Write off the Fear

Chapter 1

Miranda 'Mim' Lee, that's her name and this is her life. A year ago, she lost her father, to what they don't exactly know because no one will tell them. They just know he 'died in the line of duty'. Which, to Mim, is complete and utter bullshit. If he's already dead, the least they can do is tell them how he died. Maybe that way, mom would have some sense of peace and Mim and her sisters would be able to forgive him for leaving them.

Ever since the news came that her dad had died, her and her sisters have dealt with it in different ways. Mim threw herself into her music and also out of the house. Spending as little time as she can with the walls that held so many memories for her. Amelia 'Mia', her older sister, decided to join every single play and musical the school put on to keep herself busy. Sometimes she'd practice her singing in her room and drive Mim insane that they would start a screaming match through the walls. Elizabeth 'Liza' is Mim's twin, you'd think being twins would mean that they would get along and understand each other better than anyone else, but no. Mim and Liza could not be more different. So different in fact, that they now just completely ignore each other. It wasn't always like that though. They used to be inseparable, stereotypical twins where they dressed alike, spoke alike and could communicate with just their eyes. But when they got to High School, it's like something shifted between them. She isn't sure what, but they grew distant and never found their way back. Dad was the only thing that kept them civil with each other, having "Twin days" with him. Once he died, it was like the final thread snapped, the one thing holding them together was gone. Now Christine 'Tiny', the youngest of them, but the smartest, was the only one Mim could still get along with. That might be more due to the fact that Tiny was wiser than any of them were and she dealt with the loss in a more mature way. Sure, Tiny had her fashion projects to keep her busy, but she also made time for each sister, doing their own thing. She would sit with Mim and listen to her new songs, suggest things here and there, she'd recite lines with Mia and help with some costumes for the theatre club and she'd sometimes paint with Liza in silence, knowing that it was what Liza needed. Tiny was also the only one that tried to get all of the sisters together for 'sister nights', but they always ended badly. Mom, mom was a different story. Each of them tried to spend time with her whenever they could, but mom was like them and threw herself into her research. She wasn't absent from their lives, but she was at an arm's length.

Well, that was currently Mim's summer of pain. She stayed out and hung out with Jason, her boyfriend, until the sun went down and came home and repeated it all again the next day. Which worked out great for her and the rest of her family, until one Friday at the end of June.

Mim was, as usual, out of the house and hanging out with Jason at the nearby mall when she got a call from Tiny. At first, she decided to ignore it because she wasn't in the mood to be lectured by her baby sister, but then Tiny kept calling. Mim might not be talking to most of her family right now, but that didn't mean she didn't care and Tiny's calls were starting to make her worried. So, she told Jason she was going to the bathroom and walked off to answer her phone. As she answered, she was greeted by a worried sounding Tiny.

"Mimi, thank God!" Tiny was the only one to ever call Mim that.

"Tiny, what's wrong?" Mim asked with a bit of worry seeping in

"You have to come home right now, there's something you need to see."

"What is it?"

"Just come home, please. Please." Tiny sounded like she was about to start crying

Tiny never begged or cried. Ever. At least not with Mim around.

"Okay, okay. I'm on my way. Just breathe Tiny, breathe." She waited to hear her sister take a deep breath then continued. "I'll see you soon." And hung up.