Inseparable ➳ Peter Parker

29 - Flashbacks

It's like she was there, but she wasn't.

The room was brightly coloured, full of toys, books, and young children. A little girl sat by herself in the corner with the blocks, stacking them into towers. She looked over to the middle of the room, where most of the other kids sat, playing house.

A lady knelt beside the girl. "Hey, there. Don't you want to go play with the others? They look like they're having fun."

The girl shook her head.

"Why not? You look lonely playing all by yourself," the lady noted.

"I wanna play with blocks," the girl stated defiantly.

The lady forced a smile. "Okay." And she walked away.

A couple of minutes later, a shadow cast over the girl's blocks. She looked up and saw a boy standing in front of her. "What are you building?"

"A castle," she said quietly.

"Oh."

The girl looked back down, expecting him to walk away, but instead, he sat down beside her. "Can I help?"

She grinned at him. "Sure."

❃ ❃ ❃

It was the same girl, but older; maybe 6 or 7. She was getting ready for school and ran downstairs.

"I'm ready," she announced, running into the living room. Her parents were sitting on the couch, talking quietly. Her mom's eyes were red, and her dad was rubbing her back.

"What's wrong?" she asked, noticing her mom's tears.

Her parents looked over at her. "Nothing, honey," her dad assured her. "Let's go."

That day at school, the girl couldn't concentrate. Something had happened, something bad.

When she got home, the boy from before was with her. He also knew something was wrong because they both gave each other a worried look when her parents called her into the living room.

"What's wrong?" she asked, sitting beside her mom.

"Listen, sweetie," her mom began. "There's something we need to tell you. We might as well tell the both of you, though."

The children glanced at each other, scared for what they were going to say.

"Your sister, she died in her sleep last night," she said shakily to the girl.

"W—what?" the girl whimpered, her eyes wide. "How?"

"We don't know how, honey," her father said gently, placing a hand on her back.

The girl's bottom lip began trembling as tears rolled down her cheeks. She turned to the boy, hugging him tightly.

❃ ❃ ❃

A few months later, they stood in the graveyard silently. There were now 2 gravestones instead of one, leaving the girl and her mother alone.

❃ ❃ ❃

The girl was older now. Maybe 11 or 12. She was at the airport with her mom, and the boy was there too.

They were hugging tightly, wishing it would never end, until the woman called her daughter so they wouldn't miss their plane.

"Promise you'll call?" the boy asked, pulling away.

The girl nodded.