Tandem

Raechel Harchey

"Raechel." The voice of a young boy disrupted the silence. It was voice Raechel hadn't heard in so long, yet she recognised it instantly.

"Charlie?"

Raechel ran towards her brother with her arms outstretched and wrapped him in a tight embrace. She held him close to her, reluctant to pull away for fear that he would disappear. They weren't in Raechel's Nook anymore. They were stood in a dimly lit room with walls painted a dark brown colour.

"You're squashing me," he said. "I can't breathe."

"Sorry," Raechel replied. She removed her arms from around him and placed her hands on his shoulders. Raechel couldn't help but stare in disbelief at her little brother. He looked so alive; almost exactly as he had moments before his life ended. His cheeks were rosy and she couldn't help but feel the warmth of his body underneath his jumper. At that moment she could have forgotten everything. She could almost have denied the collision had ever happened had it not been for the long white scar that ran vertically down his neck.

"I miss you," he said. "I miss you more than anything."

"You have no idea how much I miss you either."

"Sometimes, I worry that you'll forget about me." Charlie's bottom lip trembled.

"Charlie, there's no way I'd ever forget you," Raechel bent down to look him in the eye. "Never think that ok?"

"Ok," he nodded. "Promise?"

"I promise."

"I'll always be your big sister. It doesn't matter where you are or where I am, nothing can ever change that." Raechel pulled him close once again and placed a soft kiss on his forehead.

"And I'll always be your little brother."

Raechel brushed his unruly hair off his face as she had done so many times before.

"Stop it," Charlie grumbled. "You know I don't like it when you do that."

"That's why I did it." Raechel chuckled.

"Oh, I almost forgot to give you this." Charlie reached into the pocket of his jumper and pulled out an origami bird. He cradled it in both hands as he lifted it up for her to see.

"Wow, it's amazing. When did you make this?"

"The other day." He beamed.

"It's beautiful. You should be proud of yourself."

"I'm happy you like it. It's not actually for you though."

"Oh?" Raechel ran her fingers over the perfectly folded paper. "It's for Alpha. Something for him to chase. I wanted to make him something to play with. I figured that since he spends so much of his time in your Nook, he might want something fun to do."

Raechel chuckled. "He'll love it. Thank you. In the meantime, I'll keep it safe in here." Raechel slipped the bird safely inside the centre pocket of her hoodie.

"So, is it just you?"

"Just me?"

"Do you see mum and dad?"

"That's a silly question Raechel." Charlie folded his arms across his chest.

"How's it silly?"

"Of course I see them. I can't look after myself, can I? I'm only seven." He threw his head into his hands in mock frustration.

"They didn't come here with you? They didn't follow you here?" Raechel tried to mask the sadness in her voice.

"They couldn't. They really wanted to come and see you but they just couldn't."