Silence

-7-

I walked out of the metallic faced elevator. I glanced over to the woman at the front desk who sat there staring at me, her eyes glued to my every move. I wanted nothing more than to hide behind something, to become invisible. It felt like the entire world was curiously peering at me through a microscope. It made me feel as if I were a scientific experiment. But I didn't waver, instead I walked right past her and pushed the revolving doors open to the street, where I was greeted by the chilly air that still lingered after the short downpour.

        As I made my way down the street, drops of water from my hair dripped into my eyes. I stopped walking, rubbing at my hair and when I felt no water, I slicked my wet hair back. When I looked up, something fell and caught my eyes. A blue hair bow. The woman stood right in front of me, her back turned so I couldn't see her face. I grabbed the bow off the ground and rubbed away any dirty that had gotten on it.

        I looked up at her just as she began walking away. I began walking towards her, picking up speed as I neared the woman. But she did the same thing, it was like she was a mirror of my movement, walking at the same pace. Her hair swished as she walked ahead of me, not once looking back.

        "Hey,stop!" I yelled after her, hoping that she would hear me and she would stop. She just increased her speed and forced me to do the same.

        I chased after her, weaving around people and buildings. I followed her, with her hair elegantly tied up in a neat ponytail.

        It felt like my chest was being squeezed by an unknown being, with not enough oxygen passing through my lungs. The woman in front of me began to run and I decided to follow her lead. But that was a bad idea, my body was too weak to handle the pressure of running. My legs pumped as hard as they could and I breathed in heavily but to no avail. I had to stop. I slowed in the middle of the sidewalk, watching as the woman in front of me kept going, melting in with the people in the crowd.

        I breathed in heavily as I stared on to where she had disappeared. I felt light headed and felt as if my heart was about to explode. If only I wasn't sick, if only I didn't have cancer then I could have caught up to her. I would have had the chance to return her bow and gotten to meet her.

        I turned around only to realize that I was blocks from where I had parked my brother's Mercedes-Benz. I mentally cursed myself for having such an unfortunate day.

        As I made my way through the streets and back towards the car, I couldn't help but think of the woman whom the bow belonged to. It was strange to chase after someone when I didn't even know what she really looked like.

        I let out a sigh of relief as I felt like my body was at last back to normal, at least for a person in my situation. My brother must be stricken with worry about me and guilt suddenly overtook me. I was supposed to be a good brother and son until the day I actually die, to make it easier for them to move on at least. Then again, maybe it was better that I rebelled against him, just being your average mischievous little brother. Maybe then our parents and him wouldn't miss me so much when I'm no longer there. It was the least that I could do to lesssen the pain for them.

        When I did make it back to the car, I immediately noticed that there was a small slip of paper slipped under the windshield wiper. I'm guessing it's a parking ticket. I let out a tired sigh as I snatched the paper. With my emotions running high, I had parked in a disabled parking space.

        "Just my fucking luck..." I let out. I rubbed my temple, frustrated. Just another thing that I had to worry my brother about.