"What do you mean you're not coming!?" I shouted at my cellphone, or more namely, Ben.
I was standing in the waiting area of an airport, (which shall remain nameless for the time being. I never bother to check…), and supposedly was waiting for Ben and Abigail to join me. Ben paused, and I could almost picture him grinning sheepishly on the other end. Almost. Since Ben had never assumed a sheepish presence while I was with him, I couldn't exactly picture that expression on his face. Except for the times when Abigail starts ranting, lecturing, accusing, scolding, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Then Ben assumes his, "I'm very, very afraid of you, and would like it if you stopped now, because I am likely to crumble one of these days," expression. I will never, ever bail him out of thosesituations. Yes, I will help him when he has committed a national crime, such as stealing the declaration, kidnapping the president, or almost destroying Mount Rushmore…Abigail? Yeah right.
"Ah…well…" Ben stopped to clear his throat. A fly buzzed by my ear.
"It's my wedding anniversary with Abigail, and…well. After she broke several Ming vases and a watch handed to one of my ancestors from Benjamin Franklin, not to mention a window, I realized it would be pointless to argue." Ben stopped.
I stared at my phone. Usually, I would just tease Ben endlessly if something like this happened under normal circumstances. But now…
"Ben...you're the treasure hunter. I'm not. Nobody will care that a Mr. Riley Poole is searching for the treasure. Benjamin Gates is the name they'll recognize. Although I can admit that they probably will love me when they realize how much more handsome I am, how much more intelligent, more--"
"Hey!"
I started to swat at the fly. People stared.
"Riley..." Ben started. I continued to wave my hand in the air in an effort to drive away the mosquito. The announcer's voice started. "Flight 13, boarding for Athens, Greece. Flight 13, boarding for Athens, Greece,"
Hurriedly Ben continued. "Riley, you're going to do great. I am jealous-"
"No duh,"
"Ahem. I am very jealous, but then, you've got the technology, historic facts...what could go wrong?"
I laughed, somewhat nervously, and gave up swatting the fly. Picking up my carry-on and laptop, I headed toward the gate.
Sure, I was nervous...but even I didn't know how wrong Ben was going to be.
Two Hours Into the Trip
"Are you uncomfortable? I am. I mean, the air-conditioning is blasting, and I could never figure out how to turn it off
when I was a kid. Do you know? 'Cause if you do, tell me. I honestly have no clue. Anyway, have you been to Greece before? I have, but I was, like, 7, and trust me, I was more interested in my Star Trek action figures. I still have the collector set. Hey, do you?--Hey! Hey! Where are you going? I can show you them if you want!"
The man next to me got up quickly, moving to a row somewhere in the far back.
5 Hours into the Trip
"Hey, baby, what's your-"
The woman in the aisle next to me asked an attendant to "do something to that young man over there." I eagerly followed the attendant away, but as I quickly found out, the lady hadn't meant it the good way.
9 Hours into the Trip
I stared in disgust at the falsely named, so-called, 'food' on my tray.
"Excuse me, but is this food, or are you trying to poison us? I mean, come on, that looks like cardboard with sand all over it. I ordered chicken, not office material!"
At the word poison, some people stared in shock at their dinners. It took a heck of a lot of convincing from the attendants to calm the people down.
12 Hours into the Trip
"Hey, who's flying this thing?!"
Suddenly I found myself sitting alone in the back of the plane, with a good empty three rows glaring at me from either side.
Departing the Plane
For some reason, there was a mad dash to leave the plane. People avoided me fearfully, while the attendants looked relieved when I stepped off the plane. I shrugged. The people had been so busy that they had dropped a few things in their haste. I left the airport with 100 more euros than planned, a Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi figure, (whoever owned it, I am exceedingly grateful), a couple of batteries, a stack of cards, comic books, and a variety of other objects that shall go unamed. Anyway, it looked as if I was the only one that enjoyed the flight. Go figure.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Well...yeah. Sorry it was short. I promise I'll get to the action part soon!"