Silence

-3-

AN: Please comment so I may know what you think. Thank you 

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There she was again, the woman appearing in my dreams. I chased the woman around the small backyard, her hair swishing back and forth as she ran. I never saw her face; she always remained a mystery to me. Her giggle echoed throughout the backyard as she turned left. I chased her and stopped when I had noticed that she was no longer there. This always happened in my dreams; she would continue running and just be gone. Disappearing into thin air. But I was alright with that because in my dreams, I could run again. I could feel my body, powerful and fast moving. I could be free and not have to worry about the cancer or putting too much stress on my body.

        My eyes fluttered open to the sun coming through my windows. I didn't want to get out of bed but once I rolled over to check the time, I realized that I needed to take my medicine. There were so many bottles, big and small, sitting on the counter in the bathroom that I couldn't remember when I got each one of them. All I knew was which one did what. One took away the pain while others were meant to slow down the spread of the cancer, prolonging my life just a little longer.

        I made my way to the bathroom in the hallway, shuffling my feet like a zombie. To tell you the truth, I felt like one. I lived my life seemingly to just go through the motions of life. I looked up into the mirror and froze; it was like someone else was looking back at me. Dark circles were under my eyes, my usually vibrant eyes had turned a dull brown, and my hair had turned darker because of the chemotherapy. I looked like a walking skeleton of the person I once used to be. I had lost weight and now my bones were visible. My clothes were too big on me now and hung loosely off of my body like a clothing hanger. To say the least, I looked like a walking dead man; people could plainly tell that sickness was rapidly taking over my body.

        I abandoned the mirror with a sigh and grabbed two of the bottles, containing what I needed for the morning. I slowly made my way into the kitchen. I dropped the bottles onto the kitchen counter and peered down at them. Orange and green bottles labeled with my name now littered the counter of the kitchen. To me, they all looked like a death sentence but I couldn't avoid taking them. I looked over the bottles of steroids and took them accordingly. After that, I looked around to see Simone nowhere in sight. Usually he was fussing all over me, or he was in the kitchen making me something to eat that wouldn't upset my stomach.

        The mail was nowhere in sight so I decided to get it, taking some stress off of my brother, who unfortunately was my live-in caretaker. I was his job. It felt like I was mostly his job rather than his real one as CEO of our parents' bakery company.

        I shuffled my way outside and down the short, paved driveway to the mailbox. I brought it in, my expression unchanging as I looked through the many articles of mail. One I found particularly interesting was one from our aunt addressed to my brother. Looking around to ensure that Simone wouldn't catch me, I made my way to my room with the heavy envelope.

        It didn't take much time opening it up but what fell out caught my undivided attention. I dropped the envelope and it landed on the floor with a small thud, its contents spilling out along with a note.

        What I read next made me sick.