Glacier

She looked down, hiding her face from his piercing gaze. The atmosphere got cold real quick. I could not stand it any longer so I spoke up, I might have as well turned into an ice statue if I didn’t say anything.

“Emelie…” my voice came out softly but firm. He doesn’t have any reason to be so mean to her. But he didn’t look my way. He kept silent and still like he didn’t hear me or did I also turn invisible? I really do hate the way I felt and I very well knew that I shouldn’t have had such emotions running through me, but still I felt like I was an insignificant entity at that moment. I wanted to yell at him to stop ignoring me. I may have the mind of a thirteen year old but I’m eighteen and the older sister. Suddenly he jerked up harshly from his seat and took the text book out of her grasp.

“You’ve given me the book right? Now I think you should leave?” His emotionless voice sounded unfamiliar to me. It doesn’t sound like my little brother or the caring, gentle big brother at the hospital. This was not my Emelie, I wanted my brother back. I heard footsteps behind us and upon turning I saw Kaima hastily walking down the stairs.

“Lisa!” She called out to the girl who was about to leave. That’s the girl’s name, Lisa. Kaima’s pure smile can make any situation less awkward. Seeing her makes me glad because she is still a ball of raw energy like I remember even if every other thing changes, she is a constant to me. Her petite form kept walking towards Lisa until Emelie hands held her shoulders stopping her in her tracks.

“Lisa is leaving” he said to Kaima before returning his gaze to Lisa firmly. His gaze held so much seriousness that it reminded me of moments when my father scolded the much younger me. He looked so much like dad. And his voice, my God, the firmness in there was so deep it kept resonating in my head. It made me begin to see him as a truly more mature version of himself.  

“Aren’t you, Lisa?” She nodded as her plump lips formed a tight straight line. Emelie followed her as she walked towards the door. I liked her name for some reason and I kept repeating it over and over again my head saying it in different ways, sometimes slower than usual, or changing up the tone. But I know why I did not stop saying her name; I just wanted to stop myself from thinking about what she had said but it was unavoidable, simply inevitable ‘Am I a model, am I not? Why did she even ask that?’ the questions continued flooding into my mind and funny enough, I could still hear her name echoing even louder, like a barricade trying to block out the thoughts but still, everything hit me once and it was draining my energy. My eye lids were becoming heavier and my head started pounding. The angry elephants decided to make a gracious return.

“Chizara, Zara are you okay?!-” My sister’s voice faded slowly as my eyes began to lack focus. I could also hear my brother’s voice but I have no idea what he said. I wanted to speak, to explain but I couldn’t and so, I slowly gave into the pain and allowed the darkness to overwhelm me.

Looking around, I tried hard to see through the endless sea of darkness which engulfed me. I felt weightless; like I was suspended in air but my obsidian surrounding made me feel like I was trapped in some kind of limbo. But then a shimmer of light suddenly shore through so brightly that I had to abruptly shut my eyes. I opened my eyes once more, one after the other and the sight before me made me feel extremely confused. At a distance I could see a house ahead of me; it had beautiful cream colored walls and tinted glass windows. Everything around me had an absolutely strange air to it but the house itself seemed different and something about it seemed to draw me closer and closer to it. It had an oddly familiar feel to it. I continued moving towards it and just like I could teleport, I was suddenly inside the house staring at a mirror, staring at my reflection my features were still the same but….the face didn’t belong to me. The more I stared at the mirror more it became obvious to me that my face continued to age steadily. Instinctively, both my hands came up to my face but surprisingly my palms made contact with the usual smooth surface of my face and then it hit me that the reflection didn’t move like I did, instead it smiled at me ever so gently. I could hear my pulse drumming in my ears but not out of fear, but an indescribable feeling. She didn’t seem dangerous. I let out a breath of relief I had no idea I was holding but before I could speak the darkness drew me back into reality. My eyes shot open and a breathy gasp escaped my lips. My heart still thumped so speedily I that I began to think that it might leap out of chest.

“Zara are you okay?” Looking into those worried grey eyes utterly calmed me down. My glacier brother melted at last. That fact made my lips stretch a little. I took a quick glance around, the white ceiling, the lavender walls, I was in my room. But how did I get here? Kaima readily gave me an answer to my unasked question. Sometimes I feel like she can literally read my mind.

“Emelie carried you here.” She said. “You fainted.” She added. I felt his hand on my forehead. His big brother side returned and I loved it. The delicious smell of fried eggs infiltrated my sense and at that moment the fact that I haven’t had breakfast hit me. I was starving and that mouthwatering aroma made my tummy grumble, embarrassing.

“Here, eat this,” Emelie said passing a tray with my breakfast, fried egg sandwich, extra bread and a cup of hot cocoa. Delish! “Sorry for not giving it to you earlier. I was distracted and, here is your medicine.” I took my pills after I ate that perfect breakfast. He never helps out in the kitchen so how did he learn to make such good food? Kaima stayed with me after Emelie left with the empty plates. We talked about random things but she really captured my interest when she started talking about Lisa.