Everyone always said
that Sammy had the coolest older brother. All her friends at school envied
their relationship; the way he would always take her out for ice cream or
French fries, the times he would come surprise her in class, or sometimes how
he would just lift her on his shoulders and carry her around at the playground.
All the adults could tell the two were inseparable and smiled fondly over
memories of their own siblings. The two never seemed to fight and were always
the best behaved and best of friends when together.
Sammy herself knew
that Kyle would always be there for her. He told her so. When the two were
together, Sammy was as happy as a girl could be. Her big brother was her hero.
He showed her all the best spots to find dragonflies (her favorite bug), helped
her with her difficult math, and had even promised to teach her how to fight
off monsters and bullies. She would always return his love too. She would
sometimes stop by the store on her way home and get him his favorite candy bar
– a large Almond Joy – with her allowance. Or, sometimes, she would sit and
watch his movies with him, even some of the scary ones, though he would always
protect her from the most frightening monsters.
The two weren’t
always together, of course. Sammy went to school every weekday, and Kyle’s job
had him gone to other cities or even other countries more often than not. But
that never bothered either of them. They would talk over the phone and the
computer often, Sammy showing off the dance moves she had been practicing and
Kyle smiling along brightly. Over the distance he still helped her with her
math, still told her where to find dragonflies, and still instructed her how to
be brave and protect herself, especially around The Stone Place.
The Stone Place had
always been an uneasy place for Sammy. She had only been there a few times, but
she constantly felt a sense of grief and dread when she did have to go. The
relative silence in an outdoor area coupled with the way all the adults seemed
somber and sad always made her heart beat just a little faster.
But Kyle was always there to make her feel better. He
would put his soft hand on her shoulder and smile down from over her. She knew
it was a fake smile sometimes, but it still helped her to feel less scared. She
knew that whatever hid among those stones, making this place so eerie, her
brother would protect her from it.
The last time they went to The Stone Place was six
months ago, and it had been the worst time of all. Mommy and Daddy were
especially frightened and sad, crying the whole day and for many before and
afterwards. Sammy felt Kyle’s grip on her, but somehow couldn’t be consoled.
She knew that something about this trip was different, and she couldn’t hold
back tears of her own. Kyle had no words to soother her this time and they simply
stood in the crowd and wept.
Everything after this trip was different too. Kyle had
just been gone for another work trip over seas and met up with Sammy for the
first time at The Stone Place. When they got home, he told her he would be
staying around longer than usual, and Sammy was elated by the news. Her
parents, however, were not as excited. Their demeanors had changed; at first,
they seemed to be sad all the time, and eventually they just became more tired
and quiet. Sammy didn’t know exactly what was wrong, so she and Kyle tried to
be out of the house as often as possible.
Sammy’s friends also became very different. They
seemed to not know how to act around her anymore. It wasn’t that they were mean
or non-inclusive, just that they treated her more carefully, like she was a
fancy plate they were trying not to break. Games at the playground became less
rough, conversations about family plans became muted, and nobody talked or
asked about Kyle any more, even though he came to walk her home from school every
day.
In fact, the only times that still felt normal was
when she and Kyle were together. They would go exploring in the woods nearly
every day, picking flowers and trying to catch bugs or squirrels. They would
laugh and dance together, ignoring all the weirdness happening around them. Sammy
would practice all the moves that Kyle taught her, fighting off tree monsters
or stick faeries. On the long walks home, they would talk about the icky boys
in her class, or about how the old hardware shop owner probably ate children. Sammy
relished these moments and clung to every second with her brother as a bastion
of normalcy in the strangely changing world around her.
For six months Sammy weathered the newly stormy waters
of her life. While her love for and time with Kyle was as great as ever, she
slowly found herself more and more affected by the times without him. Like
everyone else, she became more somber and quick to fear and sadness. She tried
asking her brother about it, but he could only tell her that the sadness was a
natural thing that she was bound to feel. She did her best to control and hide
it but couldn’t shake it away completely.
One day, while she was waiting to leave after school, one
of the sixth graders’ mom came by with a big dog. He was a German Sheppard with
a long snout and lots of bright brown fur. He looked over at Sammy and began to
snarl a bit. Sammy could feel the fear rising in her, even though she knew the
dog was on a leash. The owner tried to silence him, but the growls soon grew
into loud, deep barks. Before she could control herself, Sammy was running down
the sidewalk and around the corner of the school. She wasn’t normally scared of
dogs, but these barks had been so cruel and her emotions so frayed that she
couldn’t help herself.
As she sat
crying by the school wall, Kyle came up and sat down beside her, putting his
arm gently over her shoulders. “Hey kiddo, that dog give you a little scare?”
Through gasping sobs, Sammy nodded her head. “He’s not all that scary. He’s
just a big ol’ fluffy dog, and I bet if you went up and asked he would be real
friendly.” Sammy shook her head, not wanting to be barked again. Kyle let out a
sigh and the two sat in silence for several minutes.
“You know,” Kyle started “I love you and would have done
anything for you. But I can’t be there all the time.” Sammy wiped away the last
few tears that were dripping and looked up at her brother’s gentle but stern
face. “Pretty soon I’m going to have to go away for a very, very long time, and
you’re gonna have to learn how to be on your own. There are lots of scary
things in the world, but if you can face your fears of them then you’ll be
alright.” He turned to look down at her and give one of his fake, comforting
smiles. “I think the first step is for you to face The Stone Place.”
At the mention of that place, Sammy’s stomach did a
little flip. How could she go back there, back to that place where everything
had changed all those months ago? The fear began to well up inside her, and she
felt the hot pressure of tears threatening to fall out again. But she looked up
at Kyle, whose smile had become more genuine, and felt those fears subside. She
trusted her brother, and if he thought this was best for her then she would go.
Swallowing down her reservations, she whispered “Ok.”
The two walked hand-in-hand towards The Stone Place.
They entered through the gate in the red-brick wall that surrounded the whole
area. Sammy could feel the weight of the silence and hugged close to her
brother. He put his hand on her head and they walked quietly through the frozen
monoliths, shaped like angels and crosses.
Eventually, they reached the end of the paved path and
stopped. On the grassy area just ahead of them stood one of the stones, smaller
than some of the others, but the most terrifying to Sammy. She looked up at
Kyle, her eyes asking if she really had to do this. He gave her another smile
and nodded towards the stone, gently giving her a push. She took a deep breath,
remembering how he had always taught her to put on a brave face and marched up
to the stone.
She looked at the little curved stone ahead of her and
grit her teeth. She could feel the tears behind her eyes again and tried to
fight them. She thought she heard Kyle tell her it was alright, but knew that
no words had been said. With his silent blessing, she let her sobs come out.
But this time it was not out of fear. Instead, the release of her cries felt
right, and felt brave.
Through shimmering eyes Sammy read the inscription on
the stone:
Kyle T. Clark
1995-2018
Killed in Action
Loving Brother and Son
Semper Fidelis
With a shaky sigh, Sammy stopped the flow of tears and
managed a meek smile. This place no longer held a dark feeling for her. Despite
her puffy red eyes, she felt stronger than she ever had before. She knew things
would never be like they were six months ago, but she was ready to face the
world as it was now. She felt her brother’s hand on her shoulder. She looked
over to see it, and found a dragonfly sitting calmly there instead.
Comments
Post a Comment