To fit the prompt, I went on the airplane and this couple next to me definitely wasn’t happy. They spoke a different language, but I think they were upset. In this part of the plane, I had the front, so there was no seats in front of us. This was meant for people that needed more leg room. I am very short, but I happened to be assigned the aisle seat in this row. On the window seat of this row, there was part of the emergency exit door that jutted out which defeated the more leg room thing. I don’t know if they wanted me to change with one of them, but they just looked at me weird and probably talked about me in a different language. This was a 7 and a half hour flight.

Then on the way home, I was at a window seat. My seatmates were okay this time around. There was this man diagonal of my row and he kept coughing. At first it just sounded like he was hacking out his lung, but then he legit threw up. I felt so bad since everyone within earshot cringed as we knew the pain of throwing up (and then throwing up in public). It wasn’t annoying, I just felt for him in that long moment.

——— Anyway, if you wanted to know more about my trip:

I’m going to talk about my Greece trip a smidge and later there may be writings about it. I just wanted to share since I feel like you guys are my friends!

Greece was amazing! It was a ten day trip (including travel days). It was planned by my college, so if you signed up and paid, you could go on it. My sister and I went, so when I say “we”, I usually am referring to us. We went to Athens and the island of Kos. It was a dream to have the opportunity to go there. If I had a bucket list for traveling, it was at the top.

I really loved the Acropolis and the Parthenon! That’s what most people think of Greece. The Acropolis, the hill the building sits on, and the Parthenon, the actually column building, were amazing! The walk was kind of brutal, but totally worth it. The museums were interesting! After the sixth one though, it felt a little repetitive. Athens has some absolutely stunning views! My view from my hotel was great. You could see so much of the city. If you ever go to Athens, go to the tram that takes you up Lycabettus hill. It felt like I could see the entire country! Athens is actually really mountainous. I didn’t realize that until seeing the views.

One of the more memorable experiences was going to the Kaisariani (I think I spelled that right) Monastery. It was a bit of an impromptu 40 minute uphill rocky hike for our small friend group on our free day. Fun fact, I was the only one with sneakers on. It was practically rock climbing at times. We had no idea it would be like this. Anyway the monastery was worth it and was beautiful. But if I ever were to go, I would take a taxi or something up the actual paved road partway up and then walk from there. We walked down that more easily to walk paved road instead of the rocky path. My sister fell on the easier to walk trail! On the paved road! She’s ok though it was a nasty spill and cut her knee and hand a bit. We laugh about it now.

Something I didn’t really like was that this was a college trip, so we were with about 24 other students. It was a….clicky group. I had my fair share of annoyances and grievances. What didn’t help was that one of my main pains was my sister’s friend. I felt so bad talking about not liking what this friend did but it hurt my feelings and made me feel bad. But I knew it would make my sister feel bad because she would take it as an insult to her own character, even though we are not our friends. It was just socially exhausting.

Let me tell you guys, this trip was exhausting. Physically and mentally. If you didn’t know, I am not an active person. And on this trip on the Acropolis day, I clocked in 25,000 steps! My average normally is under 2,000 😂. So this was a lot. My whole body ached.

The plane rides back were rough. From Kos to Athens was about an hour. That one was fine. Then Athens to Newark was almost 9 hours. I watched so many movies on the plane. I didn’t get much good sleep on the flight.

When we got back, I slept for 13 hours straight. I woke up at 6 pm and was so disoriented.

If you have any questions about Greece, let me know! I really did have a good time overall! Just some bumps in the road. I hope you all who hope and want to travel get to! I think I’m done with trips for a while. I need to recover 😅

Dazai hates how good Chuuya looks— a common white off-the-shoulder tee doesn't deserve to accentuate him like that!

He's trapped with Chuuya's annoying beauty for 12 whole hours. Sometimes their business extends beyond just Yokohama, Japan. Sometimes their enemies are in a whole different time zone— Paris, specifically.

Dazai despises how happy Chuuya looks! Just because it's currency Paris fashion week, and Dazai might've given into a strange feeling inside him and bought his way in doesn't mean he should grin so!

He especially hates how whenever Chuuya moves, the leather of his stupidly tight pants shift against Dazai's own covered leg. He hates how fashionable he looks, even when he's been given explicit instructions to pipe down.

The take off is fine, boring as Chuuya is flipping through a fashion magazine with a frenzied excitement, occasionally whispering a soft 'oh' of delight.

Though he basically devours it, he becomes bored soon, as Chuuya does. Dazai's contented to be left to his thoughts about anything but Chuuya, but the man has never been the quiet type.

"What kind of models do you think they'll have? French ones, obviously— but what type?" Chuuya chatters, grin still buoyant.

Dazai sighs fakely and loudly, earning a few strange looks, "Pretty ones, hopefully."

Chuuya scowls at him and bats his shoulder lightly. He takes a long sip from his coke and gives Dazai an equally loud and fake sigh.

"Idiot. How are you not excited? It's 2016 Paris Fashion Week!" Chuuya pauses and looks him up and down, eyeing his rag-tag black suit critically with a small smirk, "Eh, I suppose you aren't that into fashion..."

Dazai grits his teetn and doesn't blush at the way Chuuya eyed him for a second there— this bastard is too dumb for his own good.

"Practicality over beauty," Dazai snipes, shooting Chuuya an annoyed glare and a snarky tone. He's definitely not hot all over.

Chuuya giggles, rolling his eyes playfully and touching his fashion magazine feverishly with a dreamy look, "You can have both, fish, you just suck at fashion!"

They bicker inconsequentially, exchanging— in their minds, pleasantries and semi-friendly chat.

Hours pass like waves against a shore, and they fall into a sleepy lull, Chuuya snoring and dancing in and out of sleep while Dazai stares at him from the corner of his eye— if the roles were reversed, Chuuya would do the same; that sappy romantic.

Dazai feels a flutterly feeling bubble up his his liver, strange, usually its just alcohol poisoning. This isn't that. He brushes it off as anger at tge sight of Chuuya's head thrown in a arch, drooling a little and creaking his neck so badly he's sure he'll have severe neck pains when he wakes.

Dazai didn't touch him— Chuuya's head fell into his shoulder naturally! Why would he want to touch that freak? He's only letting him stay for some peace and quiet. This really, truly angers him. Definitely.

Chuuya wakes groggily at some point to pull his love lock back into a Chuuya-esque ponytail, bangs stowed away behind his little pierced ears.

Dazai hates how good he looks— a common ponytail doesn't deserve to make Dazai curse aloud.

“One breath at a time.” The most annoying advice my therapist gave me for when I feel myself losing control. What am I gonna do? Take two breaths? Three? No shit I take one breath at a time. I get it, I get it, its meant to relax me, take me away from whatevers bothering me, put me in a better state. But he also told me about justified anger. When something is crossing your boundaries, my “reasonable non-negotiables” he calls them. Sure, I’m prone to some bouts of anger, but this guy next to me, this fucking guy… he’s pushing all my buttons. I try my best to hold onto my reasonable non-negotiables. My therapist says my definition of reasonable is far beyond what a good baseline for reasonable should be, so I have to really think about whether my definition at every moment is correct. But this FUCKING guy next to me, he just licked my goddamn hand. I’m almost mad I’m so damn reasonable these days. If this happened a couple of years ago I wouldn’t have hesitated to throw this mongrel out the emergency exit. Imagining this guy flailing outside my window seats gives me a small sense of peace, but he keeps pushing my buttons. My therapist says I need to remove myself from the situation if I’m in any danger of losing it, but of course, I’m pushed in the one place I can’t remove myself from. OF COURSE. So I moved my hand from the arm rest, maybe now he’ll get the message: I’M NOT SOMEONE WHO YOU PLAY WITH. But no, NOPE, no. This sick puppy is relentless, as I was sitting there arms crossed, faced turned away, this fucking dog started sniffing me right in my ear.

Today I’m going to China. Or rather- tonight. I have a flight scheduled for… 12:00Am- I think. Let me just check- Nope! It’s actually 1:00Am. Great. And what time is it now? -I check my watch- 12:00 Am, already?!?! Welp, I better pack my bags. I’m going to China soon! But wait- I just remembered. Doesn’t China have a CCP? Whatever. I scheduled it already, That means I MUST go. -I leave the house, Racing to the Airport- I get in line just in time, As the clock strikes 12:30. No time to eat, I guess. So I’ll just board early. -I check out my bags, do all that stuff, Then I’m ready to board- Boarding starts at 12:45, So I race to the scene! I’m B1, So I’ll board after.. group A gets a move on. Eventually, Eventually, It’s my turn to board. I show the attendant my card, And race to find my seat. Soon I find it, Right next to an old man. He looks pretty annoying, But loved, too. I sit down in my chair, Next to this ‘goody two shoes’ And put my hoodie on my head. I let it cover my face, Tickling all my hairs. And then, the nightmare starts..

‘ ‘YASSS! Me goin’ to go to Ohio! I think it’s in England. So I’m goin’ to ENGLAND! YAH!’ ‘ The old man was talking on the phone, So loudly though! And wait, did he say England? I thought this was to China! I looked outside the window, At the Airplane wing. It said ‘We’re going to England!’ Oh no.. I was on the wrong flight! =What should I do?= I thought, slightly panicked. But then, I relaxed. I’ve always wanted to go to England! But the man next to me? He was sooo annoying! ‘ ‘Ya-a! Ohio is in England, right? Anywho, WE GOING! YAAAS! I’M GOING TO GO ON ALL THE CHANDELIERS! AND I’M GOING TO DRIVE ON THE WROMG SID ELF THE ROAD!! THE RIGHT!’ ‘ I thought Ohio was in America? Ugh- this is going to be the worst flight… EVER!

Arriving at the airport, I just want to reach my transport Hopefully make it to my resort I have to keep my ambition, And focus on my main mission Nope, I can’t get distracted Not even stops at the food court But I see a Karen, and she just reacted! Oh well, it’s not a show, she’s just overreacting

I reach my seat when we start boarding, Dodging couples full of bags of hoarding Do they really think it’s that rewarding? Walking onto the plane, Oh no, I tripped an old man with a cane! Oh well, soon enough I’ll be at weather of surf boarding I can just pretend he fell, No need to dwell

Boarding the plane, I see my seat! Oh no, it’s by an old man with crusty bare feet, Why couldn’t I have flied accompanied? Ew, he’s ranting about politics, Oh, the conversation changes again, this time to his future rocket ship ugh, now the topic is his best flirting tricks They don’t work very well, sir, I can concur The rest of the plane ride seems a blur, And alas, My patience is at its defeat, And I am overtaken by my sass. Can I please just stab him with a piece of glass?

I’ll have to cover up my tracks, If he doesn’t shut up with his golfing facts When will he notice that I don’t react? Ugh, now he’s flirting, I’ll throw up, then do a little hurting I did a bit of slash, Back and forth with an ax Uh oh, now I’ve gotta dash I’ll take a little stash of cash

Soon I’ll be avoiding cuffs, But his ditch is certainly a bit more rough Oh well, it’s such a simple ways bluff! It’s a nice little ploy To get rid of those who annoy I’ll just stab him with a flitch! I just can’t believe he thought he was so tough! Well, since there isn’t anyone to snitch, He’s finally reached his ditch

Oh please Make her stop

Continuous chatter Nothing matters

Why me Don’t see

Endless flight Try with my might

The moment I sat down I knew in my deepest being that this was going to be the worst flight of my life. I had to sit in the aisle seat next to a young lady who was continuously blowing giant bubbles of coral pink bubblegum. “Hi ma’am.” I had said when I first sat down. “Eww! Are you hitting on me!? Your like 50 years old!” She said with obvious disgust. “Oh no, I’m so sorry I gave you that impression, I was just trying to be polite.” I said pointing to my ring. “Plus, I’m married and I’m not 50; I’m only 31.” “You say that like 31 is young!” She laughed, giving me the side eye. “Ahem…” I cleared my through, willing for this conversation to end. “By the way,” she added, “you look ugly, I wouldn’t have been interested in you anyway.” I stared at her in shock and almost stood up to leave the plane, but I didn’t. I wasn’t going to let some idiot teenager bully me off this flight. “Whatever.” I mumbled under my breath. “Excuse me!?” She said, turning to face me squarely and pulling out her remaining AirPod to lend me her full and undivided attention. “What did you just say!?” “Nothing?” I said, highly confused. “Repeat what you just said to me!?” She said, raising her voice. “I don’t know what you mean, can you please calm down. I won’t bother you anymore. You can listen to your music in peace.” I said feeling helpless in this escalating situation. “Well that’s going to be impossible to do as long as you’re here. If you truly want me to be able to listen to my music in peace then you will leave the plane!” She yelled at me. “I don’t care lady, I just want to read my book and arrive at my destination!” I blubbered. “You are going to pay for ruining my day!” She glared at me. “Flight attendent!” She called, “This old man is harassing me, can you please escort him off the plane!?” “What!” I said in defense. “I didn’t harass her, she’s just making this up.” “I don’t care what happened.” The flight attendent said. “It’s too late for me to do anything about this because we are already in the air.” “Well then can you at least move me up to first class? I feel unsafe sitting next to this man.” She said, glaring at the flight attendant. “I suppose.” The flight attendant said grabbing the ladies luggage and leading her down the aisle. “Bye!” The lady said, waving at me with a smirk on her face. And that’s when I realized that she planned everything out so she could be moved to first class. “Gen Z’s.” I let out a small chuckle.

The heaps of eggshell clouds encase the land behind, leaving you in awe. You notice the man adjacent to you begin to fidget uncontrollably. His glass shakes in his hands, nearly spilling the contents. He grips the arm rest between you both. You examine him more closely, seeing his graying hair and shaggy business attire, worn and wrinkled. He has a sharp chin and a tall structure. You avert your eyes as his quaking grows more intense. He begins to breathe hard. After a while of being suspended in air, the hum of the plane, and the exasperated ventilations of the man nearby, you've had enough. "Can you stop, sir? It's just a plane. Some would argue driving a car is more fatal," you respond with patience.

   He did not respond verbally, rather he burned his eyes into the ceiling. More specifically something above you. You feel something fall on your forehead like a raindrop. You gaze up while simultaneously wiping the liquid off your face. It is crimson, with a trail leading from the compartment above to her. 

If only you had sealed your luggage tighter.

I really didn’t want to fly with Kyle. He always chewed his gum too loud and I really didn’t want any more updates on his terrible Bumble dates.

He was a nice guy but he wasn’t really great at picking up on social cues which wasn’t great for me since we were flying from New York to Barcelona.

Not even two hours into the flight Kyle was yammering about his grandmas bunion and the latest season of Suits.

After five long hours I confirmed yet again that Kyle and I had absolutely nothing in common other than our love for flying.

Since Kyle was long winded, I asked him to make the flight announcements to which he accepted instantly.

Seven hours in and we were finally preparing to descend the plane. Kyle and I spoke to the control tower through our headphones and things finally got serious. It was time to land.

After we landed safely I looked over at him and told him that he did a great job, which was inevitably true.

Kyle was an excellent co-pilot when it came to logistics. He knows his stuff and loves his job.

But would I choose him to be be my forever co-pilot on overseas flights? Not if I could help it.

It had been almost a full day since I’d slept. 23 hours to be exact.

Waiting in the airport to board the plane to Atlanta, I felt more like I was waiting to check into a hotel. The plane would be my room, and my seat would be my bed for the night. I couldn’t wait to close my eyes and to get a little sleep.

But then I saw her. As I walked down the aisle of the plane to my seat, there she was in the aisle seat.

She wasn’t the cutest girl I’d ever seen, but there was something about her. She had big eyes and fluffy green hair and a very unusual outfit comprised of a tank top over a blouse and a skirt over a pair of jeans. She was wearing two very different earrings, a large blue hoop that almost reached her shoulder in her left ear and a single pearl stud in her right ear.

“I’m right there,” I said, pointing at the window seat next to her.

She looked me up and down. “Okay,” she said but did not move.

“Would you mind?” I asked, gesturing at the seat. I couldn’t wait to sit down and felt that I would immediately fall asleep.

“Mind?” she asked.

“I need to get to my seat,” I said.

“I am not stopping you,” she said.

“Well,” I said, “I can’t just climb over you.”

“You’ll have to if you want to sit there,” she said. “I’m not moving.”

Already, a long line had formed behind me and people were becoming anxious and impatient to get to their seats.

I did my best to squeeze past the girl which was incredibly impossible and very awkward and uncomfortable. I won’t get into the details but I did make it to my seat eventually.

Normally having gone through such a trial would have kept me awake, but I was too tired for that. I closed my eyes.

An elbow collided with my arm.

“Ouch!” I screamed.

The girl was looking at me.

“What did you do that for?” I asked.

“I didn’t want you to fall asleep,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to spend an entire plane flight with someone snoring next to me.”

“Please respect my personal space,” I said. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep again.

I was woken by loud coughing.

The girl smiled at me. “I’m respecting your personal space,” she said.

The entire flight proceeded this way. The girl did not let me get more than a few minutes of sleep.

When we arrived in Atlanta, I postponed my next connecting flight. I checked into a hotel and went to sleep. I would figure out my travel schedule again when I’d woken up. I didn’t want to risk being next to another green-haired girl on my next flight and getting even more sleep deprived.