“JACK CAN YOU SHUT UP!” I yelled. We were paddling and paddling. The wind blowing our kayaks back. I didn’t know if my mind or the wind was racing faster. To top it off my 6-year-old brother Jack wasn’t taking the situation seriously. I thought I might never get out of this Hawaiian river.

At the time, my brother loved hearing himself more than other people. This time was not the moment for him to be a chatterbox.

The wind had gotten steadily worse and let me tell you, paddling into the wind isn’t fun as a scrawny 12-year-old. We weren’t making it far and I was worried. I thought and heard 2 things. One, my mind saying “We are never gonna make it back” and two, my brother listing all the nature facts he knew and all the questions he had. Things such as “Did you know this is the Koa tree?” or “This plant was in a TV show I watched”.

What really irritated me was when Jack asked “What time do you think we will get back?”. He was sitting there with the paddle on his lap relaxing while the rest of us were sweating. It was ridiculous to me. I held it in, but I wanted to wack Jack unconscious with my paddle. 

My arms were tired and shaking from nervousness. I was still telling myself “We’re all gonna die”. My brother on the other hand was still in his own world. Smile on his face with all the questions in his head coming in and out. “Would this be an invasive species?” “It’s so windy” “My arms are tired”. I wanted a bug to fly into his mouth or something to shut him up for a little.

After probably a couple of hours, but what felt like a year, my mom said “I see a dock on the other side of the river!”

We started paddling as hard as we could towards it. The wind didn’t affect me anymore. Slow was no longer an option. Our kayaks felt like they were flying. Soon enough we had parked kayaks and had our feet on the dock. My mind was still spinning but I no longer thought we were going to die which was a plus.

I was sitting there still shocked, and guess what my brother was doing. Listing questions and facts again. “I think I see a squirrel but I don’t recognize it” and “What would happen if we bring mangrove tree seeds back?” 

On the drive back, I came back to my senses. Jack also calmed down his talking which felt amazing. I was still annoyed at him and wanted to hit him with that paddle, but I also realized something else. After looking back on it, I was the only one complaining about Jack’s excessive talking. I asked my parents if they also thought Jack was talking too much. “Yes, but keep in mind though he is only 6. He doesn’t realize that he talks too much so cut him some slack.” my mom says. Then Jack goes “Yeah Ethan.” in a very infuriating tone. I thought maybe we should've just left him at the waterfall. After thinking about it, I did feel like I overreacted in this situation. After some more driving, “Do you know what this plant is called?” repeated in my head. To this day I still do not know what the plant is called.