“Mary!” The boy calls out to you. “Mary, look!”

You glance up with a glare that shuts him up almost immediately, clenching your book with white-knuckled fists. Keeping your voice levelled, you answer, “Not right now.”

He wilts under your gaze like the oil-pressed roses threatening to drip through the cloth he holds. You focus back on your book. Settle against the rough bark of the olive tree. Immerse yourself in the magical words that float on your cream-coloured pages. 

You don’t notice how the sense of hatred towards your brother is so loud that it clogs his ears with screams until all he can hear are the repeats of his failures.

Sometimes, you wish he were dead. You’ve tried to make spells before – concoctions that will turn his lungs inside out, draughts that will snuff his breath in his sleep. For those, you’ve had to rip out dragonfly wings; extract pollen from bumblebee legs; tear fragile wings from butterfly skeletons. 

This is why you’re here.

This is what the world has in store for you – you will bring yourself up by bringing others down. You will lap at the ocean waves while kicking others to drown. You will sing out melodies of gorgeous static while choking the rest who try.

At this point, you should merely gouge your eyes out if you’re so insensitive to all the pain you have caused on this earth.

All the pain you have caused to your brethren. The little boy who shares the same blood as you, your souls strung up with the same red thread that flows through your ancestors. Your mother, your father, your cousins. The life that flows through your veins is the same as the death that reeks in his.

And yet you wish he were dead?

Such a beautiful, young creature, looking up to you with that marvelous heart, wanting to grow in your footsteps? Do you really wish death to be brought upon him? Upon such an innocent being?

Does it not send an ache through your spirit? Does it not enclose your heart with folded wings?

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    Bella Minyo
    Bella Minyo(@bella-minyo)
    1 year ago

    Amy, fantastic writing with the imagery! I thought it was such an intriguing story about the relationship between people and how each person views the relationship!

    Amy Savciuc
    Amy Savciuc(@amy-savciuc1)
    Reply to  Bella Minyo
    1 year ago

    Bella, thank you so much! I’m really glad to hear you were intrigued. <3

    Allan Neil
    Allan Neil(@allan-neil)
    1 year ago

    Amy, this is powerful and spine-chilling stuff and you could not have written it without experience (in some way) of the emotions of the narrator, someone who cannot see beauty without feeling a destructive force. The story is beautiful in its own way, like the kiss of the tiger that wants to eat you. Very moving. Well done.

    Amy Savciuc
    Amy Savciuc(@amy-savciuc1)
    Reply to  Allan Neil
    1 year ago

    Ahh Allan, thank you! I’m not sure if I have personal experience of destruction, or if I just read a lot of destructive books haha! I’m so happy it moved you.

    Margarida Brei
    Margarida Brei(@margarida-brei)
    1 year ago

    This is powerful writing, Amy. You have descriptively portrayed a protagonist full of hate and bitterness. Your flash fiction reminds me of the young girl in “Labyrinth” wishing her baby brother away.

    Amy Savciuc
    Amy Savciuc(@amy-savciuc1)
    Reply to  Margarida Brei
    1 year ago

    Ahh I’m honoured! I’ll definitely check the “Labyrinth” out, give it a read, see what you’re implying. Thank you so much, Margarida.

    Preston Randall
    Preston Randall(@preston-randall)
    1 year ago

    Wonderful descriptive venom-dripping story. I hope I never get on your bad side!

    Amy Savciuc
    Amy Savciuc(@amy-savciuc1)
    Reply to  Preston Randall
    1 year ago

    Haha I hope you never do either! And thank you so much. 🙂

    Christer Norrlof
    Christer Norrlof(@christer-norrlof)
    1 year ago

    I guess a lot of siblings have felt this way, Amy; on a surface level hating the guts of their siblings, but underneath that, a lot of love and warm emotions. You have even taken it a step further by adding attitudes that also many adults have; the wish for other people’s failure in order to feel superior. Great writing!

    Amy Savciuc
    Amy Savciuc(@amy-savciuc1)
    Reply to  Christer Norrlof
    1 year ago

    Haha that’s true! I can’t count the times I’ve been angry with my sibling over something they’ve done, and vice versa, but we always make up. And thank you so much, Christer! 😀

    Carrie OLeary
    Carrie OLeary(@carrie-oleary)
    1 year ago

    Welcome to Voice.club, Amy. This is a very powerful story. It sounds as though we have a witch in the making, trying to cast spells on the brother she hates. Sometimes it’s innocence and love that saves us and I see that happening to your protagonist by the end of the story. Great writing

    Amy Savciuc
    Amy Savciuc(@amy-savciuc1)
    Reply to  Carrie OLeary
    1 year ago

    Thanks for the welcome, Carrie! And you’re right, I definitely intended for the protagonist to be an aspiring witch. I’m not quite sure if she’s changed her mind about her brother at the end, but I really hope that somewhere out there, she and her brother become good friends in the future. 🙂 Thank you!

    Lotchie Carmelo
    Lotchie Carmelo(@lotchie-carmelo)
    1 year ago

    A warm welcome to voice club, Amy. Your story is a spine-chilling tale. I can’t imagine siblings that can wish for the death of her brother. Yes, Carrie was right: it is like a witch casting a spell on his brother because of hatred. No. Hatred and jealousy are bad things. Your protagonist needs a lot and a lot of love to wash the hatred and jealousy away. Very well done. I… Read more »

    Amy Savciuc
    Amy Savciuc(@amy-savciuc1)
    Reply to  Lotchie Carmelo
    1 year ago

    Wow, thank you so much, Lotchie. You’re completely right; there is no excuse for the numerous ways she has tried to poison her brother with her spells. I hope the protagonist finds her peace too. I’m glad you enjoyed the story!

    Lotchie Carmelo
    Lotchie Carmelo(@lotchie-carmelo)
    Reply to  Amy Savciuc
    1 year ago

    You’re welcome, Amy.

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