Ghost Bird | ✔

Thirteen

Enjoy!

I open the door to the balcony, same as every week and sit down with a book. It's been a while since Wil came to see me, but I am hopeful that he will come today. I miss seeing him, the second person in my life.

The sound of footsteps tears me away from my book. In a flash, I am at the window. Looking out, I see that it is just the neighbor, out for a walk at night. It is a rare sight of the old bachelor. From what I can tell, he is a veteran and a bachelor. He lives alone but often leaves his house to go stay with friends and travel.

Our house is the perfect place for Mother and Father. We are at the V of a street, the last house there. On one side, there is a highway. On the other side, there is a road that is separated from us by trees. That old man is the only neighbor and the owner of the only house near ours. The house is perfect for hiding two people in.

Sinking to the floor, I open my book up and go back to reading. Thirty minutes later, there are footsteps outside again. But it is just the old man returning from his walk. Dismayed, I return to my book.

My tentative hopes of seeing Wil are crumbling. I slide the book back into place on one of my bookshelves and survey my room, making sure that it is immaculately clean. Flopping down on my bed, I am about to go to sleep when footsteps draw me from my plan. I trudge over to the window, hoping that it is Wil and knowing that it is unlikely.

"Little Sister, are you going to let me in or not?" He calls softly.

A huge smile spits my face and I call back teasingly, "Sure, I'll just let down my hair for you to climb up, Big Brother."

With a laugh, Wil disappears out of sight below me. Popping up over the railing, Wil climbs over and says, "Well, I couldn't find any hair, but I managed."

"I'm so glad I am not Rapunzel," I say with a small snort. "Could you imagine having to brush out that much hair?"

"Umm... No, not at all," Wil says, pointedly running a hand through his short hair.

"Come on, then," I tell him. Wil enters and I flick the lights on.

"Did I wake you, Sang?" Wil asks worriedly.

I smile and answer honestly, "No, I was just about to head to bed, though."

Wil sits down on the floor and I grab my chess set before joining him. I plop down on the floor, hiding a wince when I jar my back and I realize that Mother hurt my back more than I had thought previously.

"Chess?" Wil remarks. "Again?"

"Yup. It's been a while, maybe you will finally win," I taunt.

Wil grins easily and shakes his head. "If only that were possible."

Quickly, I set up the board to play. I am not sure if I really am good at chess or if Wil is just bad at chess. However, I have a few books on chess and warfare, each of them I have long since memorized. To fill the void that is my time, I often play against myself since I don't have anyone else to challenge. I guess I could be considered decent at chess. I hope.

Wil plays as white and makes the first move, sliding a pawn forward and the game begins. Soon, I have six of his pawns, both knights, a bishop, and a rook.

"The move is yours," I tell him, looking at the board and planning for each move that he makes.

"How would you respond if you knew that someone was searching for you?" Wil asks, moving a piece.

I freeze and then realize it is just a ploy, a somewhat mean trick, for him to distract me and try and steal my queen.

Shaking my head I tell him right before I set his piece down, "You know, I went outside today."

Two can play at that game.

Wil freezes and sets his piece down in the wrong spot. Dropping his hands in his lap, he looks at me with his hopeful brown eyes.

"Did you really go outside?"

"Nope," I tell him easily. "Checkmate."

Wil looks at the board. Realizing his mistake, he curses and begins to put up the pieces.

Handing the set to me, he says, "You know, I was being serious. How would you feel if someone was searching for you?"

"Umm... elated? I would probably get my hopes up way too high," I answer honestly. "Why?"

He already is getting my hopes up. Is there someone searching for me? Why are they searching for me? Surely, they have more important things to do, more important people to look for.

"Hypothetically, what if someone hidden was looking for you," Wil starts. "You don't know why they want to find you. They are either really good people or really bad people. What would you want, Little Sister?"

What would I want?

I'm not sure anyone has asked me that before. However, Wil already knows that I fantasize about being found. It's strange, I know. The thought of leaving the house terrifies me, but I dream of being found and accepted into the world.

"I would risk it," I tell him with a shrug. "Mother could really use the help. Really good people would help her. Really bad people would at least put her out of her misery."

Wil looks surprised.

"What? I know that she is sick. She's been taking those pills for years and only been getting worse. I'm not completely blind, you know," I huff.

"You mean," Wil states carefully. "You would be willing to risk everything? Just to be found?"

Not skipping a beat, I tell my big brother the truth.

"Always."