Tears

• Audrey Browne, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2020

The shadows of the trees bend and sway as I get closer to the room. Maybe it will be a good day? When Charlotte stays in bed, our mornings are forever challenging. Mum goes to work early, Dad is not around and I’m only 10. As I edge closer to the room the shadows change, they start to get larger like there towering over me, which can only mean one thing. I knock gently on the door, no answer, I knock again, still no answer. Pushing through the door I see a big lump in the middle of the bed, “Charlotte I bought you some tea”, carefully I place the cup down and sit at the top of the bed. Normally I would wait for a response but instead, I gave her a little nudge, she shrugs me off.
“You need to get up,” I plead “I miss you.”
Alas nothing, I let out a heavy sigh and leave the room. I try to plaster a smile on my face and head for the kitchen. My books are stacked in a neat pile on the table and I start to get breakfast. Before any of this happened we were a happy family, living in a nice house, in a nice town. Dad would work at our family restaurant and Charlotte and I were really close. Then business went bad and Dad was struggling. He decided to move away to a bigger town but mum was frightened, she always told us these stupid theories and believed in pretty much everything she heard or saw. Once we moved Charlotte changed. She didn’t go to school, she didn’t leave her room or talk to anyone. For some reason Mum and Dad didn't care, they didn’t bother to help her. SNAP, I was back in reality. I rushed out of the door and just made the bus. The ride is only about 20 minutes so It wasn’t too bad. My first lesson is English, I place my books on my desk and sit down. The teacher's voice was drowning and I was lost in my own thoughts. What would have happened if we didn’t move I wondered? But that didn’t last for very long because my name got called over the loudspeaker, “Amy please report to the office...IMMEDIATELY!!”
Great what trouble was I in now!? I trudged out the door looking mopey and sad, I couldn't remember doing anything bad but who knows what has happened!
I’m let in by the front office lady and sit down on a very posh chair in front of my headmistress.
“Listen, Amy, something has happened to your sister, Charlotte”
That’s when I start to worry, what could have possibly happened? She never leaves the house!
“She was making strange noises and the ambulance came to find that she had a big seizure” continues my headmistress
“A seizure” I yell, panicked “how bad?!”
“Well you will need to find out,” says the headmistress.