He even taunted me. “You’re a freakin‘ monster, and you deserved that scar. You got what you had coming.”
And I was scarred for him.
Then, the worst part was, my parents didn’t even blame him. They helped him cover the whole thing up.
Right there, lying in my own blood, I’d sworn
that if I ever got another chance, I’d respect my brother’s “destiny” and keep my damn mouth
shut.
<
7:06
((
Right now, I heard the footsteps fading, the
door clicking shut behind them.
77
I opened my eyes, and the lowlife was gone. My
brother was gone too.
My mom woke up right around then.
“Honey, did you hear your brother crying?” she
asked.
I tilted my head, all innocent like. “Crying?
Nope, I didn’t hear a thing.”
“Guess I was dreaming,” she said, looking
confused.
A week later, my mom and my new, cheap-
knockoff brother, Joe, got discharged from the
hospital.
And I got sent to preschool.
L
This time, the teachers and other kids were
super nice.
No more taunting, no more staring, no more
feeling like I was some kind of freak. I was
finally getting the peaceful life I wanted.
- 2.
Time flew by, and before I knew it, ten years had passed.
We were at the town fair when a guy bumped
into us and jacked Joe’s phone.
I took one look, and I knew it was my real
brother.
He was totally different from last time.
He was all scrawny, dirty, and had this limp.
Looked like life had been kicking him around.
<
7:06
I remembered last time, when he was part of the crowd calling me a “freak,” and I’d lost it, yelled at him that he was being a jerk, that I’d
been hurt saving him.
He’d looked at me with disgust. “I didn’t ask
you to save me! Someone as awesome as me
would’ve done fine no matter where I ended up.
Don’t try to make me feel bad.”
Seeing how “fine” he’d turned out… well, I
could finally relax.
I saw my parents start to chase after him, so I
did a bit of a dramatic fall to the ground.
My dad looked almost identical to my brother, and if he got a good look, he’d start asking
questions.
This time around, I wasn’t some scarred up kid.
I was a straight–A student. My parents were
actually paying me some attention.
<
7:06
77
They stopped chasing after the thief and rushed
over to me. “Honey, you okay?”
I watched my real brother fade into the crowd
and breathed a sigh of relief.
