Epigraph Short Story

Maya Strod

“If you will not hear reason, she’ll surely rap your knuckles.”

            My entire life was based around competition with my older brother. Clearly the superior brother was whichever sold more popcorn at Boy Scouts, got more candy on Halloween, had more A’s in school, and the most bruises at the end of capture the flag. My older brother always won, mainly because back then he was larger, faster, smarter and cleverer than I ever was. I ignored this fact for the majority of my life, insisting that we were participating as equals, that anything he could do I could do too.

             It was a crisp autumn day in September when we hopped off the yellow school bus, and proceeded with our daily routine, throwing our backpacks in the mud room and racing outside. The O’Leary sisters were already in the cul-de-sac; Sarah, the shy seven-year-old who hated getting her hands dirty; Lucy, her polar opposite, who unlike her older sister, was loud and would play outside until the sun went down. As my brother, Tom, was the oldest, he always got to decide the games we all played.

            “Can we play Sharks and Minnows?” Lucy pleaded to Tom, her puppy-dog eyes as wide as she could stretch them.

            “Lucy, we played Sharks and Minnows yesterday,” Tom answered, “Let’s let Sarah decide the game today.”

            Sarah’s eyes widened almost as large as her sister’s in excitement. She carefully considered the power she had just received, and thought for a few seconds before announcing her decision. 

            “I want to play hide and seek.”

            “No!” Lucy shrieked, “I hate seeking.”

            “Then you can hide,” Tom definitively replied.

            “Fine,” Lucy pouted, folding her arms, “But only if someone hides with me.” Tom looked in my direction with an expectant look.

            I let out a scoff, “I hate being on Lucy’s team. She’s so slow.”

            “Chris, I’m in charge so you have to go with Lucy.” Lucy squealed in delight, I, however was much less enthusiastic. “Ugh, fine.”

            The game began. Sarah was seeking, and started counting down from one hundred. Lucy and I started off in the direction towards the humongous tree planted between our backyards. As we continued racing towards the tree, my mind jolted back to the last time we had been there.

“You’ll never be able to climb as fast as I can...” teased my brother, sticking his tongue out and raspberrying towards the bottom of the tree where I sat, grounded.

            “Can too!”

            “Can not!”

            “Can too!”

            “Can not!”

            “Kids!” My mother called from the porch, “How many times do I need to remind you to not climb the tree! You could get hurt! No more climbing the tree.”

            “Yes, mom.”

            Our time was running out, but we reached the tree just as Sarah reached the fifties. We began climbing and I found that because time had passed, I could finally reach the branches that used to be a foot above my head. Lucy, on the other hand, could not reach the branches, and as Sarah reached the thirties she skirted away to hide in the bushes.

            I stared at the tree. This was my big chance! Finally I could prove to my brother that I was not some tiny, miniature version of him, that I do anything he could. “I can do this...” I thought to myself.

            I climbed, flimsy branch by flimsy branch, until I heard a my brother’s voice coming from directly below me.

            “Chris, what do you think you’re doing? Mom said not to climb the tree anymore!”

            “Tom, stop telling me what to do, I can do whatever I want!” I insisted, and proceeded to take another step upwards, not realizing the branch I stepped onto was definitely too weak to carry my weight. I had heard my brother’s warning too late. I was already off balance as my foot fell through the branch. I vaguely remember looking up, and my mother’s voice echoed in my mind, “You could get hurt! No more climbing...”

            Lucy shrieked from the bushes. Sarah had stopped counting.

            I opened my eyes and felt a sharp pain in my left arm, and before I knew it I was in my mom’s car on the way to the emergency room where I was told I had a clean break in my left wrist.

 I guess that’s what I get for letting my competition with my brother get in the way of listening to reason.