Grey Nirmala
The bright sunlight hitting my face made my eyes sting, and I buried my head in my pillow. The birdsong outside made me look up and out the window next to me. The day was sunny and calm, but it was also quite disturbing. I turned my gaze to three fledglings sitting on a tree branch outside. The fledglings were fighting each other over a worm in their nest. Frankly, I felt sorry for the worm because no matter what it tried to do, no matter how long the birds fought each other, eventually that tiny worm would become food for those baby birds. I frowned and pulled my head away from the window to look around my room. Everything in my room was a mess. Seeing the state of my room made me frown even more, and I slowly got out of my bed. I took a clearer look around my room, but everything was littered, so I frowned even more. I yawned a little. After yawning, I glanced around my room one more time, but I knew that no matter how much I looked, the state of my room would never change. My gaze wandered to my the table beside me. On it sat a book I'd never seen before. I walked over to the table and picked the book up to examine it. At least, that's what I thought, because the moment I picked it up, it was gone. I must have been dreaming, but there was no point in thinking about it right now. I looked back at my messy room which made me pause. I saw my half-filled suitcase lying on the floor in the middle of my room. For some reason I abandoned packing my suitcase, I wondered what foolish things I did last night. I quickly grabbed whatever I could find on the floor and shoved it into my suitcase, but then something went haywire in my head. Why couldn't I remember what happened last night? What the fuck had happened that made me forget everything about last night.
After packing everything I needed and didn't need, I left my room and went to the bathroom. I stared at myself in the mirror over the sink for a long moment. My blonde hair might even be longer than my sister's right now. I picked up my toothbrush from the corner of the sink and looked at it. The yellow patterns on my toothbrush reminded me of a banana. I continued to stare blankly at my toothbrush. As I continued to stare at it, something touched my shoulder. I turned my head and looked back, only to find myself wrapped in my sister's arms.
-Opie?
-What's the matter, my dear brother?
Opie's voice sounded like he was humiliating me. Opie's arms tightened around me, and at the same time, his grip tightened.
-Opie! Let go of me.
-But why? I just wanted to hug my sweet little sister.
Opie released me, my already messy hair becoming even more of a mess. I pouted and looked at Opie, a little annoyed but also amused. I'd never understood how those two emotions could coexist, but when it was Opie, I didn't have to think too hard about it. Opie started laughing and pulled me back to him, messing up my hair. After a moment, Opie released me again, put his hands on my face, and then, using his index fingers to stretch my mouth outward, tried to turn my pout into a smile. When that didn't work, he pouted himself, but then immediately started laughing.
-Some advice from your sexy and sweet sister: Try smiling a little.
I rolled my eyes dismissively.
-So, if my "sexy sister" is so "hot," why doesn't she have any boyfriends?
Opie blushed and frowned at first, but then he smiled and finally started laughing like a maniac.
-If I wanted, I could make any boy or girl fall in love with me. Although I'm sure most of them are, anyway, I don't want to break your lonely little heart any further.
Opie laughed sarcastically, then turned away, but before leaving the bathroom, he glanced at me one last time, and this time, he smiled sweetly:
-But don't forget, Grey, there's no one in this world who I love more than you.
A warm smile spread across Opie's face, and then he left the bathroom. Even though I was used to Opie treating me this way, he still managed to make me happy every time. Just as I was about to start brushing my teeth, I heard Opie calling me.
-Don't forget to pack your suitcase! I know you forgot!
I smiled involuntarily and applied the toothpaste to my brush.
As I descended, I could hear my father washing his hands in the restroom to the left of the stairs, and my mother muttering something in the kitchen to my right. I could see Opie sitting idly in the living room across from me. I slowly and quietly crept up behind Opie, and once I was within arm's reach, I spread my arms out and, in one swift movement, began to mess up Opie's newly tidy hairdo. As I messed up, Opie squirmed and yelled at me, but the damage was done; his hair was even more messy than mine. When I removed my hands from Opie's hair, I felt a surge of pride, and a small, innocent smile spread across my face. Opie looked at me, frowned, stood up, and came over to me. We stared into each other's eyes for a moment, then Opie frowned even more:
"I hope your suitcase is packed."
Opie brushed back his messy hair and headed upstairs. Opie took a loud, harsh step as he climbed the stairs, probably to show his irritation. I glanced into the kitchen and saw my mother making a few sandwiches for the road. I walked over and examined them. They all had the same ingredients: tomato, cucumber, cheese, and pepper. Before she could turn her head, she pinched me with her hand. I pulled back in pain, and my mother laughed.
"Why did you fight again? Just spend a quiet morning for once."
I rolled my eyes and spread my arms wide:
"Then you shouldn't have given birth to him as such an annoying person."
"Your sister does these things to you because she loves you."
I laughed awkwardly:
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
I glanced around carelessly. I knew the arguments between Opie and me weren't anything big. They were just a little joke between us. There was hardly anyone else in the world I could talk to besides Opie, so bickering with him like this always amused me. Even though he did get on my nerves sometimes. I went upstairs and left my room.
I went into my room to get it and went to my suitcase. The suitcase was sitting in the middle of the room, but something else caught my attention. There were a few meaningless purple particles floating around on my desk. I went to my desk, and my mind wandered back to the incident I'd experienced this morning. I reached out to touch the purple particles, but just like in the book, they disappeared, vanished in the blink of an eye, simply vanished. They left no trace behind them, no evidence that those particles had ever been there, just like in the book. But this time, it wasn't an optical illusion or a stupor; this time, what I was seeing was real, I was certain of it. I heard Opie calling my name. I turned around and saw Opie, his arms crossed, staring at me curiously.
"What the hell are you doing again?"
"Opie..."
"What?
I need to ask you something."
Opie sighed and waited for me. I looked at the table and then at the suitcase.
"What was I doing last night?"
Opie paused for a moment, then looked at me curiously:
"Don't you remember?"
I shook my head.
"It's probably one of those typical school days of yours."
I frowned.
"Don't you know either?"
Opie frowned.
"Do I look like I know, idiot?"
Opie said it a bit too sarcastically, but I couldn't blame him.
I didn't want to admit my question was a bit stupid, even though I didn't want to.
"Okay! What are you swearing at?"
Opie laughed:
"Stupid isn't a swear word."
I pouted and looked blankly at my so-called "sweetheart" sister:
"Of course, I'm sure it is."
I exhaled and laughed to myself because it was all bullshit. Why would I lose my memory because of the bullying I'd caused? It was complete nonsense; something else must have happened. Anyway, I wasn't in the mood to think about it. I must have hit my head on the table or something and passed out. I left Opie and went to my dad. I wanted to ask him when we were leaving. But when my dad saw me, I guess he knew what I was going to ask because he took a breath to speak.
"Dad?"
My father leaned against the wall and raised one hand:
"I'm sorry, son, but your aunt called and I guess something's happend at her word place so the vacation is canceled"
"Eh?"
"I know, I know, it was sudden, but there's nothing I can do. I'm sorry."
Was I still dreaming? All this nonsense coming one after the other was too ridiculous to be real. And now, unfortunately, I had to go to school and deal with the school stuff. I really hate fate."