Sparrow

• Larissa Liyanage, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2019

Lily laid on her bed silently gripping her bedsheets. Her eyes stung from tears she’d cried that day. The words rang in her head. “Your brother’s gone. He’s dead.” That was the only thing that was in her head. Lily stared at the ceiling blankly while her heart screamed from its shattered state.
The house was silent as Lily and her mother sat in their rooms crying over the sudden death. It had come as a shock to the Brownworth family. They had received a phone call the day before while at dinner. Lily’s mother, Alice, answered the phone with a worried expression on her face. When she found out her world stopped for a moment. Her mother’s voice became a mere echo in the distance as her mind began to spiral. Her brother Lucas had passed away that night from an overdose.
Lily couldn’t believe it. She refused to do so. She never pictured her brother as the type to become involved with drugs. He was a good person. Never was a risk taker. Always took the safe road. Lucas was smart and kind. Helped those who needed it most.
It pained Lily to see him with no friends. She couldn’t force him to find friends. She knew that, but she wanted him to have fun with people other than his family. It wasn’t that he didn’t want friends. He just wasn’t able to fit in. Lily knew why he did the drugs. He was vulnerable. Desperate. Twisted by his wish of friendship. She just wished she knew about it. So that she could’ve stopped it.
It had been two days since the death of Lucas. Nothing had changed except for the sun that shone brightly through the clear curtains in the bedrooms. It was the same routine as the day before. The house was still quiet. Nothing but an eerie silence echoed out. By the time Lily had stopped crying it was 8 at night. She climbed out of her bed and laid her feet onto the hardwood floor. Lily walked through the hallway filled with family pictures that were now aching memories of what had disappeared.
As she walked through, she heard a noise from behind her. She turned around and saw a sparrow sitting on the windowsill. ‘Most likely from the tree outside,’ she thought. She remembered when Lucas and her would go outside and look at the birds. Lucas would lift her up so she could see the trees properly. She distinctly remembered the three sparrows that lived in the tree outside her house. Lucas used to say they were his favourite.
“They symbolise protection,” he said. Lily never believed in such a thing. Suddenly she heard a flutter behind her. Lily turned around to see another sparrow sitting next to the one before. Lily began to walk over slowly. Then one more bird landed on the sill.
Lily saw these birds every time she felt alone or sad. She knew it was Lucas.