A Short Story
Somewhere in time, tomorrow, I have to take a test. Since I have been studying, I decided to do
something different with my blog. I have
written a short story about another of my sisters and I will share it with
this week’s blog. I hope you find it fun
to read as I found it fun to write.
***
“I’m going to have another baby.” The announcement didn’t really catch me by
surprise. There were several children in
my family, more than enough to go around, but this announcement was special to
me. My parents had divorced and my
brothers and sisters were separated. Some lived with my father and some with my
mother. My mother had since remarried
and this news was a product of that union. I lived with my mother in sunny
California with two of my brothers. I
wanted a little sister to even the odds.
I needed someone to side with me when my older brother and I were gathering
supporters for our way of thinking. He
could always count on our little brother, so I needed a little sister to take my
side of things.
When my little sister was born, I had
reached the advanced age of eleven. She
was perfect. She had red hair. Not
strawberry blonde, but red and the prettiest blue eyes. Her name was Heidi. It was love at first
sight. I was at the age when I was too
old to play with dolls, but secretly still wanted to. Changing her cloths five or six times a day
never seemed to bother her. When I
smiled at her or sang to her, she would smile back at me. I knew then, I needed a little sister to play
with.
As she grew, she was still my baby
doll. I took home economics classes in
Junior High and learned I loved to sew.
I would make Holly Hobby outfits for my little sister. These always had a bonnet and a pinafore. My mother would bring her to school in the
outfits I made so I could receive a grade.
It was so much fun. Not only did I get a perfect score on every outfit,
the other girls in the class enjoyed playing with my perfect little
sister. I knew then, I needed a little
sister to show off.
One day, life changed. My perfect little sister learned how to
talk. I believe that God has a sense of
humor. As a child, I was very quiet and
very shy. I preferred to stick my nose
into a book. My little sister was the
exact opposite. She enjoyed attention
and enjoyed embarrassing me when she could.
One of her favorite things to do was to wait until we were in a very
public place. She would then look up to
me with the most adoring look she could muster and call me mommy. She seemed to have a knack for knowing when
enough older women were around to look shocked at someone so young being a
parent. Embarrassed, I would try to
remind her I wasn’t her mother. That seemed
to make the audience she was performing for more upset. She was unfazed by the
audience or my discomfort. If I blushed,
she would grin ear to ear. I knew then, I needed my little sister to go
shopping with our mother, instead of me.
One day, coming home from a church
event, I invited some friends in. I had
made it High School by this point and was making a few new friends. I escorted my friends, including a nice
looking young man, out into the backyard to show them my rabbits, or so I
thought. Instead what we found was my
little sister waiting for us. She had
taken a bra out of my underwear drawer.
She wore it on the outside her shirt and stuffed it with socks. She was standing there proud as a peacock
waiting for everyone to see. I turned
several shades of red and looked around, but couldn’t find a rock large enough
to crawl under. I knew then, I needed my little sister go play with her own
friends.
My mother called me at home one day,
just as I was preparing to go somewhere with a friend of mine. She wanted to know if we could go to the
school and pick up Heidi. My mother was on her way home, but she would be later
than expected. My plans weren’t fixed,
so my friend and I drove over to the school.
I walked into the office and told them I was there to pick up
Heidi. I could see Heidi over by the
receptionist’s desk. The office staff
looked at her and said, “Heidi, your sister is here to pick you up.” Heidi looked at them as straight faced as you
please and denied knowing me.
I stood there dumbfounded. How do I prove I’m her sister? I have a driver’s license, but we have
different last names. I’m very short and
blond and she is tall for her age with flaming red hair. The office staff was equally stuck. My mother had called, they knew Heidi’s
sister was coming, but who was I? I
stood there for a moment, pleading with a six year old to tell the nice ladies
who I was so we could go home, but she refused.
After a few minutes, the door opened and in walked my friend. Heidi immediately called out his name and ran
to him. The ladies in the office laughed
and I was able to take my challenging little sister home. I knew then, I needed
my little sister to learn when teasing was no fun.
About a year later, I had come home
from a date one night. My mother was patiently waiting up for me by dozing on
the sofa. It was probably about eleven
o’clock. I walked in quietly and went
back to the bedroom I shared with my growing little sister. I didn’t turn on the light, so I wouldn’t
disturb her, but this night something was wrong. I smelled something burning. I immediately began looking around, wondering
where the source of the smell was coming from. When I noticed a glow coming
from my little sister’s bed, I screamed.
I grabbed the blanket off the bed.
She had taken the lamp off the night stand, removed the shade and put it
under the blanket with her. I believe
she did this to read a book without being caught. Unfortunately she has fallen asleep and now
the blanket had melted to the lamp as the lamp was steadily burning through the
mattress.
My scream brought my mother
immediately. I had the blanket in my
hand and I reached to grab the lamp. It
was then I saw how precariously placed the lamp was between her two out stretched
legs. If Heidi had moved one inch to the
right or left, she would have been severely burned. My mother pulled Heidi off
the mattress. My stepfather put the
burning mess outside. My mother franticly searched Heidi’s body for any sign or
burn marks. Heidi looked around, totally
confused by the panic around her. We
were all thankful I came home when I did. I knew then, I needed my little
sister. When she scared me to death, I knew how precious she was.
Many years have passed. My little sister is now a grown woman with
children of her own. The funny thing about my sister is we can fight, but I
will still love her. She can embarrass
me, but I will still be secretly proud of her wit. She can make me crazy at times, but I still don’t
want to change her for the world. I know now, I need my little sister. She is one of my closest and best friends.
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