I was sound asleep when a cold voice called my name.
"Ezra, wake up. We are going to eat breakfast." He uttered these words as he parted my hair from my face.
"I'm still sleepy, brother. I'll eat later." I replied to him.
He sat on my bed and patted my shoulder snd said "Shh! Get up there. Skipping meals is not good for our health, so get up now."
My brother is quite mischievous, but I understand that his mischief is for my benefit.
There is not a day that passes by that he forgets about me. He would wake me up, call me, and take me out to breakfast. We were mistaken for lovers because of how frequently we wandered.
A few days later, I noticed a change in him. He always leaves without me, and at first I let him be, but it continued. I was like air to him at that time.
—
"Brother! Brother!" I called him and then ran closer to where he was.
"Where are you going, brother? Why didn't you take me with you?" I asked him mischievously, but he only answered me with a cold voice.
"Important business." He said, which made me disappointed a little.
"You're cold, brother. Do you have a problem?" When I uttered these words, he immediately turned his back on me. He left as if nothing had happened.
Despite my best efforts, I was unable to catch up with him due to the crowds. I fail to comprehend him. It used to be impossible for my brother and I to be apart, but lately it seems like he's attempting to do just that.
I went home before I saw him again
"Did I do something wrong? Did I say something to my brother that he didn't like? What's really the problem?" Various questions are coming to my mind.
"Arghhh!! Whatever!" I screamed, just in time for my brother to arrive.
"Why are you shouting? It's late at night; you can bump into the neighbor. Is something wrong?" He said. I just gave him a sharp and sticky look.
—
A few days have passed, but my brother is still doing the same thing. I don't know, but I feel that he is hiding something from me, so one day I decided to go to bed and wait for him to come out so I could follow him.
"Where is he going? I'm confused." I was still following him when someone suddenly called his cell phone. He walked quickly so I ran.
I saw him enter a coffee shop and head in the direction of a woman and a man who appeared to be a couple.
"That's not our parents, is it? Then, if it's mom and dad, perhaps he will t– OUCH!" The hot coffee scraping against my skin caused me to scream. My brother must have heard me screaming because he turned to look in my direction, so I hid.
A few days later, my brother continued to leave the house without even telling me or taking me with him. I was about to go to sleep at that time when someone suddenly called me.
"Ezra! Ezra! Come down here, we'll eat." It shouted from the first floor.
I came down and said, "I don't want to eat, I'm full."
"Let's go here. Stop sulking my youngest Ezra." He came to me and put his arm around me.
After we finished eating, we talked. It's like I suddenly woke up from a dream where I wasn't with my brother, and now I'm here in front of him and happily talking to him. We just continued talking when a brown envelope caught my attention.
I stood up and took the brown envelope.
"What is it, brother? Are these requirements relevant to your job search?" My brother's eyes widened and suddenly stood up from sitting.
"Don't touch that. Give that to me, Ezra." He replied.
"What is this? Am I not allowed t–" Before I could finish what I had to say, he took the brown envelope from me.
"Don't mess with my stuff anymore. These are important papers." He replied.
"It's just a documents, but why are you so scared that I'll see the contents of it?" I shouted.
"Don't be naughty. Just go upstairs and sleep." He said.
"No! I know you're hiding something from me! I'm just confused why you still have to keep me a secret." I responded in a shouting manner.
"I have no secrets, Ezra." He spoke modestly.
"Nothing? I'm not stupid or numb, brother, to not know. I always notice that you leave without me. I see you always talking to the couple in the coffee shop, and sometimes you have a girl with you who is the same age as me. What does all that mean?" I didn't notice that the tears were slowly falling from my eyes.
"You don't have to know anything, Ezra. You just can't understand it either."
"then let me understand; it's not like you suddenly left without saying anything, and it seems like you're trying to avoid me. do you think i don't notice that you distance yourself from me?" I said.
"This is not the right time for you to know about that." He answered.
"Since when? Am I really your brother? Who am I in your life? It's like we don't know each other anymore." He stopped where he was standing and I could see his tears falling.
"What is it, brother? If you have a problem, tell me. Are we really siblings?" I replied but I didn't hear a word from him.
"If you don't want to say anything, then don't! From now on, we don't know each other anymore! Or maybe we don't really know each other yet. Your trick! I entrusted all my secrets to you, but it seems that you have too many secrets that I should know. I hate you!" I said one after the other as I ran out.
"E-ezra, don't leave; it's already late at night." He grabbed my hands but I struggled and just kept walking away.
—
It's been a few weeks, but my brother and I still haven't talked. He tries to call me and talk to me, but I ignore him.
Because of what happened, I was blinded by love. I gave him everything he wanted, and I am ready to give everything to the man I love most. I am ready to risk my life for him.
"Ezra, come back here. Don't be fooled by that man."
"I beg you. That man will only use you."
It bombarded me with texts, but I ignored all of them. It's annoying to this day that he still follows me.
—
"What are you doing at the hospital? I saw you with the man."
"Didn't I say to stay away from him because he will only use you? Why aren't you listening?"
"Come on, Ezra. Please talk to me."
My cellphone kept ringing because of his messages. I couldn't hold back the annoyance so I replied to him.
"What? What's the point? Isn't that what you want? I'm not bothering you with your secrets anymore, right? What else do you want me to do? You're ruining the day." I answered him from the cellphone.
"Just stay away from that guy. That's not called love anymore, Ezra. You are blinded by love." His response annoyed me even more.
"Why are you being like that? I love him, and you have no use for what I want to do with him. You did the same before, didn't you? You stay away from me, and you don't say why. I'm trying to talk to you, but you're making excuses for us to be apart." I answered.
"You don't understand, Ezra. I'm not staying away from you because I don't want you. You know that your brother loves you very much, right? But there are things you should not know yet." He explained to me.
"How can I understand if every time I ask you to explain to me what you always say, I still can't know it? You're boring, bro."
"Please, Ezra! I'm begging you, stay away from that man. He's just using you."
The day of Clark's surgery came, and the boy I love the most was there, but before I got to the hospital, his mother called me.
"Hello? You don't need to go to the hospital to donate your heart. Someone had the courage to give his heart to my son." She said from the other line.
"W-what? What is the name of the donor? He is good enough to give his heart to other people. Do they and Clark know each other?" I replied to her.
"As far as I remember, its name was Hades. They don't know each other, but I am very grateful to him." He said that made my world stop.
It was like hot water was poured on me when I heard the word Hades. Yes, Hades, that's my brother's name. It hurt me so much that he did that. He sacrificed his life for a man he wanted me to stay away from.
I removed my new sim card from my cellphone and then put the sim card where we were talking. I was exposed to the many missed calls and messages from my brother, Hades.
"Don't let yourself down, will you? I love you so much."
"About that secret you want to know, I'm sorry if I didn't tell you right away. I don't know how to say it."
"I doubt you might be even more confused by the time you find out."
"Ezra, I'm not your brother."
"We are not blood relatives. There is no blood between us and yours because we are not just siblings."
"I am your boyfriend, and you are my dearest girlfriend, Ezra. But unfortunately, you had an accident that caused amnesia."
"When we first met after your accident, you thought I was your older brother, but I wasn't. You are an only child, and the couple you say I am talking to are your parents."
"The girl you see with me all the time? She is your best friend."
"We didn't want you to feel perplexed, so we kept everything from you. In particular, I don't want to hurt you. I pretended to be your big brother even though it hurts for me because I don't want to watch you suffer."
"My only request is that you stay away from that man because he is the reason why you got amnesia. He wants you to disappear from the world because you chose me over him. I'm begging you, stay away from him."
"Ezra, my love. I love you so much and no one can take away the love I feel for you."
It hurts. It is so painful that he feels this way. It hurt so much because, even though he knew he would be hurt, he was able to pretend for my sake. I want to scream and I want to hug him, but what else can I do now that he's gone? I didn't think about his feelings. I was sobbing in the hospital chair when someone called.
"I'm glad you're using this number now. You're a fool, Ezra. You are too crazy to trust me." He laughed hysterically.
"I knew it. Hades can't stand you. You two are stupid, especially you. You trusted me right away, and because of you, your beloved brother is gone. Opps wrong. Your dearest boyfriend, rather." He added.
My tears flowed more and more. I don't know what to do.
"Your bad. You're terrible. You just used me to extend your life. Putting my faith in you was a mistake." Anger swelled in my chest. It's really painful.
"Tsk. You just realized that I used you when Hades was gone? You really are a fool. There you are. I don't want to waste my time with a girl like you. I'm wondering why I am crazy in love with you. But at least now I take revenge with you."
He put the phone down. I do not know what to do. I lost the person who loved me because of my actions. I was blinded by love to the point that I didn't notice that I was hurting Hades so much. What else can I do now that he's gone? I can't bring his life back and apologize to him. I can't hug him anymore and tell him how much I love him.
Nothing will hurt more than his secret. My expectation of the secret he is trying to hide is very far from reality. This secret is even more painful than what comes to mind.
"I love you so much, Hades. Please forgive me, my love." I said softly.
A lone warrior in her battle, fighting for the freedom of her incarcerated soul and emotions. Magandang araw! The author's name is Calypso and she is currently in 11th grade. She's a STEM student and an architect wannabe. She lives in Bacoor City, Philippines and is a proud Filipino. She enjoys a variety of activities, but her favorite pastimes include writing, playing online games, and listening to music, especially the music of her favorite K-pop band.
Calypso is a 16-year-old girl, uses her writing as a way to express herself and her feelings and to go into the depths of her heart. A small thread connecting her mind and heart agreed to take the path of writing which helps her make sense of the world by exploring her own written ones. Typically, this user creates short stories about love, tragedies, retaliation, odd occurrences, pasts, and wonders.
Photos from this blog are taken from @primiily on Instagram.