MADELINE ENDLEIN - AIR AND SEA

Madeline Endlein is a student at Full Sail University. She likes to read books when she isn’t practicing her writing skills. She is currently working towards her Bachelor’s degree.

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​Air and Sea

Another phone was slammed on one of the desks. This is, what, the fifth on that he’s broken? He can replace it, sure, but he shouldn’t have to buy a couple every week! I stopped analyzing the reports and got us some coffee. This week has been hell on both of our sleeping schedules.
 
“Straight black, Chester?” I say. A groan comes from a pile of frazzled black hair. “I’m taking that as a yes.”

 
 
I place his cup in front of him. He swilled the piping hot drink, burning his throat on the way down. I shake my head as he fans his mouth.
 
“That’s what you get,” I say.
 
“Shut it, Tyler. I’ve been getting call after call about the search. Sure, we’ve managed to narrow the search area but nothing has come up after 2 weeks!” he says, pulling at his hair.
 
“It’s a small wreck, Chester. It’s not like we’re searching for a commercial airplane.”
 
“We’re still looking for a plane! Kind of hard to mistake a plane for something else!”
 
“Okay, yes, that is true but- “

 
 
“No! No more ‘but’s or anything like that! You need to realize that not everyone can be found, no matter how much we try,” he says, storming into a side room.
 
I sigh and get back to analyzing the reports. Chester is too pessimistic for my liking. We’re detectives for God’s sake! It’s our job to find analyze everything on a case! We need to be optimistic with any leads or else we can lose the trail.
 
More reports, more reading, and more analyzing. I need another coffee. I get up to grab another one. Chester must have come back while I was busy because he’s conked out on his desk, snoring away. I need to get him some coffee as well.
 
Chester’s coffee is cold by the time he wakes up. He still drinks it for the caffeine. I’ve made no headway in my analyzing. My blonde hair is getting as frazzled as Chester’s. I start leaning into my hand until Chester lets out a frustrated yell.

 
 
“This is pointless! All this investigation is doing is giving me grey hairs! I’m twenty-five!” he says, pulling at his hair. He starts wreaking the room. Flipping over desks, tearing down papers, throwing office supplies at the ceiling and walls. I stand out of his way, dodging pencils that come near me.
 
He is standing in the middle of his wreckage, panting with his hands on his knees. He looks over at me, sweat dripping off his forehead. He walks over, towering over me as I try to melt into the wall.
 
“You! It’s all your fault! All this stress and endless nights! All because you wanted to find Amelia Earhart, a person who has been missing for decades!” he says, jabbing his finger into my chest. I can’t take it anymore and stand straight up, giving him a glare that even he couldn’t rival.
 
“Sorry that I’m doing my job! If you can’t handle the stress and endless nights then quit! All you do is complain and wreak

stuff!” I say, pointing at the broken desks and torn papers. “Oh, and I haven’t been able to get any updates on the search because you broke another phone! I should just call the heads and tell them how much crap you’ve broken just today alone!”
 
Chester recoils away from me. He may be older and taller than me but that doesn’t mean he’s mature enough to handle this job.
 
“Get out of here before I decide to act on what I said,” I say. He grabs his bag and runs out the door. I sigh and begin to fix the mess he made. As I was organizing the papers, my phone starts ringing. The number is from the head of the search teams. I answer it without hesitation.
 
“Hello? Is this Tyler Richardson?” the man on the other end asks.
 
“Yes, this is him.”
 
“We found the wreckage.”

 
 
I smile so hard that it starts to hurt. I grab a pencil and paper, ready to write at a moment’s notice.
 
“How long till you get her and the plane to the mainland and where are you arriving?” I say.
 
“About a week and we’ll be arriving in Miami.”
 
“Good. I’ll meet you at the port,” I say, hanging up. I write down the location and jump for joy. I can hold my excitement any longer and let out a yell of joy.
 
“We found- No, I found her. Time to get you home, Amelia.”
                                                                          END