I know, sad. Not my typical writing. But it's been a long day, and I haven't written something without a happy ending yet.
Sonic the Hedgehog © Sega
I watched the cold tears of the sky slowly come down to hit our front windowpane. It was dark; the storm was close. I jumped again as thunder and lightning cracked the sky. My father paced back and forth behind me, constantly looking back his phone before sighing. I slumped at the window. I wanted to see my older brother again. I remember seeing his headlights as his truck screeched into the driveway.
I stepped outside to greet my older brother.
"Shadow!"
"Amy, run!"
"Shadow?"
"Run!"
BANG.
And in the blink of an eye, there was a loud noise and flash, and he was on the ground, with this red liquid sliding down our rain-soaked driveway…
"Shadow?" I squeaked out. He twitched and looked at me.
"Ames… run."
I squeezed my eyes tight. I couldn't get that image out of my head. But I was so young, I didn't understand it. Why did he fall? Did he trip and cut himself? And what was that loud bang? And why the white vans that took my brother from me…?
I ran inside.
"Mommy! Mommy! Shadow said he needs help! Now!" My mom dropped everything and ran outside. She screamed, making my dad follow. My dad ran back inside and picked up the phone, yelling numbers and names into the device. I went back outside. "Mommy?" She was kneeling at my brother's side. She cried like the sky. I went over to her. I was about her height when she kneeled. "Mommy? What's wrong with Shadow?" She turned to face me with messy hair and red eyes.
"Go back inside and don't leave until I come home, ok Amy?" I nodded, and with one last look at my older brother, I went back inside. And I sat at the front window, as mommy and daddy ran in and out of the house.
I couldn't get answers. No one would tell me anything. I wrapped a blanket around me tighter and hugged my teddy bear closer. When was he going to be home?
Suddenly there was a loud screeching noise in the air. I covered my ears; I didn't like it. These black and white cars pulled up with red and blue flashing lights. Behind them, a big white van with a red plus sign on it showed up. The people got out of the white van and put my brother on this bed on wheels. They put him into the back of the van. My mommy kissed daddy before climbing into the van. The van doors closed and the white van was gone from my sight. I hadn't seen it since.
My daddy brought me to these people dressed in blue and black. Some of them had shiny, scary metal devices hanging from their belts. They kneeled in front of me.
"Hi there," a blue hedgehog said. "I'm Sonic, and these are my partners, Tails and Rouge." They all waved at me. I looked down. My daddy ran back inside to grab something. Rouge looked at my teddy bear.
"Is that a teddy bear? What's its name?" Rouge asked.
"Her name is Maria. My older brother, Shadow, gave her to me. I named her after his girlfriend," I said quietly. Rouge smiled.
"How about we go inside so we don't get Maria all wet?" She said. I nodded, and Rouge, Tails, and Sonic guided me back inside. The orange fox, Tails, went into the kitchen. Sonic and Rouge sat on the couch, and I sat on the floor.
"So, what's your name and can you tell me what you saw?" Sonic asked me. I hesitated. Rouge mumbled something to him, and he walked off. She looked at me.
"What's your name sweetie?" She smiled and asked, joining me on the floor.
"I'm Amelia. Amelia Rose Hedgehog. But you can call me Amy," I said. She smiled. She was always smiling.
"That's a beautiful name."
Our door burst open. A blonde girl with a long sleeve blue dress ran in.
"Oh God, Mr. Hedgehog. Tell me it's not true!" She yelled. He sighed and opened his arms to her. She cried and hugged him.
"I'm so sorry Maria, but it is. We're awaiting an answer from my wife," my daddy said. Maria slumped to the floor and cried some more.
"So you have an older brother huh? I did too," Rouge said. I nodded.
"Yeah. His name is Shadow. Do you know where those white vans took him?" I asked. She bit her lip.
"Well, Amy, we don't exactly know what happened to your brother. That's what we're trying to figure out. Do you think that you can help us?" I nodded. "Great," she said with a smile, "When your brother came home, what happened?" I squeezed my eyes shut.
"I saw this big flash of light, and I heard a really loud noise. Then suddenly, Shadow was on the ground, with this red stuff all over the place. Is he gonna be ok?" A tear went down Rouge's cheek.
"I hope so doll. I sure hope so."
Maria was now sitting on the couch in shock. Her eyes were really big and she wasn't moving. She wasn't speaking; it was like she was a fake doll. I looked back out the window as more thunder and rain came down. I looked down and then back to Maria. Her eyes weren't as big, and she began to cry again. I got up and walked over to her. I handed her my bear.
"Here, Maria. This is my teddy bear. Shadow gave her to me. I named her after you because I really like your name. Maybe when I have little hedgehog kids some day, I'll name one of them Maria. But my teddy bear made me stop crying. Do you wanna hold her?" Maria looked down at me in awe. Then she smiled and placed the bear on her lap, and pulled me up to sit next to her. She wrapped an arm around me. "Maria, where's Shadow? When is he coming home?"
"I don't know, little Rose. I don't know."
What felt like days went by, and the rain still came down. Daddy still paced, Maria still cried, and I didn't leave Maria's side on the couch. The phone rang suddenly, startling daddy. He sighed at the phone before answering.
"Hello? Yes, dear, it's me. Ok. Ok. I'll be there soon. Should I bring Amy and Maria? Ok." He hung up the phone and sat down. Slowly, daddy began to cry. I got up and took my bear to him.
"Here daddy, Maria will make you stop crying," I said. He sniffled and stood up without looking at me. What did I do wrong?
"No, please Mr. Hedgehog. Don't tell me he didn't…" My daddy looked at Maria sadly and shook his head. Maria stumbled back onto the couch and sobbed. She put her head down and let tears and wails escape. Daddy grabbed his keys and invited Maria to go with him.
"Daddy what about me?"
"Just stay inside little one. It's best if you stay here," he said.
"Are you going to go pick up Shadow and mommy daddy?"
"No little one. Shadow won't be coming home…"
I know. Tear-jerker. I cried, don't feel bad if you did or didn't.
R&R please (:
