In The End

Little Brother

"I'm back." The boy said as he closed the wooden door behind him, he scanned the room, looking for his 'little brother'. The little boy came running and held the bottle of medicine tight in his hand, keeping it from slipping through his little fingers. Fion sighed in relief as he saw him, he gave him the bottle of water and walked to the curtain blocked window.

"Maybe we should do a little cleanup don't you think Nathan?" Fion asked as he brushed off the dust from the thin curtain.

"Yeah!" Nathan cheered as he sat on the sofa, opening the medicine soon after. Fion smiled thinly as he watched the little boy gulped down the medicine, he sat next to him and patted his head.

"Should we start then?" he asked. Nathan's face brightened up and he nodded several times, seems so excited about it. "Then you can clean up our bedroom and I'll clean up this room." He added. Nathan jumped off the sofa and ran into the bedroom. Well, it wasn't a proper bedroom but two matrasses are enough for two boys to sleep in, the dust was not as thick as the one in the other room, all the windows were covered in either curtain or torn cloth only leaving a few holes for the sunlight to enter. Nathan picked up a little broom that was leaning on the wall not too far from their beds, it was a little bit taller than him but he could use it well. He swept the floor carefully, trying not to leave any dust or dirt behind. Meanwhile Nathan was sweeping the floor, Fion brushed off the curtains from dust, coughing in the process.

"How long has it been since we last cleaned this place up anyway?" he asked to himself while covering his mouth and nose with his hand. As he finished cleaning the last curtain, he walked to their bedroom and finding Nathan still sweeping the room.

"Wait... I'm almost done! I will sweep the other room too!" said Nathan, sensing Fion's presence in the room. Fion didn't thought that he would notice his presence and so he was quite surprised. He couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of Nathan carefully sweeping the floor.

"Well, when you're done go ahead, I'll be doing other stuff." Fion told him and he nodded. Fion gave him a thumbs up and left the room, cleaning the other places and tidied them.

It was already night when they finished cleaning up their little house. Nathan fell asleep on the sofa with the broom still on his hand, Fion was checking the rooms and was pleased when he saw them all cleaned up free from dust, for now. He carefully moved the sleeping little boy to his matrass where he usually sleeps. He covered his body with a thin cloth that were sewn together with other cloths to make a decent blanket. Fion sat on his own matrass, his mind furthering away from the reality, he remembered the day he first met Nathan.

It was sunny, it was hot, it was... painful. He was still 14 at that time, trying to survive all by himself wasn't much of a problem, he could have the water and food supply all to himself. He met the little crying boy in the corner of the street with his mom, his dad, the only family that the little crying boy had. They were hurt, they were suffering, they were starving. Fion knew that it's better not to meddle with other people's life, especially with the living condition now. People can turn their back at you, they could stab you behind your back, they would betray you, they would use you to benefit for their selves. He knew it and yet, he couldn't turn away at the sight. He missed his family, he really did. He lost them, people killed them, he escaped, they did not. He couldn't do anything to save them, he couldn't use his 'talent', too risky he thought to himself at that time. Now he lost them, he missed them, the only people that accepted him just the way he was. He looked at the little crying boy and his family, all wounded.

"Here... bread." He said as he offered them three medium-sized pieces of bread. They looked at him with disbelief and distrust, but they were too hungry to think rationally. They took it quickly from his hand and started to eat it, grateful for the food they could finally taste again. Fion sat down on the ground, looking at the little boy who stared at him back.