Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
━━━ ⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅ ━━━
"I'm home!" I shouted into what seemed like an empty house.
The lot itself seemed almost deprived of life nowadays, it was getting even harder to tell whether someone was actually residing in it.
I frowned, about to speak up once again, only to be interrupted.
"Oi!" a deep voice called out from behind me, and I turned to see a face so similar to mine, only sharper. My brother had grown quite a few inches in the last month since I'd seen him. "Took you long enough. We all thought you'd be back a week ago." I could hear both teasing and worry coating his tone.
I smiled, the familiarity of hearing him talk with such normalcy...
"Well lucky me, I finished a lot quicker this time," I replied, turning around to face him.
Only a few years younger than me and finally growing into adulthood himself... my brother was quite a brute at times, but in the end, I couldn't think of a single person who cared more about those he loved. It was always something I envied him for.
His face changed, all amusement fading. "She's worried, you know."
My smile also sank as I approached him, his eyes—the same as mine—reflecting the same worry all of us shared these days.
"I know," I said with attempted sternness, only for my words to end up coming out in a defeated whisper.
He closed the distance between us, wrapping his arms around me whilst plopping his chin onto the top of my head.
"Which is exactly why she can't know what I do," I added. If our eldest sister ever found out what I was risking for her sake...
"You do it because you love her," my brother said with a reassuring squeeze. "Earning this money. You do the most out of all of us to help her."
I took a breath, holding it for a moment. "Yeah..."
I let go of him, my shoulders falling as I faced the shadowed interior of our house. Even the birds had seemingly been silenced around here. The lack of life, I was beginning to find, was more contagious than I thought.
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
As I came back to, the first and only thing I noticed was how utterly sore I was.
