When I was around 6 years old, I remember sitting on the counter in the kitchen and watching Uncle Rafe taking Daniel up in the plane. Mama hated me sitting on the counter. She said it wasn't the lady like thing to do, so I always made sure I was out of sight from her. She used to stand next to daddy's grave and talk to him about how much Daniel was like him. I hated my brother for it. Daniel always got attention from people who knew daddy.
"Oh look, he's so much like Danny!" they'd say. "Aren't you so proud Evelyn?"
Mama would just beam down at him and smile. They never looked at me. The truth was I was daddy's little girl, just like Daniel was daddy's son. Only I never got noticed like my twin brother did, because I looked nothing like daddy.
My long blonde curls and bright blue eyes were a mystery to the family. No one from either side of my family looked anything like I did. And they made me feel like an outcast because of it.
I was determined however to fly in that plane. I was gunna prove that I'm daddy's little girl.
When Daniel and me were 8, Uncle Rafe took my brother up flying, just like he did every Sunday after church. As me and mama stood by daddy's grave, telling him what we had done that week, the familiar sound of the plane engine stop. Mama looked up at gasp as the plane began to drop through the air.
"It's ok mama!" I said innocently. "Uncle Rafe is a brilliant flier, he'll land the plane safely,"
Mama looked down at me, expressionless. "And what do you know about flying?" she snapped. I flinched. I knew that I would be a better flier than Daniel one day.
That night, at the dinner table, Daniel declared he had an announcement to make.
"I don't want to fly anymore." He said simply. I looked up at him, then across to mama and uncle Rafe. They were both staring at him. Mama dropped her fork.
"You what?!" Uncle Rafe demanded.
"I don't wanna fly no more. I don't wanna end up like daddy. We could have died today. I don't wanna die yet."
"Daniel… today was nothing! You're daddy died fighting like a soldier in the war. Your daddy died so others could live, he saved lives. He saved mine."
"I don't care!" Daniel hollered. "I DON'T WANNA DIE LIKE DADDY DID! I WANNA GROW UP AND AVE A FAMILY!" and he fled from the table and up the stairs.
"Daniel Jack Walker, get yourself back down here! How dare you leave this table without permission!" Uncle Rafe roared after him. Mama stood up and touched his arm.
"Just leave him Rafe" she said gently, sitting back down at the table. Uncle Rafe stood standing for a few more seconds then calmed and too returned to the table.
We ate in silence for a few minutes, until Mama tried to cover up the sound of Daniels sobbs from the room above.
"So then Annabelle, is there anything you would like to get off you chest?" she asked, smiling at me.
I paused, wondering whether it was the right moment to declare what I wanted.
"Mama? Uncle rafe? Seen as Daniel doesn't want to fly anymore… do you think I could learn?" I asked timidly.