Broken Siblings

Prologue

There used to be nine of us... well 11 if you count Mama and Papa. There was Ma, Pa, Ulysses, Estella, Johnathon, Lee, Valerie, Gladys, Floyd, Sylvia, and me. We were a family. We were whole. There was no hatred or rivalry between us.

But one day, Ulysses didn't come home. We thought he was lost. So we called the authorities. A few days later we found him; dead. Ma wouldn't stop crying. she could bear to see her first born dead.

Estella started acting weird after Ulysses' death. She would barely eat, sleep. She wouldn't speak to any of us and was always troubled. She tells us shes busy when all she does in her room is sit and mutter strange words. A psychiatrist told us she needed medication. It didn't work. She got worse. He said she needed rehabilitation. And so she went. I'd never thought that would be the last time I would ever see Estella again...

Floyd couldn't stand the empty aura the house now gave with out the eldest. He got into a lot of trouble constantly, wanting the attention lost when the eldest died. At one point he nearly burned down the school just to win attention. After his little stunt, the authorities came and attempted to find him. But it was too late. like the wind he swiftly escaped. Where he went and where he is is still unknown until now.

The twins, Valerie and Gladys, were taken away one summer. As everyone else was playing in the sand, they were swimming in deep water. There were screams of help, loud and clear. Yet we couldn't find them. I knew they were both great swimmers and they couldn't have drowned. Perhaps they were dragged down by some sea creature or captured by men in boats. But the facts were buried in the sand.

Sylvia was next to go. She was kidnapped on her way home. They found the kidnapper but not my sister. The kidnapper refused to speak and he went to jail.

I don't know what caused Johnathon to snap. All I know was during one stormy midnight, I heard footsteps on the roof. I climbed up to see who it was. The figure turned its head at me as lightning flashed. It was Johnathon. He sent me a look and off we went.

All that was left was Lee and me. Mama was breaking down with all of her losing all her children one by one. Me and Lee promised to always stick by ma, being strong for her when she was weak. I would have never known that our promise would have broken so easily.

Lee went hunting with pa one autumn, just for the sake of game. They were gone for a week and Mama was worrying that she had lost another son and her husband. I tried to comfort her, but after so many losses, it is so easy to fear the worst.

Papa came home after 2 more days. He was carrying a big deer and some birds. Mama immediately inquired him about Lee. He said that he must have gotten lost in one of the forests many twisted paths. Mama cried a waterfall of tears over another lost child. And that was many years ago.

I am the only one left. From nine there was soon one. From eleven there is now only three. My Mama refuse to believe that things would get any better. My Papa wasn't any better. I am the only one who still can't wait for the sunrise after a long night. I', the only one...

And here I end my entry. I must do the rest of my chores and eat dinner. They wont appreciate me stalling. But I will tell you this, one day everything will change. soon we will all be together again and we will share laughs, tears and stories. That day will come soon. I promise you.

-Evan Emerson.