emma_sunshyn

My older brother missed my graduation. No call. No message. Nothing. Everyone kept asking, “Where is he?” and I just kept smiling, as if it didn’t matter, but it did. That night, I muted his contact. Three days later, there was a knock on our door. He stood there tired, unshaven, holding a small wrapped box. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I couldn’t leave the site. If I didn’t finish that job, they wouldn’t pay me and I needed the money for this.” Inside the box was a simple wristwatch. “I wanted you to have something that reminds you. Your time is just starting.” I didn’t know whether to cry or feel guilty. Sometimes, people don’t show up the way we expect them to. But it doesn’t mean they didn’t care.