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American Desi Funny

"Alright, kids, in the car. We're going on a road trip to your grandparents' house. Climb in." I got in the car, and immediately we were arguing over the tablet. I needed to meditate for the first few minutes. Being around my siblings for a road trip like this required some meditation. I needed guided meditation, and there were meditation videos on that tablet. I tried to grab it, but it was too late. My little sibling had it first. I try to meditate on my own, but it doesn't work because my little sibling turned the volume up on the tablet, almost to push it in my face that they had it and not me. I tried to push them out of my head, but it wasn't working. This was going to be a long road trip.

About thirty minutes in, my sibling finally is forced to give me the tablet. I had to argue for it for the past ten minutes, and now it was worth it. I breathed and checked my surroundings. I was in a mode of peace. And then came my sibling. "MOM! DAD! It's my turn with the tablet." My sibling screamed. If something is done that they will not like, you have to deal with the terrible consequences. Terrible if you ask me. So after having the tablet for only three minutes, three serene minutes, I was already being disturbed. My parents try to put up a bit of an argument, but my sibling is awfully stubborn. In two minutes flat, the tablet is theirs again. I'm mad, trying to meditate through the anger. But the noise from the tablet is loud. I can barely focus on my surroundings.

My parents try to tell them only five minutes, but in six, they still won't give it up. My parents' phones were charging, and there was nothing left to do. Ten minutes pass. I start to remember the meditation video. I breathe in and out. I close my eyes. I'm relaxed again. I calmly try to state my case to my sibling, but it still isn't working. My parents are too tired to argue, my mom asleep, and my dad hyper focussed on the road. My dad calls for a pit stop. We're two hours away from my grandparent's house. About an hour away from our house. My parents threaten my sibling to take it away the rest of the trip or drive us home, but they do not care. My sibling is in a state of madness. They won't let their hands off the tablet for anything.

Not even food. I'm really starting to lose my cool. I try to meditate again, but their yelling at each other is much too loud for me to meditate. I give up. I let them have the tablet. We climb back in the car, and in about another ten minutes, my sibling keeps asking if we're there yet. I'm really starting to lose my cool. Luckily, my parents gave me noise-canceling headphones. I meditate some more. That helps until my sibling is throwing a fit and pulling off my headphones and yelling in my ear. I want to yell at them so bad. But there is nothing that I can do about it. I try meditating some more, but then my hair is being pulled so hard that I couldn't have a clear thought. And then I scream. It's a shrill noise, that I hate to hear. The one thing that I avoid at all times. The reason I meditate. Why I needed that tablet so bad.

It feels so weird to explode. But it almost feels good to explode at them. I think that was the moment that everything in the car went silent. The first time this entire time. It took an hour and a half to get here. I start to cry. I was expecting today to be a regular day. A nice day. But it was turning out to be the worst car ride I had ever been in. The car was a place where I was most comforted usually. And today it feels like a prison. It's so weird, and I'm starting to cry harder than before. I never cry, ever. But today, today is different. Today is a no-good day. One that I wish had never happened. I liked the car. I liked my meditation videos. I needed to just meditate, but I broke down trying to keep my cool.

My parents are in shock because I'm usually so calm and collected, so when I complain, they know it's bad. My parents pull over and reprimand my sibling. They let me relax with the tablet for the rest of the trip because there were only a few minutes left in the journey. When we get there, we pretend to be a normal family. My grandparents knew nothing about anything that happened because we swore not to talk about it, and even if they did know anything then they must be really good about not saying anything. We spent the night there, and in the morning we had breakfast. After breakfast, we got back in the car and drove back, and we did not get the tablet at all. It was a strict silence in the car, except for the navigation and the radio.

When we got home, my younger sibling did not get grounded and I meditated. The first happy and clear moment I had had in a while. And in my meditative moment, I stopped thinking about all those things that had happened. I was happy that there was, at last, my head was clear. My road trip was over. And even though my sibling had done all those things, and most kids would have exploded, I know that my meditation, my mellowed-out moments, helps to keep me collected. There is a way that I could keep myself at peace. A warm happy feeling inside me. I know that there are so many ways for me to meditate, anywhere really. Meditation is something that I would suggest for anyone. It really does help in everyday life.

May 16, 2022 19:45

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