Little Sister

Chapter 2

Each minute felt like hours as I sat on the step with this random child, fast asleep on my lap. I felt it was best not to interrupt her slumber, so I sat there for two hours as dusk turned to night. All I had were my thoughts to keep me entertained.

Firstly, my thoughts were merely questions about this little girl right here.
Who is she?
Where are her parents?
Why does she keep calling me her brother?

Those curious thoughts turned into panicking thoughts an hour later.
What if her parents are looking for her and they find me with her? Will I be counted as a kidnapper?
Will I be held responsible for anything that I've done throughout the day?

These thoughts were exhausting, and as the napping child lay on my thighs, I simply stared at the stars. Something about them made thinking seem peaceful. As if wondering through the scenarios in my mind were a worthy substitute for wondering through the constellations of the cosmos.
I could tell I was beginning to doze as I remember how heavy my eyes felt. Aimlessly wondering around the forest did take it's toll on the body after all.

I heard a strong gruff near me and my head snapped back down as if I had just left some trance.
It was security guard Joe, and his wrinkled constipated-like face said everything.
"Get out" he spoke with his stern eyes.

I recall it being around 7pm when I left school grounds with the sleeping child in my arms. She looked so peaceful, and quiet snores left her as her chest slowly expanded then constricted.
Waking her was the last thing I needed to do, so I treaded carefully on the sidewalk that I used when going to school. It was still riddled with leaves which looked black and, at the same time, was sprinkled with hints of light from the gleaming moon.

The trees were now silhouettes. Spruce or birch, I could no longer tell. There were just wide polls with multiple arms.
The crunching sound of the leaves irritated my soul as they ruined my efforts to walk as surreptitiously as possible. Luckily for me, or more especially for the little girl, her slumber was uninterrupted. I continued walking.

The entire walk seemed like a fever dream to be honest. My senses were dulled because of my exhaustion. The headlights of cars that sporadically passed by slowly twinkled and elongated into plastered shards.
Finding balance was hard as my legs numbed and my feet grew sore.
My eye lids felt sore as they screamed and yearned for sleep.

When I was 10 minutes away from home and on the verge of passing out like a character from the Sims, the young restless girl fidgeted in my arms and made weird snoring sounds.

I nearly dropped the chap when, out of nowhere, her head sprung up and she screamed "BIG BROTHER!".
She wrapped her small chubby arms around my neck and pressed her head on my chin

At that moment, I didn't know whether I missed her clinginess or dreaded it but I thank the gods above that she awoke before I was able to bring a random child to my parents' house.

After a seemingly long embrace, I decided to ask her some important questions before I reached home. It felt kind of weird interrogating a child but it felt like the only plausible option.

"Where are you from?" I asked
"The woods" she responded with a cheeky smile.

Her clothes seemed old but still wearable, and she definitely spoke English fluently for someone her age. To me, "the woods" was either a lie or a half-assed truth

"Where are your parents?"
"We don't have any!"

Until now, I still feel the jab to my heart when I think back to that question.
Also, 'we'?

"Um... Where do you sleep?"
"Outside, but sometimes inside."

"Why?" I asked, now more intrigued than ever
"Because I like the outside!" She shouted while spiralling and energetically fidgeting in my grasp.

"Okay okay okay!" I said, calming her down. "I'm already in enough big trouble. I'll find you a small place to stay and I'll get you back home tomorrow. Okay?"

The girl frowned, the type of frown that came before a tantrum. The 'calm before the storm'... Well the 'sad noises Before the loud wails' instead.

I braced myself for a load of "I DON'T WANNA"s and other acts of resistance against my simple plan.

As her quivering lip was about to open, her hands reached out to my face.
"I don't want Big brother to be in trouble."

Isn't she the sweetest thing to ever grace my world?

I chuckled nervously at her response. It clearly caught me unawares

"It's fine" I said "I won't be in big big trouble".

"No!" She argued. "We can sleep outside!".

I chucked once again
"Big brother won't be in trouble."

Her naivity got the best of her and she casually agreed.
This little exchange took up the remainder of my trip back home and we were both standing Infront of the gates.

"By the way," I asked. "What's your name? Or what can I call you?"

She looked at me with the same bright smile as when we first met, and raised her arms straight up.

"Call me Little Sister!"