The message in the bottle

The coded message

My brother and I were best friends.

My brother was a great person. He was the best student in the class, the most popular person in school, the favorite one between our parents. My friends say that it must be awesome to have him as my brother, and I absolutely agree with them.

But everything thing changed because of that tragic day. It was a lovely summer day when we went to the beach. It was a wonderful day, with spots of white fluffy clouds in the horizon When we arrived, I thought of an idea to play with my brother.

I picked up a random glass bottle, a piece of paper and a pen then ran towards my brother, telling him about the "game" I just invented. It was about each of us writing a coded message on a piece of paper and in the bottle, then throwing it out to the sea. Whoever retrieves it and decodes the phrase the quickest is the winner.

My brother, being a good sport, immediately agreed. His turn was first, so I threw the bottle as far as I could, watching him jumping into the sea. What we didn't see was a black shadow coming from the horizon.

A horrifying scream pierced my eardrums.

My brother never appeared after that. I was devastated when I was told that my beloved brother was gone.

My life changed drastically after that incident. My friends began to leave me, saying that it was me who led to my brother's death; even my parents despise me, framing me of killing my dearest brother on that fateful day.

I couldn't even believe how I got past those 10 years of completely no love and acquaintance from anyone at all.

It has been 20 years since that terrible day, and I was walking along a beach when I saw something glittering beneath my feet. It was part of a glass bottle that was half-hidden by the sand. Very slowly, I unburied it from the sand and inspected it carefully. It was aged, with a scroll of yellowed paper inside it. The cap was still secured, so I twisted it open out of curiosity. The paper nearly crumbled under my touch, but I nearly broke down when I saw that familiar handwriting and decoded the words:

I love you, brother.

It was the very bottle that I threw and led to my brother's death. I kneeled down in the sand and cried.