My sister is the most precious thing in the world to me (short story)

Photo by Jenn Evelyn-Ann on Unsplash

“Di! Di…. Didi! Diiii!”

I woke up, out of breath, sweating, and my heart going a mile a minute. My sister. She was calling for me. She was calling. She needs help. I need to get to her right now.

I jumped out of bed. Picking up my dirty clothes from yesterday, from the ground where I had thrown them, after a long shift at the hospital, I put them on quickly, while I moved through the house, grabbing things.

My scooter keys. My wallet. My phone. My glasses. Stuffing them all into a tiny backpack, I motored out of my house at super speed.

I could still hear the echoes of my sister’s call for help in my mind. What was going on with her? Where was she? Why hasn’t she called me yet? I locked my front door, and then ran down the stairs two at a time, to my scooter parked below. I lived in a tiny apartment building and I thanked God that I stayed on the second floor.

Time was of the essence right now.

I jumped onto my tiny scooter, and hoped, and prayed that it would start properly today. It started on one try. Yes! The Gods and Goddesses are on my side today.

I sped through the mostly empty streets of Wellington. Some cats and some rats were the only ones who were out and about.

Our tiny Canadian village was sparsely populated. The only reason my father had moved us was because of the oil industry. He wanted to make oodles of money, as he told us, and then move us down south where it was warmer. But the oodles of money never came, and he died of a heartbreak some years after.

I took care of my sister ever since. My mother had abandoned us long ago, I think soon after my sister’s birth. She had postpartum depression, and she couldn’t handle taking care of two young girls in a lonely house in a lonely village by herself, while her husband tried to scrounge up two dollars by working odd jobs here and there. It was too depressing an existence for a girl who had dreamt of being a Hollywood star, and enticing the hearts of millions. She left and my father did the best he could.

In any case, I was the caretaker for both my sister and I for years now. She was at university right now. She was studying to be a doctor just like me, but she was still in her first year. A long way to go. A lot of money to be paid. A lot of money to be saved. My friends wondered why I drove this crappy scooter, when I made enough money to pay for a car. They didn’t know how expensive it is to pay for university nowadays.

I wanted my baby sister, my precious one to have all of the amenities that I didn’t have as a child. All the latest electronics, all the food she could eat, all the clothes she could fit into her closet, and all of the best things in life. As much as possible.
I revved up the engine on my scooter, hoping that it wouldn’t die out on the way. My sister’s university wasn’t that far from my apartment. I made sure of that, in case, she needed anything from me at any time of day or night. But she was a good person.

She never ever called me unless it was an absolute emergency. I loved her so much.

My heart started beating faster again. I hoped everything was fine. Oh god, let everything be fine. Please let her be fine. I couldn’t bear it if something happened to her.

I was about two minutes away, when I heard the sirens in the distance.

My heart froze in my body.

A shiver ran up my body. All the hair on my arm stood up. Goosebumps, even though it was a really warm night.

It couldn’t be. The sirens had to be for someone else. Someone else, somewhere else needs those ambulances. They couldn’t be going to the university.

I increased the speed even more, when I realized the ambulances were going in the same direction I was.

I had to get to my sister. She needs me. Right now.

I got to her dorm building, and parked my scooter haphazardly. It fell to the ground as I jumped off it, and ran to her building.

My world was swirling, and twirling. I was dizzy with fear. Please God, let her be alright. My sister. My baby sister. My sweet little sister. She was so perfect. I remember the day she had come home from the hospital with my mother. She was so perfect.

There are some babies who look ugly when they are born, but she was perfection from the day she was birthed. She even had a full head of hair. She was so fat, and sweet looking. I loved her from that very day.

And now… Now, something was wrong.

I ran up to the door of the dorm, and saw that there were a bunch of people standing around already. They were murmuring to each other, whispering, saying things that I couldn’t make sense of.

My sister wasn’t one of them. I didn’t see the bright pink pyjamas in the mess of people standing there. Her bright pink pyjamas that she wore to sleep every single day.

My heart was going to beat out of my chest. My palms were sweaty. My head was a mess. I would die if something happened to her. I would die. I would kill myself right now.

The ambulances were in the front of the building, whereas I had parked in the back. I ran around to the front, and I saw something pink flash from the corner of my eye.

“Di!” A voice rang out.

Another shiver up my spine as I turned around and saw her standing there, completely unharmed. I was dizzy all of a sudden with gratitude. Fear and all of the related chemicals had made me weak.

I ran to my sister and she said, “Di, what are you doing here? How did you know…”

I hugged her tight. So tight that she could probably not breath. Ten seconds passed by. Twenty.

My sister tried to squeeze out of my grasp. “Didi! Stop it. You are suffocating me. I can’t breath.”

I let go of her, and looked at her, standing there, whole, and complete. Unharmed, and well.

Tears popped into my eyes, and her face softened. “Oh Di! Did you have a dream about me again? I’m fine. Totally fine. There was a gas leak somewhere, so they evacuated us from our dorms. But everything is fine. I’m fine. Look at me. Totally fine.”

She hugged me again, and patted me on the back.

I slumped against her, weak now, from the panic and fear.

Everything was fine. She was fine. She was safe. I could breathe again.

That was when the building behind her exploded into smithereens.

Join my team! https://www.patreon.com/boomshikha
Check out my website at http://www.themillionairehippie.com
Follow me on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/boomshikha
Listen to my podcast at http://themillionairehippie.libsyn.com/
Join my free private FB group at http://www.whatsyourfreedomnumber.com