Talent Or Curse?

• Noa Yamen, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2020

“Look what I found!” called Mum from the other side of the attic. I turned around and saw her, bathed in light from the only window in the attic. She was holding something in the palm of her hand. Mum looked up, tears sparkling in her eyes and her face puffy from crying. It was a photograph.

“Oh” I whispered, fighting back tears. It was a picture of a joyful family. With a father, a mother, a baby boy and a petite girl. It was hard to believe it was my family only ten years ago, before life got tough. Before my parents divorced. Before I discovered my talent. Before my brother died. My breathing became more rapid and I collapsed into my Mum’s arms, yielding to my emotions. My Mum and I wept and wept until we were jolted back to reality by the echoing ring of the doorbell.

It was Lucy (my best friend). Lucy is like a sister to me. She is the only person who eases the pain left by my brother. “Let’s go to the park Emily,” yelled Lucy gleefully. “It’s a beautiful day!” I followed her down the street carefully checking the roads. Five metres from the park, a car swerved on to the footpath, knocking Lucy down. I leant down trying to staunch the blood leaking from her chest with pieces of fabric that I had ripped from my shirt. After I called an ambulance, the rest of the day went by in a blur. While we were sitting in the waiting room at the hospital, I felt my mind wander.
My brother, walking across the street. A car racing up behind him. My brother, collapsed in a bloody heap with doctors all around him. My brother, being rushed off to hospital in an ambulance. His vital organs failing. A doctor telling my Mum and I that my brother had passed on. Whatever I did, it always ended this way; however many times I repeated the day I could never save him, all I could do was watch as my brother’s life was taken, over and over again. That is my talent and my curse. I can relive days as many times as I wish. It makes me blame myself for my brother’s death. I spend every minute of every day longing to have another try at saving him. I awoke with a start as the doctor came in to tell us Lucy had died. That is when I repeated the day.

No matter what I did, no matter how many different things I tried, the day always ended with Lucy dying. Finally, I knew what I had to do. I had to do what I did not have the strength to do for my brother. Next time the car swerved on to the path I jumped in front of Lucy. As I felt my life fade, I heard my brother call to me. Finally, I succumbed to the darkness.