Hello Beautiful!!

SISTER, SISTER

I was two and she was five

Rocking me in her tiny arms

She whispered sweet nothings to my ears

I didn't understand anything she said

And I can't remember much

But I can vividly recall how tightly she held me

Afraid to let me fall

How she smelled like blueberries and baby oil.

I was five and she was eight

We ran around the house

Making imaginary food from stones and sand

Funny it seemed to our parents

Serious business it was to us

She would read stories to me

Allow me to wear her school uniform

Laughing at how ridiculous I looked

While I giggled joyfully and dragged her off to play more.

I was eight and she was eleven

Gentle as ever, she was

Violent and temperamental, I was

I can recollect how I had gotten furious at her

I can't seem to think of the reason why

But I had burned her back with a hot spatula

I can still hear her wails

And the look in her eyes as she stared at her baby sister.

Another day, we were playing

And I pushed her a little too hard

And she fell on the hardwood bed

I can't remember what happened next

But I can still make out the sound of her sobs.

I was eleven and she was fourteen

My temper and anger issues had started to fade slowly

But gentle and kind, she still was

She started looking thinner and weaker

Nobody wanted to tell me what was wrong

All I knew was that she was spending nights in the hospital

Later on, I overhead the doctor and my parents discussing

Acute promyelotic leukemia, they said

I didn't grasp what it meant

Till I consulted my trusty friend, the internet.

I was fourteen and she was seventeen

She looked gaunt and less pretty

Her head looked like a shiny marble

But she still kept a smile on whenever I came to visit

I still couldn't understand the concept of death

But deep down, I knew she wouldn't be with us

For much longer.

I apologized for all the things I did

All the toys I hogged

All the times we fought

Very forgiving, she was

Never held a grudge

For I was her baby sister after all.

I was seventeen, she would have been twenty

Walking down the college hallways

I saw a girl that looked just like her

Walked like her, talked like her

Maybe it was just my imagination

Or the small flicker of hope I had left

But I saw my big sister in her

And that very moment

I broke down

Right in the middle of the hallway

I wished fervently that I had my sister back

A shoulder to cry on

There was no one like my sister

My sister, sister.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: DID THIS TUG AT YOUR HEARTSTRINGS? 'CAUSE IT SURE TUGGED AT MINE WHEN I WAS WRITING IT. LEAVE YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENT SECTION PLEASE.