Big Brother

My parents say I shouldn't be able to remember my brother when I was five years old, but I do. I remember him looking down on me, towering above me as if he was a hundred-feet tall. His name was Aaron Spring. He would have sloppy hair and wear clothes a size too big saying he'd grow into them.

He never did though. Mother threw them out saying trash belongs in the trash. I was upset, but he didn't mind. So I had to not mind too. Mother never told me his real birthday, but when I ask she would say July 9th, same as mine. Probably so I wouldn't get the dates confused. But I didn't care, it was easier of keeping track of how old he is. It was my sixth birthday, he was 16. A big number that deserved to be celebrated. =

My parents didn't care though, which upset me. He didn't mind though. I liked my birthday, I never did celebrate it with other kids like everyone else. My birthday would mean a day dedicated to us hanging out without our parents.

I would lay on the empty space next to him and we would examine the clouds together, discussing all our similarities. We were so similar, we were exactly the same except for age and gender. It scared mother and father at first, but they adjusted to it.

One time though, when I was eight, my mother grabbed a pair of scissors off the desk and screamed, "MONSTER!" I turned around expecting a monster behind me, and realized she was talking about me. My father tried comforting her, but she kept crying saying, "I never had a daughter, I never had a daughter." Over and over.

After that day, my parents neglected me. Only talking to me when needed. What do you want for dinner? Did you do you're homework? Where are you going? I never heard a 'hi' or 'how was your day'. They never said 'I love you' or hugged me. Any unnecessary contact wasn't done and I felt alone in the world.

But my brother consoled me. I laid to the empty space by him again, and we watched the night sky. I pointed to the constellations that I learned from his book. I told his I wanted to be an astronomer just like him. I also told him that I was sad he was old enough to be at college. But I'll still be able to visit him, I always will.

When I was ten, I took all his old textbooks. They were covered in a thin layer of dust because mother refuses to even enter his room, so she never cleans it. Exploring his room I found a photo album, it had pictures of our entire family, but it ended a few pages in. Around when I was five, that was when his camera broke. I tried multiple times of fixing it, but pieces were missing. I asked mother if she could buy me some, but she got mad at me and took the broken camera away.

I'm finally twelve. I'm nervous for middle school because it means I won't be able to see brother as much as I did before. He'll be okay though. Today I visited him again. This time, I placed violets around him before laying next to him. I told him about all my troubles in middle school. Every bully, crush, friend, teacher, impossible assignment, he knew about them. He would always listen, he didn't have anything else to do.

During middle school, I learned about obsessions and addictions. When I was little, they would be about food or games. But now it was about alcohol and drugs. Even people. People would say my relationship with my brother might be an obsession, but it's not. I just really love him. In fact, I'll visit him again today. I'll bring a bag of Skittles, his favorite candy.

It's freshmen year, and I'm nervous. I asked brother what it was like in high school but he didn't answer, like always. So I found his old yearbook. In the cover was gold lettering, some smudged with red, that said: SouthEast High School 2003-2004. I opened the yearbook and a file about a car crash fell out, I placed it to the side. In the yearbook, I found a girl named Marissa Clears. I quickly rushed to my brother and told him about her. I've seen her around a lot, and I think he should talk with her, maybe ask her out. She's always right behind him, but it's not like she has to be there. She could've been anywhere, but instead she's always behind him. Always.

High School wasn't that bad. I made many friends and even have a boy friend. It was a sad day when I'll never see most of them ever again, but it's okay. I still have brother. I still wished he talked with Marissa, she seems like a nice girl. I've talked to her a couple times after I hung out with brother. She's quiet like him, so I think they would work out nicely.

Instead of going to an actual college, I go to college online. I never want to be far from brother, so I refused to go across the country to another college. I'm taking Astronomy as my major and minor in Anthropology.

I'm finally 20 and mother and father have been discussing with me about moving out. I don't care, this way I can live closer to brother. We can watch the sky together more, and talk about Marissa more.

Mother and father visited me today. They talked about my "obsession" with brother. They said, it wasn't healthy. They even found out I broke up with my boyfriend because he got mad at all the time I spent with brother. I ignored them. They said I needed help, that if I don't get any soon I'll go mad and they'll have to put me in a mental hospital. I don't care though, if I could still be with brother I don't care for anything else!

Today's the day. The police kicked down my door and the hospital van came. I was out of the house before they even noticed though. I wasn't crazy, they can't prove it. I know I can run for long though. I ran to brother. I ran to him and looked to see the space next to him wasn't empty anymore. It was covered with fresh dirt and a stone that said: Jackson Hughes. Beloved friend, husband, and grandfather. 1934-2014.

Tears feel from my eyes and I wiped the stone covered in violets: Aaron Spring. Will always be known as the best brother and son. 1989-2004.

So I wrote this story because I love listening to Cry read horror stories, and even though this isn't really a horror story, who cares?

If you're confused:

The main character was 5 when her 15 year old brother died in a car accident. She refused to believe he was dead and acted as if he was alive. The reason her mother called her a monster for being like Aaron was because her mom thought of her like Aaron's ghost. Her parents tried to accept that Aaron was dead and were worried when she kept acting like he was alive and was attaching herself to his stuff making it worse. Marissa Clear was Aaron's classmate that also died later on and have a grave behind his. I don't think I'm forgetting anything else.

If you read closely you'll probably see all the now obvious hints. If you're still confused leave a comment!