black coffee blended with that of cheap 'mountain air' air freshener.

Despite being bored out of my mind, I had no desire to venture out into the crowded city.

Ivan didn't appear at all bothered by our grim melancholy. He sat, Indian style, in the centre of our shared bed, his eyes mediating between the documentary on the television screen in front of him, and his hand, which possessed his phone.

I slid my back across the head rest, moving my body over, reaching for my phone which sat on my side of the bed's nightstand.

I instinctively scrolled down my apps list heading directly to Instagram.

My notifications was empty, granted I had probably just checked twenty minutes ago.

I took a glance at my profile.

My follower count was slightly over one thousand. Considering Ivan and I shared an account I supposed most were there for him.

Part of being a twin is sharing everything, even your bedroom. As a kid I didn't mind this, but as I grew I began to wish for more of my own space.

Despite being twins, Ivan and I had many personality differences. The most obvious of these being confidence. Ivan had plenty. Me? Well, let's just say I'll never be confident as long as mirrors exist.

An abrupt jolt shocked me out of my thoughts, back to reality.

I looked up to see what had caused the mattress to bump so suddenly.

As expected, Ivan was the source. His phone's sound was on loud making the unexpected ring alarm him.

"Здраво," Ivan picked up the call with a typical Serbian 'hello', pronounced like Zdravo.