Charlie; a little girl who desperately needed catching.
Leo, Oscar and Atlas; her three older brothers who awaited with open arms.
~
Five year old Charlie's life gets turned upside down by the sudden passing of her beloved mother.
The little girl is...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Charlie giggled as her little fingers grazed past the crunchy autumn leaves from the oak trees above.
She felt like a giant.
Oscar had placed the five-year-old on top of his broad shoulders, causing Charlie's height to more than triple, and effectively almost giving Leo a heart attack.
The brothers promised to take their baby sister to the park after her growing complaints of boredom in their "too grown-up" apartment.
And the encounter of their crying sister from the night before had obviously still affected her, so the brothers thought that some fresh air might help her take her mind off of things.
"Oscar! Oscar! Look, we're here!" The little girl squealed excitedly, unintentionally yanking on Oscar's curly hair and causing him to wince from the pain. "I'm going to go on the swing and the slide - oh! And the roundabout! Look at the leaves!" Charlie squealed loudly in Oscar's ear, forcing him to pull his sister off of his shoulders and down to the ground again.
"Alright, Baby! Go on, before you permanently deafen big brother." Leo chuckled and watched Charlie grab Oscar's finger with her hand, tightly holding as they crossed the quiet road to the playground.
The park was deserted, much to Charlie's joy.
No lines for the swings were a rare occurrence.
Charlie looked back to see her other brothers strolling behind with freshly lit cigarettes in their hands, deep in conversation.
"Alright, baby. Where do you want to play first?" Oscar grinned, drawing Charlie's attention back to the playground as he kneeled to adjust her soft pink bucket hat over her curls.
Charlie giggled, shaking her head. "You're too old to play, silly!" She whispered, patting his cheek reassuringly before running off ahead, leaving Oscar behind.
"What!" Oscar screeched, causing the conversing brothers far away to look up from their conversation as his screech echoed around the playground.
Oscar strode angrily over to the climbing frame Charlie had climbed up for safety, though Oscar was easily taller than the frame. "Too old!" Oscar scoffed, rolling his eyes as he folded his massive arms together.
"Who are you calling old?!" Oscar pointed an accusing finger at his little sister before reaching to grab her through the bars.
Charlie squealed with laughter, back into the other side so that he couldn't reach her.
"Go away, you old monster!" The five-year-old laughed, running to the slide to avoid his grabbing hands.
