T.N - Chapter 70

Charlie started this long explanation about the movie Kingdom of Heaven, but unlike the others, I wasn’t listening. I was simply being observant. Wolfgang seemed to perk up a bit as the focus was drawn away from him and his family drama and onto the story that was Dennis and Charlie were unraveling (which, all I could really make sense of, was about crusades and battles of epic proportions). Laura watched him fondly, and a genuine smile, one without a single sign of her signature smirk, lit up her face. Heathcliff and the henchmen were all gathered closely around closely, asking questions with eager expressions. Kyle, despite all the hustle and bustle, was still out cold. The only person who was slightly distanced from everyone else was Kent, who was still at the cockpit, leaning forward and gazing out the window wistfully. His hands were on the dashboard for balance, and I hoped that he wouldn't accidentally doom us all by pressing a button.

I guess Dennis followed my line of sight, as he then called out, “Hey Kent! Stop being a loner and come over here! You liked Kingdom of Heaven when you watched it with me.”

Kent grinned. “I did like it, but obviously not as much as you. You threw quite the tantrum when we couldn’t find a copy of the director’s cut online.” He fixed his shirt pocket, and made his way over to the group.

I laughed. “I remember that,” I said. “It was on the rare occasion that Dennis was visiting home, and he was in the computer room in the basement. Despite the fact that I was on the 2^nd floor in my bedroom, I heard some yelling and things breaking. I think Grandfather and Kent panicked, thinking that there was a security breach.”

“Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad...” protested Dennis.

“Come now,” replied Kent, “let’s not forget the fact that he managed to short-circuit almost all the computers in the room.”

I smirked. “Oh yeah, it was quite impressive. There was a little ‘bang!’ sound, and a lot of sparks everywhere just like—“

There was a sharp sound, and we all turned our heads towards the unoccupied cockpit. Sparks were flying in all directions from the control panels, and all the buttons that were previously lit were completely dim. “—just like that,” I finished off my thoughts.

“Kent!” screamed John as he ran over to the control and started pressing buttons like mad. “What the hell did you do?!”

“I didn’t do anything!” yelled Kent. “I don’t even know how the machine works, I’m smart enough to know that I shouldn’t touch things I don’t understand!”

“Did someone jinx the entire blasted trip?! Or did Lady Luck decide to frown on me today” John growled. “First the self-destruct button was set off, and now the cockpit is on the fritz...in all my years building and piloting these vehicles, nothing like this has ever happened!”

“I think it’s time to stop grumbling to yourself and start trying to fix this,” said Laura calmly, striding over to the control and prying open a panel. “Otherwise, we have a worse situation on our hands than bad luck on our trip.”

Hello! Sorry, I did say I was going to write more, but I guess that was a lie...I've just finished volunteering, so I'm planning to try to get as much done as I can before school starts! There is construction happening in my backyard though, so it's a little but of a distracting environment to write in...

In the meantime, between chapters, check out Zone 1 (which I may start writing in), or listen to this very interesting podcast called Welcome to Night Vale (which I have been listening to and enjoying a lot).

-K