Saved Again

• Erika Ng, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2014

I crept silently along the fence that surrounded the school gym, looking for the hole in the fence that had been cut earlier that night. The door was ajar, letting the light of the fire and the sounds of laughter drift out. I quietly slipped inside, trying to remain unseen. I searched the faces that sat around the fire, looking for one particular person. They were playing a dumb game of truth or dare. My brother, Brandon, was laughing along with the others as one of the guys tried to do a cartwheel but obviously failing dismally. I tiptoed over to Brandon drawing some curious but also some disgusted looks from the other kids. When Brandon saw me his face scrunched up in disgust. My steps faltered a little but I still made my way over to him. Some of the girls made some mean comments that made tears prick my eyes. “Hey Brandon, an I talk to you for a sec?” I timidly asked. He got up and dragged me away from the fire roughly. He didn’t say a word against his friends when they started teasing me. He was my big brother but he didn’t help me at all.

One tear escaped, running down my cheek. Brandon flinched but did nothing. “Mum’s coming home early tonight,” I told him. He let out a string of curses I had never heard him say before. I jumped back, startled. He knew that his late night party was over. Mum hardly ever came home before midnight so today was a surprise. When she got home, I would hear her heels clicking down the hall way followed by another pair of shoes. Brandon went and said good bye to his friends as I slipped out the door. I crawled back through the hole and began jogging down the road. Brandon would be able to catch up easily.

We were about 800m down the road when we heard the wailing of police sirens. There were four cars parked outside the gym. Eight police officers piled out of the cars and went over to the gym doors, pushing them open. There was a lot of yelling and crying but the officers led them out one by one towards the waiting cars. Brandon and I turned around and ran for our lives. He reached the house first, pulling himself up to his room using the tree that grew between our rooms.

I took a little longer but still made it up pretty fast. I got into my pajamas and crawled into bed shaking. About 15 minutes later, someone began knocking on the door. I rubbed my eyes and went to check the door, taking my time to keep up the act. I opened the door clumsily,fiddling with the lock. I gave the officers a bleary eyed look and a sleepy smile.
"Are your parents home?" he asked. I shook my head with a sad smile.
"It's just me and my twin brother."
"Has your brother been out tonight?" he asked. I shrugged my shoulders.
"He's been really sick and has been sleeping for half the day," I explained to the officer. He seemed to except my answer because he said goodnight and walked back to his car. In the backseat was Brandon's friends that had dobbed on him. They shot me dirty looks as the car drove off. I closed the door and let out a relived sigh. I was always keeping Brandon out of trouble but he didn't even know it and if he did,he didn't care.

I had saved him again.