After Lisa and her parents read the letter, while her parents weeped, Lisa ran to her room, dry-eyed, clutching the letter in her hands. She fell onto her bed, staring at the paper, as if that would erase them... because nothing would convince her that he was dead. He couldn't be! How would he tease her and play tennis with her and dress up in funny outfits with her, if he was... dead?
Then she noticed the blanks under Jack's name and pronouns... and that filled her with hate. It was printed. It didn't actually make a difference to that Jonathan, whether he was dead or alive, he simply didn't care, did he?
All these thoughts ran through her head before she thought, with horror, 'How many other people got this printed... letter?' And that only increased her hate for the army.
Two days later, something happened. Something big that later somehow became a part of their daily lives; Lisa fell sick. Sure, that doesn't sound too bad, but it was much worse than bad, it was not normal. When it happened, there were moments where she could not breathe, moments where she could not stop moaning, moments where she could not stop screaming, and moments where she just lay still and would not respond to anything or anyone.
Except for Jack. The doctor found this out after a week of going to the hospital every night, and dozens of tests. He realised that this was no ordinary sickness, because it was caused by something not even close to a virus; grief. When the doctor asked if anyone had died recently, her mom said that her brother had disappeared, and he had been very close to her. Lisa had listened to the entire conversation, and tears started streaming down her face, for it was true, and she realised that she had known it all along. However, when her mother said that Jack was very close, Lisa started shaking, and sobbed harder. He was not 'very close', he had been a part of her! He was the second half, the half that joked and laughed loudly and made everyone aroound him smile. Lisa sank to the floor, her head buried in her lap, against the wall of the doctor's office, and stayed there till her parents came out.
YOU ARE READING
Winter Jackets
General FictionTo all the families affected by war. Lisa was never the same after losing her brother. But on her thirteenth birthday, she gets the biggest shock of her life. Will she go on an adventure or continue suffering from grief?
