Wednesday, September 3rd, 2043.
It was the end of summer, and I could not help but look back upon my wonderful vacation. To be honest, though, as I took my seat on the jumbo jet with the window on my right and my father and younger sister on my left, I was glad to be leaving the Land Down Under. Living within both hiking and splashing distance of lethal creatures for a month straight could drive anyone paranoid, right? This list included snakes, alligators, crocodiles, freshwater stingrays, and bull sharks, to name a few. And not to mention, I could have sworn that I heard the hissing of snakes near my room on that first night in July... and every other night after that.
When I did ask the various hotel staff about it, they all succinctly replied, "It's a secret."
Hey, you do not have to believe me; I was sure that my nightmares were caused by something else, like the wind, or those funky cheese sandwiches the same hotel staff served at supper time, every time. I guess I should not complain too much. At least it was over, and that I had the prospects of High School to look forward to. I swallowed.
I buckled my seatbelt as a Flight Attendant began blabbering about safety protocols. I honestly tried to listen, but after hearing it dozens of times as I had traveled by plane a lot in my life so far, I just settled to look out of the window. I saw an Eagle Air Australia Jumbo parking into Gate-11. The ground crew was scrambling with lightning speed and precision to do their various tasks.
I soon felt the jet I was on start to move, so I rested my head on my father's strong shoulder and lazily said, "Wake me when we arrive, Dad. I'm tired." To add emphasis, I suddenly gave a good yawn.
"No problem son; sleep tight," his deep voice replied. I closed my eyes as I felt him slipping his arm over the back of my head to support me. Safe and warm, I began to drift into sleep. The last thing I felt before my world went dark was the jet speeding down for takeoff, which resulted in powerful G-forces that held me glued to my seat.
I opened my eyes to my worst possible nightmare. Every single seat was crawling with icky, legless lizards. There was no one but me and a Flight Attendant. She was being strangled to death by a large, lengthy boa. Her features were an unhealthy shade of purple and her eyes were already white. I did the only logical thing a 13-year-old in my shoes would have done. At the top of my lungs, I screamed, "SNAKES!"
I felt a large hand cover my mouth. "Calm down, Bill! We have arrived!" said my father's voice in a hurried tone. I stopped screaming and looked around. An overwhelming number of eyes were upon me as if I were insane. And I could not blame them, either. Not many people disturbed the peace on an airplane, after all. But as you could see, I was not very fond of snakes.
Business resumed soon enough though as the line began moving again. I sighed as my father removed his hand. In a caring voice, he asked, "Another nightmare?" I nodded absently. "It is alright. We're home. Come on son; let us get going."
"Okay, Dad." I undid my buckle and got up from my seat. I followed him and my sister along the aisle. Looking ahead, it appeared to me that the line had no end. Our flight was a 500 passenger Eagle Air Talon-064 Jumbo. Our seats were somewhere near the middle of the 2nd floor arrangement. We were walking towards the rear exit. Oh my... Getting off of this jet will take a while, I thought. I know I'm not a five year old, but my feet are already killing me.
"Please keep moving along in an orderly fashion," a Flight Attendant would say every now and then, along with more protocol which I decided to drown out. It was the fastest way through this torture. I just focused on Dad's ever present back.
Within 25 minutes of walking, we arrived at Customs and Immigration. We went through the routine of showing our passports, filling out forms, passing out clothes and hand luggage through the scanner, filling out more forms, receiving our suitcases and then finally making our way towards the parking lot. That was a lot of walking, all of the back and forth included.
"Bill, I told you that you shouldn't have watched that "Snakes on A Plane" Movie!" admonished my know-it-all sister, Ameera. I sighed as I looked out from the car window.
West Sun International Airport was far behind as we were making our way home. Mom had been waiting for us at the parking lot with our white sedan. She had been unable to get any vacation in time for her to come with us to Australia. It would be a not-too-long drive home, and I was already exhausted thanks to the flight.
"I know, Sis, I know," I replied after a while. "But it was really cool, and totally worth it!"
All I heard from her was, "Tsk, tsk, tsk."
"Come on you two. Be nice," admonished Salyne Punjabé, our mother. Dad's name was Sandrique. And that was us, the Punjabé family. My parents hailed from the seaside city of Panaji, Goa, India, but my sister and I were born and raised right here in this country of Santa Pyre. Only our missing older brother Enrique was from India. We all had peach brown skin and manageable dark hair. Ameera possessed Mom's shoulder length hair, while I had my Dad's miniature bowl shape of a forest. Our hair was quite thick for males and we have never cut it fully. We could even hide coins in our hair!
Allow me to take the time to tell you about the country. Located in the Philippine Sea, Santa Pyre was a large island country founded on February 20th 2022 by Sir Arthur Midian. Since it was only 21 years old, the vast majority of its adults were immigrants from a wide variety of countries, so much so that we had a melting pot of culture. Our capital was known as Saint Pyre. My family lived in a village called Brown Hills. Santa Pyre had three villages, four towns, four cities and two suburban housing areas. Santa Pyre's wildlife consisted only of introduced and migratory species, but there were also a few native plants found nowhere else on Earth. Late in 2025, our economy had become established on the mining and exporting of a special element with unique properties that was discovered in early 2021, and could only be found here to our knowledge.
Oh, I was putting you to sleep? That is okay; I did not like history either. It was pretty boring to me.
Anyway, seeking to amuse myself after a good while on our drive home, I asked, "Are we there yet?"
"We are just entering Brown Hills, Bill," answered Dad.
Mom was driving, though, as it was her car. "It won't be too long anymore, dear," she added.
It was around two o'clock when I stepped out of our white Toyota sedan onto slightly mossy concrete. I could not recall when the last time that our driveway had gotten a power wash was. Assuming my parents knew what that was, anyway.
The sun was pretty high up there in that perpetually clear sky, only two hours past his zenith. I looked around me and beheld the same lumpy brown and green land. Brown Hills was so named due to the abundance of the native Pyre Plants; tall trees whose leaves were brown on top and green below. In bloom their flowers were shaped like maple leaves in an arrangement of five bright red petals, hence the name Pyre (fire).
I turned to the car and helped Ameera pull our large, shared suitcase out of it and across the lawn over to the front door. Mom was already unlocking it, and she then went back to help Dad with the unloading of the other things. Ameera and I took in that fresh peach pine scent the floors gave off as we made our way across it to a flight of stairs.
Up we went, took the left, past big Bro's old room, and finally arrived at ours. I opened the door and we stepped into a room split in half. On my half, the wall paper was a custom of Blue Winged Teal ducks and White Angora Rabbits, and on Ameera's side were pink hearts against a simple white background. From the door to the wall was a dividing white line. It was a big room. Do not get me wrong; we loved each other. It was just a reminder of our mutual agreement to keep the peace.
What peace, you ask? If you really must know: we used to be on such opposite wavelengths that any clash of opinion between us would result in some very loud household-disturbing warfare. A simple sibling rivalry, you say? Perhaps. Regardless, our parents had ended that a few years ago, so it was all good nowadays. "ME FIRST!" we shouted simultaneously.
"After you," I said with what I presumed to be a gentleman's smile.
"Why, thank you!" Ameera replied, with a little too much enthusiasm, thus killing my vibe. She dug out her things, and then I dug out mine. I went to my bed and worked wearily to put everything away before practically throwing myself onto the bed. I was way too tired to think about food, and that was a contradiction in itself. I closed my eyes and, before long, fell into a deep sleep. I did not wake up until the very next day.
September 4th.
I woke up with a burning hunger that Thursday morning. I jumped out of bed, cover flying, and rushed out the bedroom door. The aroma of bacon and eggs led me down the stairs in a haphazard rush to the kitchen table. Everyone was already seated, so I sat down carefully before greeting a rushed, "Good morning, all."
"Good morning, son," answered Father, putting down his newspaper.
"Glad you could make it," jeered Ameera.
"Now, now, Ameera." Mom then looked at her husband. "Sandrique-Dear, won't you say grace over the meal this morning?" she asked.
"By all means," replied Dad. We bowed our heads and he said grace. When he was done, "OK, dig in, everyone!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" I replied as I dug in like a horse was after me. I finished my breakfast of toast, fried eggs, bacon and orange juice in no time flat. "Seconds, please!"
My parents exchanged glances before taking my plate and serving me a second helping. This one I ate more slowly, taking my time to enjoy the meal. When I was done, I passed the plate to Mom. She took everyone else's and went to the sink. Ameera got up to go help her.
When the doorbell suddenly chimed, Dad went back to his newspaper and motioned for me to get the door. I complied, hoping that it was the person I thought it would be. I opened the door. It was him "Sammy!" I cried.
"Yo, Bill! Long time no see!"
Meet Samuel Fuller, my best friend and partner in crime. While I was the calm, meticulous thinker, he was the fun-loving mischief maker. I was only two months older than him. The two of us had been into all kinds of scraps. And with High School just on the horizon, you could be sure that even more adventures were waiting just ahead.
"How was Australia?" he asked. "See anything scary?"
"Scary visited my window every night at the hotel!" I replied in hyperbole.
"No kidding!?" As usual, he took my exaggeration seriously. Though, I did have a close encounter with a tiny species of scorpion. It was on my bed when I was going to turn in for the night. I do not believe that I could ever scream loudly like that ever again. The entire hotel was disturbed...
"Anyway, Australia was great. Kangaroos are awesome! How was your summer?"
"Eh, could've been better, could've been worse." He tried to speak with indifference. That told me that his summer was horrible. He probably spent the whole excruciating August at his Grandma's, the poor guy.
I rested a comforting palm on his shoulder. "You have my sympathies, man."
He brushed my hand aside. "Enough about the past; let's talk about the future!"
"Ah yes, I guess you're right," I remarked. "We're in the big leagues now. High school's just around the corner!"
"Just think about all of the pranks we're gonna pull! The possibilities are endless!" There were stars in his eyes. I sighed, shaking my head. Middle school had taught him nothing, squat, zilch.
I decided to lay down the law. "Not this time, bud. The two of us are going to work hard and keep a low profile!" Sammy just stared at me as if I were mad. I then saw the need to expound further. "We have got stricter odds this time around. And we have to start thinking about our future. Our REAL future," I stressed when I caught his grin, which then turned into a frown.
"Yes Rabbi Punjabé, your wisdom exceedeth the heavens," he replied in his favorite way of mocking me. "Anyway, I'll see you around."
"You're leaving already?"
"Unfortunately, I came with my Big Sis. She's only given me a short time limit in which to do my business here." He stepped aside in order to clear away my confusion. I simply looked ahead. Standing on the side facing the house of a red car, tapping her foot impatiently, with wavy long hair, was Samuel's pretty older sister, Samantha. I waved sheepishly and she smiled as she waved back.
"Hi, Bill!" she called. Then she took up texting on her phone as she apparently just received a message.
I turned to Sammy. "Ah, I see. Well, see you in school, Bud. Only four days left. Take care." We fist pumped.
"Later, Bill," he replied as he left. I watched them drive off, and then shut the door behind me. I went back to the kitchen.