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Grade
10

The clothes were all spread out on one corner of my bed; I tried to somehow unravel myself in the cocoon that had conformed around my body from my messy sleeping sessions. I rolled over to the other side of the bed where the phone was ringing on my nightstand. The caller I.D. read “brother”. I was still trying to untangle my feet in time to answer before my sheet would have been grateful of my downfall. I snatched my phone off of the stand and swiped the screen just in time before I missed the call.

            “Hello?” My voice cracked as I was still dazed from being abruptly woken up by my ringtone.

            “Hey Gaby, did you just wake up?” he said. His voice sounded low and disheartened. I know he was doing his best to hide it, and it all made sense why. Today was the day he was set deploy to Afghanistan for the war. I checked the time and it was now 9 AM to and I was finally to my full consciousness.

            “Yeah, I did, but its fine.” I knew today might be that last time for a couple of months that he would give me one of his inspirational speeches about life and its turbulences.

            “So how’s your morning been?” My brother didn’t like goodbyes. I didn’t blame him. Not talking to him whenever I needed him was going to be hard. But he was going to be out there defending our country so I guess that would give him pride. Even though, on the inside, I know he was scared out of his mind on what to expect there. I just hoped he’d come back in one piece.

            “It’s been good, but I’m going to miss you.” It was hard for me to say that since the thought of him being so far away made me sad. He wouldn’t be able to call me to tell me if he was okay, but we’d figure out a way later on.

            “I’m going to miss you too, sis. I’m going to have to start boarding now so I’ll call or message you when I can.” I knew it was coming, the time where he would have to leave, but I guess I was trying to avoid it at all costs. There would be no benefit to him leaving, just bitter thoughts about why he was chosen to deploy and why he even joined the marines at all if it was going to bring constant worry to his family. But, he liked it; I mean who gets to wake up and ask, “how many lives will I save today?”

            “We’re going to be waiting for you when you come back, okay?”

            “I’ll be back so soon you won’t even notice I was gone.”

            “Okay, I love you.”

            “I love you too. Bye Gaby”

            “Bye” and it was then and there that the call ended. I felt even more miserable than I already was. I crawled back into my bed and checked my phone for any notifications that would make me some-what happy again. Someone commented on the picture I had posted last night on my Instagram.

            “I’m going to always be there for you no matter what and everything will be okay while I’m gone. When life gives you a rose there are thorns at the bottom that you have to go through before you get the chance to enjoy its beauty. So smile. The hard times will soon fade as a new rose bud begins to form. – Love, your brother”

 

            On that day I tried to smile as much as possible to keep my brother and me happy.