A sibling is your friend for life. Without them life would be boring and extremely lonely.
******
I heard shouts and screams from downstairs. Arguing, always arguing with each other. I remember those days when they used to laugh with each other and have fun, now they are always at each other's throat. I miss those happy days.
"IT WAS YOUR FAULT!" it was a statement that I heard very often. Almost in every argument this statement was repeated. Even now someone was saying this dialogue. Who? I don't know. All of their voices sound similar, full of hurt, pain and anger, so much of anger.
I looked down at my feet and gave a dry chuckle. You know what the sad part was? I knew. I knew when my family fell apart, I knew when the smiles turned to tears. Hell! I even knew how things fell apart. I knew, but I could do nothing. I stood there helpless and motionless watching the events take its bloody course. I looked at the night stand and a single drop of tear fell from my eyes.
I opened the second drawer of the night stand. Like the pendant there lay a broken watch in solitude. The glass broken and the dial stuck at 11:45, the time when I realised that my family was starting to fall apart. I still remember the day the watch became a part of my happy memories. It was fourteen years back. Now I could only reminisce those moments, but never live them.
Fourteen years ago
I was keeping Elizabeth company in the living room, more like watching her play with her toys. She played with the one toy for a while, got bored with it and tossed it aside. I had to go and fetch or else mum would say, "Eve please clean up the room." Why did I have to do this? when Beth was the one making the mess. There were better things that I could be doing now.
My mum and dad were listening to the news on the radio and drinking coffee.
The doorbell rang and my mum ran to open the door. Soon she was engulfed in a big hug by my uncle Aaron. He was not alone though.....he was accompanied by the same nurse we met at the hospital. I could see my dad smirking at him.
"You sly bastard," my dad said before shaking uncle Aaron's hand and hugging the nurse. I always wondered why dad never hugged uncle Aaron?
"So where are my two little nieces?" said uncle Aaron. His brown eyes scanned the entire room and finally found us. He walked towards and scooped me up. "Are you taking good care of your sister, Eve?" he asked. "Yes," I replied, I was actually busy searching his hands for any gift for me. "Where is my gift, uncle Aaron?" I asked him. What? I wanted a gift.
"Oh! Eve I forgot your gift," he said. He slowly put me down, then fished something out of his pocket. It was a toy for...for Beth. How rude! he got her a gift and not me! "I am not talking to you, uncle Aaron," I declared and turn around so that my back was facing him. I could hear him and my parents chuckling. Here I am angry and they are laughing? I won't talk to any of them.
As soon as I made the decision, an object wrapped in colourful paper was brought in front of my eyes. I snatched it and quickly shredded apart the coloured wrapping. It was a blue dress, the very dress I had begged mummy to buy me. I spun around and threw my tiny arms in the air, embracing his kneeling figure. "Thank you! thank you so much! I love it," he just gave me a smile. "So am I forgiven?" I could only nod, as I was too happy with my gift. I loved it.
He got up from his kneeling position and walked over to my dad. "Happy Birthday, Aaron," my parents wished him. "You know Daniel I don't need your wishes, I need my bloody gift," my dad chuckled and whispered something along the line, "You are worse than Eve." His statement was met with a scowl from me and which in turn caused him to burst out in laughter.
"You both are so goddamn alike!" he commented in between his fits of laughter. He went over to the dining table and grabbed a packet. He then thrusted the packet into uncle Aaron's hands. "Here you go, Aaron. Your goddamn gift!" his face held an expression of mock annoyance. One thing that I did not really understand was: what is with all the 'goddamn's?
Uncle Aaron opened the packet and his face lighted up. His face was as bright as a Christmas tree. At that moment I felt he had reverted back in age and was almost as old as me, possibly younger. His face was of a child who received the toy that he had been begging for. At that moment I realised that his face mirrored mine when I received the dress from him. Dad was right! I am like uncle Aaron! My eyes widened with the realisation.
He gave dad a toothy grin and said,"Aww! brother you got me the watch I was asking for." He bent forward to hug my dad and drew back as soon as he realised what he was doing. Both of them ran their hands through their brown hair. The awkwardness was back! The infamous awkwardness had become a part of our family. It always poked its ugly head when there was an emotional moment between the two brothers and they did not know what to do. Why couldn't they just hug? I could not bear the awkwardness in the air.
"You should just hug," I stated drily. Both of them were staring at me as if I had grown another head. I got up and walked over to them. "Stop staring at me and just hug," I said seriously, well as seriously as an eight year old could say. However, that did the trick, both of them broke into a hug, diffusing the awkwardness in the air. "Finally!" I muttered to myself.
As if on cue that radio that was rambling some news in the background came to life with music. It started playing a song, which I think was just right for the moment. We started swaying to the music.
"Ramblers in the wilderness we can't find what we need
We get a little restless from the searching
Get a little worn down in between
Like a bull chasing the matador is the man left to his own schemes
Everybody needs someone beside em' shining like a lighthouse from the sea
Brother let me be your shelter
Never leave you all alone
I can be the one you call
When you're low
Brother let me be your fortress
When the night winds are driving on
Be the one to light the way
Bring you home
Face down in the desert now there's a cage locked around my heart
I found a way to drop the keys where my failures were
Now my hands can't reach that far
I ain't made for a rivalry, I could never take the world alone
I know that in my weakness I am stronger
It's your love that brings me home
Brother let me be your shelter
I'll never leave you all alone
I can be the one you call
When you're low
Brother let me be your fortress
When the night winds are driving on
Be the one to light the way
Bring you home
Brother let me be your shelter
Never leave you all alone
I can be the one you call
When you're low
Brother let me be your fortress
When the night winds are driving on
Be the one to light the way
Bring you home
Brother let me be your shelter
Never leave you all alone
I can be the one you call
When you're feeling low
Brother let me be your fortress
When the night winds are driving on
Be the one to light the way
Bring you home
Brother let me be your shelter
Never leave you all alone
I can be the one you call
When you're low
Brother let me be your fortress
When the night winds are driving on
Be the one to light the way
Bring you home
Brother let me be your shelter
Brother let me be your shelter
Brother let me be your shelter
Brother let me be your shelter
Brother let me be your shelter"
The song ended and so did the reservation between the two brothers. I saw my father and uncle's eyes glistening with tears. I watched them get lost in each other's eyes. They were physically here but not mentally. Both of them were somewhere lost in their childhood memories. They were reliving their carefree days, those days where they could just hug. Time had ceased for them.
Uncle Aaron smiled at the watch and again hugged dad. My mum and the nurse were just smiling at those two. I knew that somewhere the song had broken down all of their reservations.
I heard Beth giggling, even she is happy, but what I saw next was extraordinary. I saw the crawling Beth stand up and toddle towards them. It was as if she was carrying a huge weight.
Everyone was staring at her with awe. A huge smile was plastered on everyone's face. My parents were the happiest. They had been worried about why Beth had not started walking sooner. Now all their worry was gone, replaced with smiling faces. Toddling Beth was really adorable.
Wasn't today a day full of smiles and miracles?
Present
I was always the spectator, then and now. I wish that I was not just a bystander. I wish that the watch could turn back time and return me to those happy moments. Replace all the angry and heart-broken faces with the old smiling faces.
Now that I think of it, I don't know whose fault it really was. Many times I felt it was my fault. If only I did not stand still. I have raked my head, thinking of what I could have done differently? How could I have prevented this? My thoughts were filled with 'What if' s and 'If only's. My existence had become set of possibilities and regret.
However, when I hear them shout and argue, pass insults at each other, see them being barely civilised with each other, I realised it was not my fault. It was none of our fault. We were helpless, victims of circumstances and fate. The only person to really blame was fate, fate had played a cruel game on us.
I gave the watch a final glance and caressed its broken glass. Then I tossed it inside the drawer and locked the drawer. It was easier to just ignore the happy memories. It was less painful than remembering them. Less painful than living in the present with those memories acting as a continuous reminder of what I had lost.
******
Hello readers,
Here I go with another one of my reminders. If you have a sibling, stop whatever you are doing and go hug them, hug them tight and tell them that you are thankful for them. You should be. I do not have a sibling and I desperately wish that I did. Be grateful that they are in your life. Also if you are a guy and you have a brother, whom you do not hug because of societal stereotypes, you should go and hug him right now. Your brother is more important than any stereotype. If you do not pay heed to any of my other reminders it is okay, but please pay heed to this. Believe me I wish I had a sibling. Make sure that when you look back you don't regret anything.
Thank you for reading! I will try to update every Friday or Saturday or sometimes both the days. Do not forget to Vote, Comment and even Share!
P.S. The song is Brother by NEEDTOBREATHE
Spread Love,
Thedreamer64