Don't Forget

Fara

I'm here Tilly. I will always be here. I would love to hold you in my arms. To comfort you. Tell you how sorry I am. But I can't even move dust.

Helpless, I look at my broken sister. She holds her woven bracelet tight as if looking for something to cling to. "I'm here, Tilly. " I say. " I will not leave you. ".

...

It's raining heavily outside. You can barely see the street through the thick curtain formed by the raindrops.

I'm sitting on the gray loveseat in the living room. The walls, decorated with canvas sprinkled with gold straw, are pale brown to match the beige and gray furniture in the room. It's my favorite corner in Tilia's house. Here, I look out the window at the cars zooming by, lighting the walls with their high beam headlights. I get lost in their blinding lights before being brought back by Tilly's reflection in the window.

She is sitting on the couch, her knees drawn up against her. The television only gives her an image of snow because of the weather, but she hasn't paid attention to it for a long time.

I sit on the floor in front of her to be closer to my sister, but I see that she is lost in thought. At least she got inside the house. She had sat on the sidewalk for an hour staring into space while the rain began to wet her.

After a few minutes of looking at her in despair, I decide to go see what she has done to her room, because I know that I can't do anything to get her out of her torpor.

The room is upside down as if a search had been ordered by the police. Alec has collected most of his belongings and it's as if he never existed. Seeing this, Tilia saw red. She threw the chest of drawers on the floor screaming in rage before attacking her dressing table. Not able to see her like this, I went down to the living room waiting for her to calm down.

I look at the chaos she left in her path. Picture frames are smashed on the floor, clothes Alec left behind are ripped all over the place, my sister's makeup is strewn across the room, and the mattress has been slammed into the wall.

I fear for Tilia. I haven't seen her this angry since I died. It had taken all her strength to go on living without me.

Downstairs, I hear the phone ringing. Believing that it may be mom who is finally calling her, I quickly evaporate to reappear in the kitchen. I look at the screen and I'm disappointed to see that it's only Tilly's work.

She is still sitting in the same place leafing through an old photo album. Of course, she won't answer the phone. So the answering machine comes on board to make way for the voice of her boss:

—    "Hello Tilia. We have been trying to reach you several times. You missed many days of work. Call us back as soon as possible. Thank you. ".

She ignores the message while continuing to turn the pages of the album.

I approach her to see that she is shedding silent tears over the photos capturing her attention. I sit down next to her to see what's troubling her so.

It's a photo of Alec and her in front of the motorcycle. He hugs Tilly in his arms and they look at each other lovingly. It was the day they bought the Harley-Davidson. Alec had surprised Tilia.

An older photo under it attracts me. It dates from their teenage years. Tilly is surrounded by her friends in a park and Hugo, her ex, has his arm around her waist. He smiles at the camera with my sister, but her smile seems forced. There are two girls next to her laughing together and two other guys next to Hugo. One of them is Alec who is looking at Tilia over the heads of the others.

I remember that day. They were maybe fifteen or sixteen. I even think it was Tilly's party.

...

" - Happy birthday! Finally 16 years old, says Stéf, Tilly's friend.