My Short Stories

🍎 Red Apple: A Tragic, yet Resolved Story

There were two siblings. One is an older brother, while the other is a younger sister. They've lost their parents when they're so young, and they can only rely on each other for their own survival. They both lived in an abandoned hut by the woods. It's near the lake and mountains, and they lived their lives independently. Their lives may seem peaceful, but that's not how this story goes.

While looking around the area, the older brother stumbled upon a very suspicious tree. The tree itself looks like a normal big tree, but it bears fruit... Glossy red apples, to be exact... Upon seeing those apples, the older brother decided to pick up some of that from the tree. After picking them up, he went back to the hut and gave those apples to his little sister. The younger sister loves those apples, as it tastes sweet and refreshing. Through that, the brother keeps on feeding those apples to his sister after having a meal... Making the apples her favorite dessert...

About a year has passed, and something dreadful happened... When the older brother headed into the hut, he saw the most despicable sight in his life... He saw his little sister... Lying on the ground... Lifeless, and unresponsive... He immediately rushes towards where his sister is, and tries to wake her up... She couldn't wake up already... She's cold upon touch... She's dead... Heartbroken, the older brother mourns, still hugging his sister's cold body... After such a long time of mourning, he buried her body near the woods... Engraving her favorite flowers and stones on top of the ground where her body was buried...

With the younger sister dead, the older brother has lost the one person he can rely on and talk with when his day doesn't go well... Meaning that he has already lost his will to continue living... Ever since then, he had been living his whole life in isolation. He starved himself for some days, swam on the lake and climbed on the mountains for a longer duration, and most importantly... Eating the same red apples that he fed his sister with...

It's been a few years since that happened... The older brother has now been looking pale and silent to the surroundings... He started to not care about his own life and has thought that his life is boring... When he started to feel that way, a stranger entered the area...

He's a doctor that's always resonated with nature. He met the brother, and was devastated to see him in such bad conditions. The doctor tried to talk and look out for him, and find a way to get him to be healthy again... But the older brother dodged and avoided interaction with him, as he's getting on his way... However, there were times wherein they talked about nature and personal experiences that involve happiness. Despite that, the older brother avoided the doctor, in order for him to repent himself from his sins.

Clueless, the doctor did some investigation at the older brother's hut... Discovering about what happened to the older brother and his little sister through the diaries of both siblings... Once he read the diary entries about his little sister again for proofreading, he came to a heartbreaking conclusion...

Immediately, he hastily went out and looked for the older brother... The doctor finally found where he was... He is at the big apple tree, the same one where he got those red apples... However, he was a bit late... The older brother took a bite of the red apple, and as he took another bite... He starts coughing vigorously, dropping the dark red apple in the process... Once he thought that he'll fall to the ground, the doctor took hold of him... And lays the older brother on his lap, he kneels down to check on his condition... Seeing that he has no chance of surviving, the doctor starts panicking on what he should do to save the older brother...

There, a heart to heart talk between them started. The doctor tells the older brother that he kept on feeding his little sister those red apples... Unaware that those apples were actually poisonous, and can be lethal to the body when eating it everyday... The older brother knew it, ever since he looked back on his days with his little sister... That's why he has started to feel guilty and regretful for what he's done to her... That's why he thought of poisoning himself with the same apple, just to repent for what he has done...

With the doctor not wanting to let the older brother die, he did all he could to assure him that it's wrong to commit such an act. The older brother tries to ignore what he has said, but the doctor starts talking about the younger sister's final entry in her diary... It states that she sensed that something wasn't right with her after she ate a lot of apples some months ago... That's why she said to the older brother to not blame himself for her death, and that she's glad that she has a big brother like him... With; "I love you, big brother!", as her final words before her death... Knowing that his little sister loves him, the older brother smiled... Realizing that she never had resented him until the very end...

However, his time to live was cut short... As the poison starts to act up and claim his life... There, he wished to be reborn again and be with his sister again to thank her for all the love and support she gave to him... He closed his eyes, with it never meant to be opened again... The older brother died... Witnessing all of that, the doctor mourns for not being able to save him from death... He eventually came back to his senses, once he recalled what the younger sister said to her big brother in her diary...

Like that, the doctor buried the older brother's body, right beside his little sister's, and engraved his favorite flowers and stones on top of the ground where his body was buried... Resolved from what he witnessed in the woods, he picked the poisonous red apple and brought it with him... Wanting to find a cure for the poison, to prevent another tragedy like the sibling's happening again...

~Fin~

Written on: November 22, 2022
Published on: January 30, 2023