Shira's Tale(Wattys2017)

Chapter 3

When I was seven years old, my life changed in a way that I could never understand. It was an emotional change that perhaps changed my childhood from a normal, Boston kid childhood to the childhood of a sister in the shadows. I don't remember the moment it had happened or when I suddenly realized that I would never be as good or reach the impossible standards of my brilliant sister. I can't say that when my parents took Brooke to a psychiatrist and he revealed that she was an Alder that my whole life changed in a second. It happened slowly and over time, like a tiny, beige seed lying in a coffin of soil and growing as the rain held their hand. Once they are fully grown, they realize that that this is their size and they have to accept what they will be for the rest of their existence. Perhaps that's how my childhood felt. It wasn't all bad, mostly because Brooke wasn't around all the time but was at her special Alder boarding school in the south-somewhere in Texas. Yet, when she came home during the holidays, all the achievements I had accomplished and been acknowledged by my parents were suddenly valued at the same price as dog shit.

Whilst I had achieved an A+ for my English test in fourth grade, Brooke had signed up for Advanced English (which is apparently a thing for Alders in second grade) and had achieved A+ average throughout the whole year whilst I had gotten a B average on my report card, I would perform in the school play in 6th grade as the comic relief act of the play, Brooke had auditioned for a theatre company that had come to her school and spent that summer touring from Nashville, Los Vegas, California and New York as she performed as young Cozette in the company's production of Les Miserables. In my freshman year, I wrote a manuscript called The Final Drag which was about a girl about a fifteen year old girl struggling with alcohol dependence and drug addiction which bought my friends who read it to tears. That same year, Brooke obviously heard about my book from my parents, studied the subject of addiction for a month and next thing I knew she was going to spend that summer performing drug and alcohol talks at the local library once a week(I have no idea why the library would let a twelve year old perform drug talks-oh wait its Brooke. Of course she can perform drug talks).Perhaps that's why I started taking photos and was able to stick to it for the long. The idea of sitting on the side and acting like a wallflower with your camera for your sight never seemed to excite Brooke. Because of her abilities,I knew Brooke would be a prodigy at photography. Perhaps that's why I kept the secret about myself for a year before telling my parents I had even joined the photography club at school. I also hid the fact that I had continued to write, because I knew Brooke would make a spectacle out of my other projects and ruin my passion like she had towards The Final Drag. I would have thrown the whole thing into the electronic dumpster if I had the dignity, but ended up storing it into dozens of files hidden within the database of my computer. It ended up traveling to New York with me, yet I always get depressed when I open it, mostly because I feel like it is no longer my work.

When Brooke called me one day last year to tell me she had decided to move to New York, I had to pinch myself to hide my fury. New York had become my home, a home where I could finally feel like I could achieve things without being told I was not good enough once I had felt the high. Since I had come to New York, I had finally felt like a successful adult; I bought my own groceries , I was responsible for a dog, I had a full time job, I could go where I want when I wanted...and I could also rarely smoke weed at Maureen's apartment without feeling like my parents were spying from a skyscraper.
Brooke was about to invade this bubble. Although she didn't mean any harm, I thought she was being selfish for a while. Due to the fact that she had been awarded a scholarship to Yale, she was able to save more money than I had when I graduated from Boston university and add it to her savings from childhood that my parents had locked up in the bank. This meant she could find and afford a better place in a better neighborhood than me and could do exactly what she wanted.
"I'm going to open a restaurant in New York City when I'm grown", she once told my family, "it will be in Soho or Manhattan -or wherever! I will sell the best cakes in the window that I'll make and serve amazing salads, burgers, pizzas, toasted sandwiches and so much more!"
This was Brooke's life plan when she was twelve...and is still to this day. Brooke has always loved cooking and baking and was probably the reason I gained a few pounds every summer when we were teenagers. When Brooke arrived here last year, she had already bought a space in Soho for her restaurant . She spent her first month talking to an interior designer for the first month, who happened to be Maureen. That's how we met and how our friendship grew like a sunflower in spring.. Despite the small anger I feel towards Brooke for the things she did during our childhood, I still have a desire to love her and keep her happy, that's why I helped her in my spare time during the operation to build her restaurant. By the fifth month, Brooke's restaurant was furnished and beautiful. I helped her employ people, choose out of the selection and find a cook who we offered to pay extra after we tasted his food . Yes, it was that good. I also witnessed Brooke telling him she would also be cooking from time to time, and I saw how the competition and ambition grew in his eyes.
Two months ago, Goldberg's Diner opened its doors. Due to the wide variety of food it offers, the diner is doing well and paying Brooke's rent.
A month or two ago, Brooke offered me a deal in order to thank me for my help and dedication: she revealed that she had some connections to Vanity Fair (god knows how) and she was willing to show the magizene's head my work with a chance of landing a photoshoot. Without a thought or word, I sent Brooke some of my favorite photographs of people I had taken in New York. Yet, there has no been response, none whatsoever. I try to tell myself that I can still be a successful photographer and that in the next few years, I will be where I want to be. I will hopefully be married and have a child or two and be taking professional photo shoots of some of the most gorgeous and talented people that will turn my pictures into art. Hopefully, I can be successful as Brooke.