Mine

Chapter 04

She sat in the dimly lit room, the only illumination coming from the desk lamp that cast a pale glow over the stack of papers sprawled in front of her. Her hands trembled as she clutched the freshly printed report, her eyes scanning the text in disbelief. The words blurred together as tears pooled in her eyes, but the meaning was all too clear. Negative. The DNA sample didn't match.

Her chest tightened, and a muffled sob escaped her lips. She dropped the paper onto the desk and buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking as she let the despair consume her. Another dead end. Another shattered hope. Another girl who wasn't Cherry. Her Cherry!

For years, she had clung to the fragile threads of hope, piecing together fragments of her memory and searching for her sister she barely recognized anymore. Every time she met someone with the slightest resemblance—a girl with the same bright eyes, the same naughty heart-warming smile, or even the same lilting name—her heart would leap.

For a moment, she could almost feel the warmth of her sister's tiny hand in hers, hear the giggles that once filled their shared room. But reality had a cruel way of snatching that hope away, leaving her emptier each time.

She leaned back in her chair, staring up at the ceiling, her mind spiralling into a storm of what-ifs. What if Cherry hadn't survived the fire? What if its just my delusions to think she is out there somewhere, waiting for her Maria to find her? What if she isn't even there? What if she was never there... The last thought tore through her like a blade, and she clutched her chest as though she could physically hold herself together.

The reports this time felt like the last shred of hope. She had paid extensively for rushed processing, checked her email every hour for updates, and when the envelope had finally arrived, she had dared to dream. But now, as she looked at the cold, clinical rejection of her hopes in black and white, she felt another part of herself crumble. She had no idea how much more it will take before she crumbles completely.

Every time I see her face in someone else, I hold my breath... like maybe—just maybe—this time it's her. But it never is. It never is!

How many times can I break before there's nothing left to shatter? I keep picking up these broken pieces of hope, and they cut deeper every single time.

I remember her laugh. God, I remember it like it's stitched into my soul. But I can't remember the sound of her voice anymore. What kind of sister forgets that?

I tell myself I'm strong enough to handle it... but when its time to open these mere pieces of paper, I collapse. Like I'm chasing shadows and the light keeps slipping away.

I'm so tired of searching. So tired of hoping. But if I stop... if I stop, it feels like I'm leaving her behind all over again. And she's screaming for me to reach out to her just like that night!

I can still see her tiny hand, stretched out for me. She trusted me to keep her safe. And I failed her. I failed her when she needed me the most.

What if I never find her? What if she's been gone this whole time, and I'm the fool who keeps running in circles around a ghost?

I pray. I beg. I bargain with anything that will listen. Just one sign—one sign that she's out there. But all I ever get is silence. Please God, don't be so cruel to me, I have no other reason to keep going! Please don't test me with what I can't bear!

The silence mocked her. Her desperation was a relentless tide, ebbing and flowing but never receding. She had sacrificed so much—her sanity of all—on a quest that felt increasingly futile. Yet she couldn't stop. Even as her hope dwindled, extinguished a little more with every failure, some stubborn part of her refused to give up. Because if she did, what would be left of Cherry? Of the little girl who had once clung to her, trusting her big sister to protect her from the world?