Short Stories about Everyone but mainly about Devaronians

"Everybody Cared"

The kitchen was quiet when she entered, holding up her hand to stop the blood from dripping on her shirt.

Her brother was sitting at the table, head laid down on the plate.
Sleeping.

Out of sudden, Natalka felt the urge to push him over, to kick and scream at him.
Not to hurt him but to disturb his peace. Of course he could rest like that, huddled up under the care of Nadeja, of their mother, of everyone.
The jealousy burned cold like ice in her chest as she passed him to walk over to the sink, staring at herself in the distorted reflection of the surface.
A dark drop felt down, running with the last spits of water and disappeared between two dirty plates. Maybe those dots of black blood would finally make her mother realize. Make her realize that she had more than just two children.
Watching her blood streaming down the drain her mind wandered over to her little brother sleeping at the table.
She knew he had nightmares.
Everybody knew.
Everybody cared.

And yet when she woke up in the middle of the night - trembling and shaking from things seen she couldn't remember, hearing nothing but her own heart racing in fear and drowning in cold guilt - she always was alone. For her, nobody came to hug her, to share the comfort of a hug, to sing her to sleep again. Because nobody knew and nobody seemed to notice how much she needed them to know.

A drip of clear, salty water joined the black as she started to feel pain in her chest. She kept the sob inside - couldn't risk waking him up.

Her mother would be angry at her. Of course she would.
It had all been Natalka's fault, so why shouldn't this be her fault - her mistake - as well.
Her fingers brushed over his head as she left the kitchen. "I'm sorry."