Chapter 5
255 Words
My mother had already prepared the largest, sunlit room for Liora, nothing like the cramped space she had described.
"Your brother is working a summer job. He finishes at six," my father explained.
"What would you like for dinner? I will cook whatever you want," my mother said softly.
While she went to buy groceries, I sat and talked with my father. He did not ask about my exam, afraid it would make me anxious.
Halfway through dinner preparations, my brother came home. He froze awkwardly in the doorway when he saw me.
"What are you standing there for? Come in," I said warmly.
He relaxed, smiled, and stepped closer. "Sister."
I patted his head.
After dinner, he leaned over quietly. "Your birthday is coming up soon. What would you like as a gift?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Did you work all summer just to buy a gift for Liora?"
He hesitated, then nodded quickly. "I will get you one too, I promise!"
I laughed bitterly. He had been so devoted to her, yet she had acted so pitiful when describing how we treated her.
He held out a small wrapped item, looking up at me, hopefully. "Sister, will you help me give this to Liora?" he asked.
They had raised her for eighteen years, and still cared for her deeply. But Liora's coldness toward them had already cut them to the heart.
My brother did not know that, to him, she was still the kind sister he remembered.
"Of course," I said.
He cheered.
- Writer
