Little Sister

Chapter 4

As daylight broke into the surrounding area, an image was etched into my mind. An image that I could never forget.

My fatigued eyes slowly opened to the sight of a light blue book that was carelessly laying on the sheets of a dirty blanket. On the blanket was also an empty plate, decorated by the swirls of ketchup and dots of crumbs.
Finally, right next to the plate was the little girl peacefully sleeping. Her tummy was facing the ground and she kind of looked like a chubby, snoring salamander.

Her light breaths were drowned by chirping from outside. I drowsily looked outside the open tent and faced the windows of the small shed I had slept in. The sky was overcast and gleamed an aesthetic dark blue and grey. Despite the morning sun's best efforts, much of its light failed to penetrate through the thick clouds. The lack of light didn't stop the robins and StormCocks from chirping their melodies to the world.

I knew I had slept peacefully. No worry. No fear. No anxiety. No anger. That morning... I felt peace.

Unfortunately, that sense of tranquility was short lived as responsibility after responsibility blanketed my mind and reminded me I have a child to take home and a school to go to.

I crawled out of the tent and towards the door. By it lay a clock. The time it showed was an unforgettable one for it made my heart beat faster than a drummer on RedBull.

"7:24"

I remember giving myself a whole minute to panic at the fact that I had only 26 mins to shower, put my uniform on and pack my lunch.

I decided a shower would be the worthy inclusion on the list of things I was skipping that day along with the first few lessons of school. I needed to take the little girl home to her caretaker or whatever.
If she really didn't have parents then I guessed I would just call the child protection agency. If there WERE monsters, then I'd call Doom Patrol or something.

With a minute taken to compose myself, I waltzed out of the shed and into the house possibly waking the little girl as I left.
I scrambled through my drawer and slipped into my uniform.
With haste I put on my white shirt and blue trousers. Then I wore my red tie and my dark blue sweater. I then sprayed a load of deodorant over myself, as if every speck of dirt on my body was an infestation among itself.

With my uniform prepped and me looking convincingly ready for school, I rushed to the kitchen and packed enough food for myself and the little girl in case we got hungry.

I thanked God that it was autumn, for the morning weather was just chilly enough for a pleasant walk to school.

Having kissed my mother in the cheek while saying goodbye, and also having snuck the little girl out of the shed, we set out.

Out of the gate and back on the famous side walk, we were.
The very sidewalk that continuously led to my school which was thirty minutes away.
The very sidewalk where me and this little girl first stumbled upon eachother.
The very path that I walked up and down under the twilight sky, searching for her.
The very path that I used to carry her here.
The very path that I thought would lead her back home.
The very path that, at the time, led me to believe that I may never see her again.

The memories of the walks I had taken with and for the little girl felt heavy. They weighed my soul down. They weighed my heart down... And in turn, my head weighed down and my eyes solemnly stared at the ground.

"Big brother?" Her innocent voice enquired. She curiously looked at me with her index finger lightly placed on her bottom lip.

"Oh sorry!" I chuckled. "I zoned out for a bit. Let's take you home, c'mon."

"Yay!" The little girl shouted, in her usual jubilant manner.
"So, you'll lead the way?" I asked.

She didn't respond with words. All she did was happily grab my hand and lead me foward.

We both walked past the stop signs, over the zebra crosses, next to the mossy trees, under the cloudy sky, atop the hard concrete and still on the same path of the same sidewalk.

The leaves were still scattered around the ground just like the previous day. The little girl took the opportunity to walk like the caricature of a cartoon character. She awkwardly but hysterically stomped on the leaves while she led the way.
While my hand was still being pulled foward, I took it upon myself to finish off whatever leaves the little girl had left uncrushed in her wake.

When I look back at this moment, I feel embarrassed about how a serious teen such as I, could act so foolishly in public. However, at the time I had no shame.

No words were said, just childish giggles as we stupidly crushed a number of grounded leaves on the sidewalk.

Bliss

"Here we are." Said the little girl as she came to a stop.
We were still on the sidewalk. Infact, we were ten to fifteen minutes away from my school. Infact, this was exactly where the little girl first latched onto me.

"There's nothing here but a road and a forest." I said, indicating the road at my left and the forest at my right.

The girl said nothing, she just entered the forest without leading my hand this time.
Without hesitating, I slowly followed her.

By then, I had assumed she got bored of stomping on leaves, for she just walked. Not happily, not solemnly, not even casually. She just walked.

I followed quietly, not having the bubbly personality she had to randomly chat up any topic into existence.

The forest was spread with countless trees. All of them already had most of their orange leaves dumped on the ground. Only small, scanty patches of grey dirt were the last semblance of flat earth left as the leaves scattered themselves everywhere.

We walked past more trees than I could ever count. I was constantly startled by stray racoons and random crows that announced their presence to the gloomy woods.

"Big brother?" The little girl said, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"We are almost there!" She turned with a huge smile.

In the distance I saw a creepy old house. A large one infact, made of nothing but wood. The wood looked eerily similar to the dark grey, mud-brown bark of the trees in the forest.

Ferocious winds steadily begun to blow and toss the leaves around like confetti. Up ‘till now, I still don't know whether it was the house or the winds that sent sharp shivers down my spine.

Barks from the distance came and the little girl gasped. She sprinted towards the house before I could even notice and I reluctantly followed suite.
I then came up on her hugging... What seemed like a dog.

It was a pug, but with skin instead of fur all over it's sculp and torso.

"Big brother! This is fluffy, my bald dog!"