Author's note: Matilda was one of my favorite books when I was younger. Looking back on it I began to wonder about Matilda's ordinary brother: Michael. Here's some insight into his mind. The scene takes place as Matilda's parents and her brother are going to Spain, and Matilda is staying with Miss Honey.
Michael waved goodbye to his sister whom he would never see again. She was a strange sister. They never fought. His friend Gregory Wilson always fought with his younger brother and often Mrs. Wilson would complain endlessly about it. Yet, they never talked either. His other friend Mathew Brown was best friends with his elder sister, Elise. Every day after school, the two of them would go to the candy shop, buy some candy or a soda, and talk about their day. Sometimes Michael wished he could fight with his sister, that she could be annoying or petty and then he could hit or yell at her. But Matilda never bothered him, she was always curled up with a book, and he wasn't mean. He wasn't going to bully a little girl who had done nothing to him. Other times Michael wished he could get along with his sister like Mathew got along with Elise. He often wished he could start a conversation with her, but again she was always so absorbed in her book that he felt it would be a crime to interrupt her. Once, when she wasn't looking he had tried to pick up one of the books she read. But it was so boring and so hard to follow that he had to put it down. He didn't understand how she could enjoy them so much, or how she was even able to follow them. Honestly, he was always a little jealous of her. He wasn't always the most acute boy in the world, but he knew there was something extraordinary about her. His parents didn't. Michael didn't know why they weren't impressed, but then again they never were. Michael didn't even know why they even had children in the first place. His mother always seemed more like the type of woman to have a white cat named Fluffy.
Most of the time, Matilda didn't even feel like a sister. He didn't know how a sister was supposed to feel, but from the way his friends talked he was sure that how he felt towards Matilda was wrong. Sometimes she just seemed like a little girl living in his house, just like his parents often seemed like two older people sharing a house with him that took care of everything for him. Watching shows on Telly, Michael saw many fictional families. These were how families were supposed to be. That was one of the reasons why he enjoyed television so much. Michael wondered if that was the reason Matilda loved books so much. Maybe within the big words of Great Expectations, there was a loving story about an ideal family.
And maybe Matilda was getting her ideal family. She looked so happy; she didn't even see him wave. If she did, she didn't wave back. Michael felt a lump rise in his throat. He had never particularly loved his sister, but it was weird just leaving her like that. It didn't feel right. Although it seemed to feel right to her. Watching as his sister looked happier as he had ever seen her, Michael tried to feel happy too. She got her happy ending. Maybe someday he would too. But then again, he wasn't her. He wasn't brilliant. He was just Michael Wormwood an ordinary boy.