Caged

14

Caleb groaned with irritation as I swung my arm around his waist, squeezing the life out of him as we trailed past groups. We walked downtown, passing by the people roaming the sidewalks near the busy streets. I heard Kaiden chuckle from where he was walking behind us as Caleb struggled to keep up with me.

"Look!" I pointed to a shop that said it sold hot fudge. "They offer samples too, let's go there." Before anyone could protest, I yanked Caleb with me and grabbed Kaiden's hand to pull him along with us.

We spent some time in there and I had to force Kaiden to try some of the different kinds of flavors. Caleb was greedy and he always gave me the smaller part of the sample.

"Izzy, slow down," Kaiden called out after me as I trailed ahead of them, walking swiftly around the people in the way.

I paused, waiting for them to catch up with a roll of my eyes. I fell into step between them.

"Aren't you cold?" He asked, tugging my hat down over my eyes so I went blind momentarily. I pulled it back up and he smiled when I almost bumped into someone.

"No," I groaned. "Can we please walk faster? We can't miss the tree lighting."

"We have thirty minutes, Izzy, calm down," Caleb rolled his eyes and when they both refused to walk faster, I grabbed both of their jackets and began dragging them along, swiftly dodging people in our way.

It was only the start of November, not even Thanksgiving yet, but the city put up their trees and lights early. The tree was going up in the park today, so I had convinced my brothers to watch that before we went to dinner.

When we finally got there, there were crowds of people scattered all around. I could hear music playing distantly, and the atmosphere was perfect for the holidays. It was nice to get away from home, even if it was only for the weekend.

They were only beginning to set the tree up when Caleb spotted some of his friends on the opposite side, and left to see them after telling us he'd be back in a few. I was too busy watching the tree go up to care, so I easily ignored what he said.

There were less people than usual because of the weather, but I figured there were still hundreds gathered around outside.

I felt eyes on the side of my face and I glanced at Kaiden, where he was standing right next to me. He was watching me wordlessly, lost in thought, and I frowned. "What?"

"You're just like her, you know that?"

I froze, my eyes snapping up to meet his from where I had begun watching some people gathering the lights. I blinked in shock. "What?" I barely managed to say.

He smiled, and for the first time in what felt like forever, it seemed to reach his eyes when he talked about our sister.

I shifted on my feet, my toes beginning to feel numb from the cold, and slipped my hands into my pockets.

"Sophia. You and her are the same."

For some reason, I caught a hint of disbelief in his tone when he said that, but I ignored it. "She loved coming here. Mom and dad didn't let us take you, Ethan, and Caleb back then because they didn't trust us since you were too young, but she loved it just as much as you do."

My eyes were stinging and I averted them slowly, watching the tree light up. Something solid and glowing, it was the center of attention as it towered over our heads. The lights of the buildings and cars around us were brighter, but the tree lit up the center of the city, towards the night sky. The holiday music still played in the midst of all the noise, the cars, and the people; it was a perfect moment.