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I miss the old days.
The days where we could run around the lot, be kids, and have fun. We always got up to the craziest of things. I remember, once, we had an all-out water balloon war on the lot. That day was a lot of fun, We ended up scaring half the lot employees into quitting, we pretty much-guaranteed punishment.
Of course, as normal, we weren't going to let them catch us that easily. It was those days, we would run from our problems until they finally caught us. Usually, when they did they'd box us in a crate and ship us off to the CEO. For the amount of chaos, we create the punishments were surprisingly lenient. At most, we'd get yelled at or a slap on the wrist than be sent off again.
Nowadays though it's so quiet. Unsettling.
Dot tends to stay in our room cooped up all-day. Rarely coming out except to eat, use the bathroom, or have hello nurse check her eye. Sometimes when I go near the door I'll hear crying on the other side. I'm tempted to go in there when I hear it sometimes but I always stop myself. We deserve to feel this way after all.
Me? Well. I've had a difficult time walking after what you did to my leg. In fact, it's so bad that I have a service dog now. She's a black, half Labrador half golden retriever, balance service dog. I named her babycakes. I love her very much, in a way she reminds me of you. She's very clumsy and she eats a lot. I don't deserve her.
Dr. Scratchansniff has been coming in daily to check on us. He's one of the reasons I get up in the morning. He makes breakfast for us every day as well as lunch and dinner. He puts me and dot through therapy as well.
Today, it begins in an empty room. We are alone and he sits opposite me. He has a small notebook in one hand and a pen in the other, a small table is next to him his personal items on it. Babycakes sits right of me, patiently waiting on the floor.
Then the questions come. They are standard and easy to answer. As time goes on though the questions get more uncomfortable. I feel myself tensing up. Then he asks the question.
This question is the one that always sets me off. He asks this question every day and without fail it always pisses me off.
I used to be calmer before. I wasn't always like this. It was you who was supposed to be like this. All angry and crazy and zany because that's who you were. You were the best at it. The number of times I've seen you lose your cool is insane. Usually, they happen because something unfair or cruel took place. You were always so adamant in everyone being equal and nice. I remember once, you and dot came home one day roughed up. You sported a black eye and a bloody nose though you didn't seem to notice or care. Dot, thank god, only had a couple of scraps on her body.
When I saw you like that I freaked out. I fussed over you and asked you many questions and you answered them. Apparently, you and dot had gone to get ice cream, on your way there you had encountered a couple of bullies who started to pick on dot, they make her cry and took her favorite flower away. You, of course, being who you are couldn't stand by and let this happen. You got into a fight with them and eventually won, you got dots flower back as well. You looked real proud as you told that story. I was too, I should have told you that.
Maybe I should have enrolled you in boxing or something related to self-defense, you would have been amazing at it, smart about it too.
You would have been very smart about it because you are smart... Were smart. A lot of people didn't think it. I know they always thought you were the least smart out of the three of us. Hell, you thought it to but we knew the truth. You were smart, incredibly smart, you just showed it in different ways.
The Contraptions you always built are an example of that. It took an incredible amount of brainpower to set everything up as you did. You had a great head for numbers and could always come up with the exact coordinates you'd need to place everything for it to work, you were never wrong. You were smart I just wish I told you that.
I remember very clearly the day things changed. We were in a rush to get out the door but you couldn't find your hat so we left without it. I could tell throughout the day you felt uncomfortable without it so halfway through we stopped at a shop. The shop itself had nothing you liked, all the hats were either too big, too small, or itchy. It was outside the shop where you found a good substitute. it was lying abandoned in the alleyway next to the store. It looked almost exactly like yours only difference was that it had a white rim, You were happy to wear it for the day. Honestly, I should have told you to leave it there, after all, why would someone abandon it unless they had a good reason.
It started a couple of days later. You started acting weird. At first, it was small things like being too tired to play or saying you weren't feeling too good so you stayed home.
Running around the lot was not as fun without you but we didn't want to push you so we let you be. You would get better we told ourselves. I wish we pushed.
We heard about the disappearance a couple of days later. Apparently Elmyra Duff had gone missing during the night. No one in academy Falls could find her. You specifically, looked to be the most affected by this. Going as far as locking yourself in our room and refusing to come out for days. This should have tipped us off that something was wrong but we thought you just need time to process.
As the days went on the more disappeared the more your distress grew. You grew more agitated, violent, and you started to push us away. We tried to help you, everyone did but nothing worked.
Finally, we came up with a solution. We personally didn't like the solution but they told us that it would help and we wanted our brother back so we agreed.
Men in clean white coats came a took you away. You screamed and hissed and cried, Begging us not to let them take you away. We cried as well as they took you away. Watching as you fought against them but ultimately you lost and then you were gone. I wish we didn't let them take you away.
It was months before we saw you again. You were different. You were dead. You were black. I remember looking into your now white eyes as you laughed. I remember crying. I remember hearing dot crying. You were gone and there was nothing we could do.
I should have loved you well.
I should have asked what was wrong.
I should not have let them take you away.
Bro I should have been there for you.
I wasn't though and now the only thing I have left is a broken family.