Eeek!

• Kaiya Grebert, Grade 6, Dural Public School
• Short Story
• 2017

Excellence Award in the 'Spread The Word 2017' competition

At times like this, some people think that my sister is a selfish brat. Others claim that she is crazy. Some begin to suspect, but I am one of the only people who know the truth.
Right now, my sister is having a sensory overload. She is screaming her head off at me for scraping my knife across my plate to cut my sausages. “Stop making your plate go ‘eeek’!” she screams. Honestly, I didn't hear the plate go ‘eek’ or I wouldn't have done it. I tell her this and she explodes like a bomb. She glares at me, howling and crying, and storms off to her room. I know I shouldn't have said that, but I couldn't help it.
After dinner, I go up to my sister’s room to apologise. The light is off. She scratches me and it really hurts. I back away, staring in horror at the huge scratch on my arm and creep out of the room. Only then does she notice that she has unleashed her anger on me, again. She runs up to me and gives me a hug. This is the sort of thing that happens all the time. I apologise, she scratches, and she hugs me.
She’s not a selfish brat. She’s not crazy. It’s not my fault that my sister is autistic, but it’s not her fault either. So every time I just forgive her and love her as she is.