Midnight's Rest

I live in the Philmore District of Harborough Heights with my parents and twin sister. They work during the day while she and I go to school a few miles away, we walk the distance carefully but never worry about our safety. I feel relaxed here, and my sister would say the same thing. We're both fifteen now and soon we'll be driving new cars with our own licenses. We count the days by, eyeing the calender with great anticipation--soon, soon. Its now April, only half a year to that expected date; we should be ecstatic for the milestone, but we're not. At least, I'm not. My sister fell ill a month ago and I don't know what to do; in some philosophical way I'm happy I care for her this much, that we've had a better relationship than all those brother/sister duos we see on TV. Whenever I come back from school I make sure to do my homework by her side and even help her out with hers. She's weakened, laying in this bed; I can tell. Over a month now and her symptoms won't die down. Even when they do, they start to rise again.

My Parents haven't said much to me as of late, she's been stuck to her bed for 2 months now. She's started to sleep more than usual, more than I thought was possible for a human being. Around nine in the evening I can sometimes hear my parents down the hallway yell at each other; it isn't violent like you would normally expect. They fight, then I hear them crying together. I once cracked their door open to see them holding each other tight on the floor. I wanted to help them, make them believe everything would be okay--it would have to be. My sister was sick, but she would get better.

Four months now and she's stopped worrying about her schoolwork; I try to encourage her, keep her mind focused, but she's persistent. One day she asks me to open up her room window, she's grown irritated of the thick, luke-warm air she's been forced to breathe in this entire time. It's about six in the evening, the sun enters its final descent and we're treated with the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen. Distant clouds turned purple against the bright red hues of the horizon, like the cool waves of a deep ocean. I caught myself staring for awhile, this wasn't a sight you wanted to miss, not now, not ever. I noticed the change in my sister's attitude afterwards, she would still be stuck to her bed for a bit, but even through all the pain and irritation that she felt, she smiled--her eyes fixed on the on the sky until the cool tones of night overtook it. We made it our daily ritual afterwards, even though it makes her happy I'm still not sure whether it will really help her in the long-run.

A few days go past, I decide to move my work desk up to her room. I could easily finish my work up there as well as keeping her company while she rests. Sometimes I would fall asleep working on schoolwork and I wouldn't wake up until three or four in the morning. I didn't want to make it a habit, but I also wanted to make sure I stayed with her for as much time as possible. One day I awoke to see her facing the window, looking out into the night. The moon was out in full force, larger than I'd seen it before. There were trees all around our district, but the one closest to our window had withered away some time ago, it stood tall, but it hadn't produced any leaves in a long time. Perched on top was a mysterious night owl. It's white body gleamed effortless below the moonlight shaded ever so slightly by its thin brown coat. The two looked at each other for minute after minute, so long that I was even convinced it was a dream. I still felt tired from dosing off and decided to clean up the rest of my work. I had projects due soon and I would need to finish them. When I turned to leave, my sister was asleep and the owl was gone.

I experienced a similar occurence a week later, but when I woke up I noticed noticed that my sister wasn't in her bed. I shot up from my desk, knocking over my chair and run down the stairs. I open my parent's room, but they're sound asleep. Where did she go? The front door is still locked and there's not a single sign that she's been outside her room. I go back in and look out the window, there I see the night owl. At first it stares off into the distance, but then it snaps back at me. It flaps its wings as if to get my attention, but then turns its eyes to another building further down our district. I follow it, and I can't believe my eyes. My sister. She's walking on the rootops.

I don't hesitate, I jump out our window and onto the red shingles that make up all the districts roofing. Thankfully our building is one of the tallest in the area, so moving from unit to unit isn't a difficult task. When we were eleven years old, she and I would frequently climb trees and scale the building rooftops. I know, that seems to convenient, but it happened. When your life is only homework and house chores, you have to find something to keep you occupied.

I moved a little faster than I expected, surprisingly--even in my desire to reach my sister--I didn't worry about my footing, I didn't focus on the possible shifting of tiles from my weight. Everything happened perfectly, when I reached the spot I originally saw my sister, she wasn't there. Like she was a ghost. To my right I saw the night owl once more, somehow it looked as panicked as I was, its head darting to me and another spot further down the complex. There I saw my sister seated on top of the tallest point of Harbarough Heights--we never climbed that building, but we always assumed that it had the best view of the valley below. Thankfully, I'm a bit older than I was when we started our climbing adventures. The first step I take is my last and before I know it, I'm at the top with my sister before me.

She looks at me and beckons me to join her. We don't speak at all for about ten minutes, we simply drink in our surroundings. A small stream etches through rough terrain as it seemingly wishes to run as far away as possible from the waterfall it originated from. The cliffs in the distance position themselves into aircraft carriers of large cities, small flashing lights echo through the night as we look off into a clear valley of dried dessert and sand that extends as far as the eye can see. She grabs my hand and asks me a question.

"Would you always be there for me?"

There's no question about it, I would remain with her until she got better as I have for the past months. She looks at me carefully and smiles. The night is still young, the wind picks up and I feel a chill tingle my spine, but it all goes away once she smiles and its as if the night was replaced by a high afternoon sun. I want to stay here with her forever. But I don't. I wake up the next morning back at my desk, and in the bed is my sister.

She doesn't wake, but she still has that smile on her face. I hear a cracking of wood and I look outside to see the owl fly away.

It's now only a week away from my birthday, thoughts of driving my own car and celebrating my "Sweet 16" should overwhelm my thoughts, but all I can think of is you. I've lost interest in my projects and I've starting taking uup art classes at school, luckily I have a great model for my inspiration. Even after losing you, I'm still visited by the owl. I don't know if its you or if its just some strange coincidence, but I'm comforted in its presence.

I hope wherever you are that there's a version of me there with you, that you're not alone and happy in everlasting peace.