“They always appear at sunset. I don’t know why, though.” Marie said. She brought me back to my senses.
“D-do Mom and Dad know about this?” I asked.
“Yeah, I told them. I even brought them here, but they couldn’t see them. That made me kinda scared. I was worried you wouldn’t see them, either.”
“Grown-ups can’t see them?”
“No, there are also some kids who can’t. I only know one kid who can. But everyone sees them differently. The orbs look like they’re twinkling to me, but the other kid just saw them shining.”
I should mention that I didn’t have any friends. I almost never left home and never needed to. Marie often went to the village and had made friends there. She must’ve been talking about one of them.
I could see the light. It shined deep and strong. What in the world is this?
“It’s so strange,” I said.
“It is. Do you think it’s like magic?”
“Magic?”
“Yeah, like what you talked about? You said it made light and stuff. Isn’t this pretty much that?”
It kind of was, now that she mentioned it. Whatever was floating out of the lake was a strange phenomenon. If she wanted to call it magic, I wouldn’t argue with her. It did surprise me that she remembered my conversation with Dad. I asked him about magic three years ago.
“You remember that?”
“Yeah. I mean, I’m bad at remembering some things, but you’re my baby brother. I remember. You were so sad after that I thought maybe it was because of magic. When I found this place, I knew I had to bring you here, even if it’s a little dangerous. I’m sorry it took me so long to find it.”
This whole time, Marie had not only been watching me, but seeing me.
I felt awful and dumb. Dread struck my heart with an inescapable pain. I started to cry. “M-Marie…I’m sorry.”
“Wh-why are you apologizing?” Marie gasped. “Why are you crying? Oh, boy.” She patted my head, but her sympathy only made me cry more.
I was so happy that there was someone looking after me like this.
Marie put her arms around me. Kids have high body temperatures, and she felt so warm. I was probably warm too. Her comforting gesture made the difference between us all the clearer. This was pathetic. While I was supposed to be the adult, I was really just a child. This realization only brought more tears to my eyes.
Eventually, I stopped crying, but shame kept my head down low. Marie didn’t tease me at all. She silently hugged me and patted my back. What a sweet older sister.
“It’s time to go home,” she said.
I paused. “Thank you, Marie.”
“N-no need to thank me! But, do you feel a little better?”
“Yeah! Much better.”
“Good!”
We held hands and walked back home. When I glanced back over my shoulder, the lake still shone with light. As I felt the depth of my sister’s love, a new thought came to mind:
Maybe it’s too soon to give up.