Ignorance is bliss. When you’re removed from receiving often depressing news, the world around you looks like a kid’s drawing: the sun in the upper right-hand corner, birds soaring through the sky and happy little families enjoying the ever-lasting sunny day. But, what happens when you’re forced to crash into someone else’s utopian bubble like a bomber plane hitting the Twin Towers? Your life changes and you just brought someone else’s to a crumble.
That day, I stared into his eyes. I peered into those light brown pools that saw summer everyday and I brought the rain.
“Ben,” I said “Papa’s dead.” He laughed hoping it was a joke, but, when his eyes saw my storm, he knew it was true. My little brother’s knees buckled and he fell into my chest. Now he shared my bitter world as his tears dampened my shirt. His eyes were flooded, releasing his utopian dreams of having a happy family that enjoyed their days together.
Our family was Grandma, Papa, Ben and I; the four of us. We had all just sat at the dinner table the night before sharing about our day and making each other laugh. We saw him! We felt him! He played our games! But those days were over and those days could never return.
We shared that moment of grief not only for our beloved Papa, but for ourselves and everything that was left behind.
The Bolt Magazine 