“Mom, I forgot to ask you, how long is the flight?”

“Twelve hours.”

My jaw dropped. Is a 12-hour flight worth going to Hawaii?

I stepped on the plane, afraid of the looming hours of boredom that awaited me in the air.

“Welcome aboard!” the flight attendants said, forced smiles pasted across their faces.

I found my seat and squeezed in.

My brother was sitting next to me.

“Want to play cards?” he asked.

“Sure,” I replied. I put down my tray table and he put down his and we started to play blackjack. We must have hit the table too hardbecause the man in front of us said, “Hey, I’m trying to have a nice flight here, and I can’t have it with you two banging against the tables!”

 – By Kathryn Middleton