short story about a brother and sister.

My brother and I walked through the woods and I could tell he was upset by the whole ordeal.  I mean really just because the litter box was dirty and there was a bit of litter on the floor.  We talked all tough on our walks like this.  We would walk to the creek and look at the fish as they  swam by…make up grand tales of crossing the creek and creating a life for ourselves in the great unknown.  My brother would typically talk about living in the country on a farm.  He is not people oriented as one may say.  When you read the bumper sticker that says “The more I know about people the more I like my dog” you are reading a biography of my brother, which may help explain the whole farm thing.  Not me.  I am social and I love to meet new people.  I would totally live in the city and go out every night.  I think about things like all the lights, the noise, the food, and the fact that a city never sleeps.  I could never live on a farm like my brother – I need action.  Well this was another one of those walks we took when things did not go so well for my brother.  Sometimes the anger in that house gets so thick I can taste it on my tongue.  I hate it when it is like that, and I hate it when he hits my brother.  Usually he can get away before the beating gets too bad but he almost always gets the first hit or kick.  It never used to be this way either.  Just one day about a year ago it all started out of the blue.  To be honest, the first time it happened to me and my brother we did not know what to do.  That was a bad day because we did not know enough to get out of the house and let dad cool off.  We both took a few licks that day, and when we finally figured out to get out of the house we were both shaking in our boots.  Ever since then it has become a regular part of our life.  Sometimes after dad goes to bed I can hear my brother whimper a bit or even cry.  It is hard for him to understand why it happens – hell it is hard for me to understand!  I have seen his bruises and cuts and I honestly do not know how he can take it.  If he were a bit older and more able to take care of himself I think he would leave.  In fact I know some day he will have to if he wants to stay alive.  We make it to the creek and the sounds are somewhat cathartic.  We would hang out here until dad goes to sleep and then sneak home; find something for dinner, and go to sleep.  Maybe tomorrow would be better.  My brother started in on the farm thing again.  He was talking about playing with his friends in the fields, climbing up into the hayloft, and just being free from the fear and pain of his life here.  I egged him on at times like these.  He seemed to go to another place when he would daydream like this and you could tell he was happy.  This made me happy and not much was doing that these days.  Walking back to the house we played a bit wrestled a bit, chased each other, and generally did the things brothers and sisters do when they are young and innocent.  As we got closer to the house we started to be quieter so we did not wake dad.  As quiet as we could be we pushed the door open just enough to get in the house.  Dad was in bed already according to the snores we heard.  Remaining quiet we stopped in the kitchen for some food then we went and sat on the couch not really knowing what to do.  We were not tired yet but we did not want to make noise and wake dad up either.  Well, I knew what I had to do…yes HAD to do.  My brother certainly had a bad life at the hands of dad however I was not completely free either. I got off of the couch and my brother jumped up.  He knew what I was up to, and he was scared.  He hated this time of night.  He used to come with me but Dad did not like him around so much because of the things he did – the things dad called naughty.  It is pretty much to the point now if my brother is in sight he gets smacked.  My brother signaled that he had to go to the bathroom and ran past me to the end of the hall.  Yep tomorrow would be another bad day I thought as I felt a tear well up in my eye.  I tried to tell my brother no, but he would not listen.  Our litter box was in the bathroom but my brother did not use it a lot anymore.  This is what angers dad the most, but he just would never be able to understand.  I jumped up on the bed next to dad and began to purr…He knew I was there and patted his pillow for me to come up there.  I hated this man with everything I had.  I hate the way he treated my little brother, I hate the way he killed my dad, and I hate the way he gave my sisters and brothers away every time I got new ones.  I hated everything about him down to his stupid patch of hair on his head, his smelly clothes, and the way he talked to me like there was nothing wrong.  If I did not come into the bedroom at night and sleep on his pillow he would get up and look for me.  If he got up and found my little brother (especially after not using the litter box) my brother would get hit again.  This was my life…sleep with the enemy in order to keep peace and dream of another life with my brother when he would get hurt.  Yes I hated this man but without our claws we relied on him for food.  He reached over and stroked my fur with the same hands he uses to hit or throw things at my brother.  “STOP touching me you *******!!!!!” I screamed in my head but on the outside I purred.

06/02/2012 Arlo Haarsma

Can you write more so it has a happy ending? Please?

  I am not good with happy endings...I write music too and all my music is sad no matter how happy I start out with.  Kind of how I am wired...No I am not EMO or anything I just express negative feelings easier - I find them more evocative.  I could sit here for an hour trying to write a happy ending, but it would be trite and corny.  I have tried that before.  If the piece's sadness moved you than it has done what it was supposed to.

Think of it this way...Brother and sister did come in from the creek after playing and day dreaming about future lives in other fantastical places.  The day will come....ok I am going to try...lol  brb...

"Is that it?" pleaded the wide eyed kitties?  They were like clay in my paw.  I sat there silent and watched the campfire glow in their eyes.  The crackle of sap popping in the fire played off the silence wonderfully.  "There is more but you kittens must be getting bored with an old cat's tales.  Run along - go chase field mice.  Camping is about getting out and having fun."  I knew this would only steel their determination more so I settled in a little bit more and waiting for what I knew was coming

"No Grandma!  We don't wanna run we wanna hear more stories!" was the unanimous cheer from the other side of the fire.

"Very well then where was I" I mused.  I knew exactly where I had let off however I was just buying some time.  This was not my favorite part of the story, which was likely the reason I always stopped telling it at the same place.  I still missed Norka and could only imagine he had finally found happiness beyond the creek somewhere.  This helped me deal with my loss in fact it may have been the only way I was able to deal with it.  Norka and I were extremely close as far as bother and sister go in the cat world.  This was likely due to what we had gone through together with that man especially after nights he would drink out of those brown glass bottles.

"Norka would usually sleep under the couch, which was about the only place he felt safe.  In the morning after the man had left we would have the entire day together to play and run like brothers and sisters do.  I would jump down off of the bed and  walk into the living room, but I had to be careful...I would crawl on my belly and look around real good...sometimes I would see him before he got me but Norka was good.  He was a natural hunter, and could usually ambush me even when I was looking for it.  This morning I began stalking into the living room checking the usual spots out as I crept along.  Just once I would like to have been able to ambush him, but that had not happened yet.  As I crept along I saw no movement...thinking I had finally gotten up before him I crept along tail swishing back and forth while my heart beat like a thousands drums in my ears.  My nerves were on edge, and I was as focused as was possible."  Several of the kittens were startled enough to jump up with back hair on end after a particularly loud pop from the fire.  There were some giggles and soon they had all settled in again eyed trained on me and about as wide as I had ever seen kitten eyes.

"When the breeze from the open window slightly moved the leaves of the dusty plastic plant I jerked my head towards it as my instincts led me across the living room.  I was nearly half of the way across the living room before I realized I was further than I had ever gotten before.  I wondered why this was.  Was Norka still sleeping?  I turned my glance under the couch but found nothing.  If he was sleeping he was not in his usual spot I thought.  Slowly I started standing up and began to wonder if Norka was even in the room.  I lifted my head ever so slightly and knew instantly I had been ambushed again.  I felt it in my whiskers first.  Then in the small hairs on my ears.  He was behind me about 2 feet above me and headed right for me.  I tried to roll over fast enough to fend him off but he was good...Norka was amazing at the art of ambush. "Dinner!!!!!" was what I had heard hundreds of times just about 1 second before being pounced on by my brother.  Never once had I been able to ambush him and today was not going to be the first.  He laughed as we rolled around on the floor wrestling with each other.  This was the best way to start a day as far as I was concerned.

"I honestly thought I had you this morning" I said when we finally stopped to rest

"I know you did.  I was watching you" said Norka as he nuzzled up to me purring.  "You walked right by me - I was on that chair"  I thought about pouncing on you right then but I wanted to give you a chance being that you suck at stalking so bad"

With that I pounced on him again.  He would have easily out wrestled me if he had not been roaring with laughter.

"Come on let's go explore the woods!  Let's go to the creek again!".  My brother was still technically a kitten at just under a year old.  Play was so important to him, and it made me feel good too.  I was almost 4 months older than him, which made me pretty much a grown up.  I had raised him from very early on, which explained how we were so close.  Little did he know that before the snow fell he would likely be a father.

"Sure" I said "But I gotta eat something first".  On my way to the kitchen I was stopped in my tracks by that smell.  It was the smell of metal - of electricity in the air.  The curtains blew in and I felt a breeze.  Today might not end up like they had planned.  I turned to look at Norka and he was in full alert looking at the open window in the living room.  His tail was arched, eyes wide open, his stance was leaned back a bit as were his ears."

"that is it for now"  I had to stop it was getting to be daylight and the kittens would need their rest if they were to carry on.  Tomorrow would be another long day.

"If you go to sleep now I will tell you the more tomorrow" I promised.  Looking across the fire I could see disappointment flicker in their eyes along with the waning flames of the campfire, but they knew I was not kidding.  I was leading them on this journey, and they knew when I was serious.

Now I'm not depressed, I'm in suspense! :lol3: Aw, thank you!

Arlo Haarsma said:

  I am not good with happy endings...I write music too and all my music is sad no matter how happy I start out with.  Kind of how I am wired...No I am not EMO or anything I just express negative feelings easier - I find them more evocative.  I could sit here for an hour trying to write a happy ending, but it would be trite and corny.  I have tried that before.  If the piece's sadness moved you than it has done what it was supposed to.

Think of it this way...Brother and sister did come in from the creek after playing and day dreaming about future lives in other fantastical places.  The day will come....ok I am going to try...lol  brb...

Click to expand...

I've never thought about it - my writing is dry - research reports, factual articles and such. But ALL of your writing involves the full senses of the reader, I think. But yes, the negative emotions feel more moving, if only because they're disturbing, and that takes us outside of our traditional "comfort zones." And the happy, funny tales (bedhead :lol3: ) are light-hearted and comfortable. So while they still involve the same emotional interaction, it doesn't leave the same type of emotional "imprint," if you will. :dk:

It was around 3 in the afternoon that I woke up ready for a new day.  I had been getting up earlier these days most likely due to the stress of leading this group on this adventure to "who knows where".  I stretched my front legs out far in front of me and made a huge yawn...phew...a few more minutes would have been nice.  No one else was up yet so I set about with a little bit of self grooming.  I had a dream again about Norka.  How I did miss him and hope he found his happiness on a farm.  It had been storming out the last time she saw him and he was still a very jumpy kitten.  They had gone to the creek after the rain even though everything was wet. Norka loved to look out over the creek and day dream out loud to me, and I would always egg him on asking pertinent questions.  When we had pushed our way out through the pet door that morning it was sunny out, but that was after a terrific storm.  The thunder was so loud we could feel it in our whiskers.  I did not let on that I was afraid but Norka had no problem with that.  Every time a peal of thunder hit he would bolt under the couch, and I could see his wide eyes staring out at me as if to ask if everything would be ok.  I made it a point to not move from my place in the middle of the floor, which seemed to lure him back out.  The breeze coming in through the open window was cool but muggy, which is typical of storms here.  The metallic smell added to the intensity of the storm however it was a pleasant interlude from the smell of the human's trash and clothes.  It was no wonder he never had guests.  A few months ago his home had been busy with  2 children and a female mate.  Apparently she had decided to live elsewhere, which was bitter sweet in itself.  She was a very kind person and so were the children.  They would always take time to hold, cuddle and pet.  Her scent was light and inviting, and was the perfect way to wake up from a nap.  When she left she had been having another fight with the man, and it had gotten loud even by their standards.  Norka and I were both hiding under the couch when she dragged both children through the living room and out the front door.  She had not returned, and life was quite a bit different as a result.  When the storm ended Norka was as playful as ever and wanted to go for a walk to the creek.  I was not sure it was a good idea however it was impossible for me to say no to him so we took off.  All the way to the creek Norka would walk on ahead and hide.  Then as I got close enough he would jump out and scream "Dinner!!!" as he ambushed me.  No matter how hard I tried I could never get to him first.  He was simply a natural at stalking and ambushing.  We played all the way there and had not noticed the clouds coming in for what appeared to be round 2.  When we arrived at the creek we saw the storm had been worse than we had anticipated.  Branches covered the trail in spots and we were forced to take alternate routes.  The water remaining on the plants had gotten me soaked early on so I had not noticed when it started to sprinkle out.  I led Norka to a spot under a large oak tree where we did not feel the rain.  The heavy scent of wet earth coupled with the thick air made for an unusually quiet and eerie sensation.  Norka was the first one to notice it

"Look at that!  There is a tree that fell down over the creek!  Let's go over and see what is on the other side of the creek!"  This was not what I wanted to hear.  How was I to know what was on the other side of the creek?  I told him that today was not a good day, but Norka was not hearing it.  He ran to the edge of the down tree where the jagged edges of freshly torn lumber contrasted white to his gray fur. 

"Get back here Norka!" I chided.  "I am not going over that thing.  We have no idea how safe it is.  Plus we are not at all prepared to do this."  I tried to talk some sense into him "Let's make a plan and we can think about going across later on today or first thing tomorrow.  Then we would have all day to explore."  Norka whined about it for a bit and even hopped up on the tree as if to taunt me.  It worked.  I darted over to the downed tree and he hopped off just as I got there.  He was half running half hopping away from me when we felt the first rumble.  Instantly he froze, the hair on his back perked up as did his ears and tail.  We both know what it was and we both knew we were at least 10 minutes from the house at a full run.  "Come on let's go back under the tree and wait for it to pass us by."  I feigned bravado as I turned and walked toward the tree nonchalantly but it must have worked.  I no sooner got to the tree, turned around, and there was his scared face and wide black eyes staring right at me.  I lay down and let him cuddle in with me.  I had found a notch in the tree on the opposite side of the storm.  His little heart was beating like the drum section of a marching band.  We would be relatively safe here until the storm passed.  At that instant the loudest peal of thunder I ever heard totally cleared my head of plans, consolation, and bravado.  I jumped up right next to Norka, and my hair was standing as straight as his.  I could feel his fear as though it were energy just vibrating off of him.  "It will be fine", I said but he did not hear me.  Not 10 seconds after the first explosion of sound there was a second equally loud.  This time we saw the lightening hit a tree on the way to our house.  The intensity of the storm increased in magnitudes of ten.  Lightening has a way of energizing your body, and both of us felt it.  It was like slight electricity had been released and was traveling up and down every one of our hairs.  The wind had picked up significantly as well and branches were flying by as well as leaves.  Norka was saying something to me but I could not hear him over the cacaphony of the storm.  Less than 1 second before he bolted I realized what he had tried to tell me.  He was going to go across the log and try to find shelter over there.  I tried say something back, but he would not have heard me anyway.  I moved in to hold him as a mother holds her kitten, but he was too fast for me.  He shot out of reach, looked back at me once, and ran toward the tree as if powered by rocket fuel.  I chased after him not able to see because of the rain and wind, but when I did see him everything went silent.  There was no storm, no wind, no rain, no distractions at all.  The wind had blown Norka almost off of the log and the swollen creek marched dutifully just below him.  Only his front claws held him to the tree as the creek rushed by.  In that moment of silence he looked back at me with eye full of terror.  The silence was rudely broken by yet another clash of thunder and lightening after which There was no Norka clinging to the tree.  I ran to the edge of the creek soaking wet and whipped by branches and leaves.  I meowed as loud as I could for him but there was no answer.  Had he fallen in?  Had he climbed up on he log and run across?  I had no idea what to do or where to look for him.  I stood there for a very long time calling out to him but there was no response.  Finally the storm subsided as well as the roar of angry nature.  Now the only sounds you could hear were the rushing creek and my meowing.  I stopped every so often in case he was replying but I never heard anything again.  I stayed out until way past dark calling out.  My throat hurt and I was cold and tired.  I had begun to realize he was not going to answer me.  I did not know for sure what had happened to him however if he had fallen into the creek there was no way he would have survived it.  If he had gotten across he would most certainly have come back to tell me...I did not want to think about it.  I walked slowly home and crawled under the couch where Norka's smell still clung to the fabrics of old carpet and smokey couch.  After laying there for some time cleaning myself and taking in all the scent of Norka I could, I fell asleep.  What an amount of energy I had expended today.  What an awful day it had turned out to be.  When I awoke the smell of Norka was much fainter in the air.  I eagerly sniffed around for the last morsel of my brother.  After this scent is gone I would again be without family.  Oh Norka you impulsive kitten!!  Why?  If I had just crossed the creek with him we would be together now.  I batted around the toy mouse he kept under the couch.  The tail was chewed off and there was some stuffing coming out of where an eye used to be.  Without realizing it I let out a quiet mew.  I missed my brother.