Toppled Over!

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

23rd September

Carl

I was up early around 8 and Jamie was still asleep. I cooked some toast with last night's salad, and set the table for us. I boiled some eggs since Jamie loved them half boiled and he preferred proteins to some healthy salad. He too walked down the stairs with a smile and wished me good morning. After breakfast he told me that he'll be hanging out at the beach today. He asked me if I wanted to accompany him. I said no.

"You can take a small peak, nothing will happen. I'll make sure you're fine."

"No Jamie, you carry on, I'm still bit droopy since yesterday, don't want any of those medicines again."

"Okay, but if you change your mind, do ring me up."

"Okay" I said as he got up to change.

I was now waiting for Romie to come. I hope she isn't mad at me for yesterday. I wondered what more lied behind that pretty smile of hers, secrets and stories unheard of. 

She came nearly an hour after Jamie left. She came into the room and sat beside me.

"So, how are you feeling today? Sleepyhead!" she said.

"Ayy, I was on medication yesterday so I didn't realise that I'd been sleeping for terribly long. I'm sorry for not being there yesterday."

"Don't worry, you can hear them both today. Come with me. I want to show you something today, its part of the secret." She said and led me to the topmost floor, where the 2 rooms were locked. Jamie and I didn't want to break in but we did try to open the door, Jamie tried pushing as well but it didn't budge last time, however, when Romie gently moved the knob and pushed the door, it obliged.

As soon as the door opened, my heart started pounding, my breathing got faster and I didn't know how to react. The walls were half burnt, the pictures, cupboards, everything was rusty and burnt. I felt a chill down my spine. It felt very familiar. Pictures of a room, neat and tidy, blue walls and a bunker bed, all of it started flashing in brain, I felt like I'm going to pass out again when I felt a palm on my chest.

"Relax! Don't get your heart beating so fast." said Romie, bringing me back into the real world.

"Uhh, yeah, thank you!"

"This is my brother's room, we shared it. I wanted to show you one picture that's lasted. You can see my family if you see the picture." Romie said excitedly as she walked to the shelf and pulled out a picture and gave it to me.

As soon as I looked at it, the same old thing, images flashing, mind going blank, but this time Romie held my hand, so I knew I shouldn't zone out. I looked at the picture again to see a woman and a man, in front of them were a boy and a girl. The girl looked familiar, very familiar. I tried hard to think about where I might have seen her and I remembered. The first time I'd seen Romie I got the vision/ I hallucinated about a girl, who was running, the gunshot by the beach, the blood. This was probably her, the same girl with the tussled hair, the dimple and green eyes. I was shaking now, fragments of my memory desperately trying to fall in place. The girl was Romie and I know her. I'm certain I do. I looked at the boy to see beautiful green eyes, a smile similar to mine and I instantly relate and remember everything that happened that day.

It was ME, it really was. I am Romie's elder brother, I ran with her to the beach, I played with her, I slept on the bottom bunker after fighting with her for the top, but I had to give in. I remember me calling her Pom pom, because I couldn't pronounce the letter 'R' well, she used to call me Calbro. I remembered all the memories I had had with mom, dad and Romie. Remembering everything brought tears down my cheeks, and within seconds I started sobbing. My eyes were filled. I felt Romie hugging me, her head on my chest. "I'm glad you're alive Calbro. Don't worry, relax now please. Take it all in"