Somewhere Over the Rainbow
"Somewhere over the rainbow way up high, there's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby-"
The young man sang, the syllables flowing peacefully with the beat. He closed his eyes and continued singing softly, little did he know, a child was listening.
The small boy stood behind the wall, eavesdropping on his practice session. He was completely amazed and he was instantly drawn to his voice. That was heavily accented with a British influence. Suddenly, he stopped and he could hear a soft pelting sound- much like the raindrops that gently fall on misty April days.
The young man was crying.
The young kid that he was, he suddenly felt the urge to cheer him up, whoever the person might be. He hated it when he heard someone crying, it always made him want to cry along with them and feel the pain. Even though he knew that afterward he would regret it, he placed his hand on the doorknob and bolted into the room.
He automatically found out who this person was..
It was a famous British rockstar, his electric guitar at his side, leaning on a table. 'I never knew he would sing a lullaby like this one.' The boy thought, staring into space. The rockstar turned his head and gazed at him, his clover green eyes aflame. He averted his eyes back at the ground and put his head in his hands, biting his bottom lip. The child walked up to the nineteen-year old and asked quietly.
"What's wrong?"
He didn't feel like answering but he stated in a subtle whisper- "Someone really important to me… Has gone away and will never come back." Just to get his point across, he points to the ceiling with his index finger and wipes a tear off his cheek. To quickly change the subject he says, trying to sound perky- I'm Alfred! I know you, your name is Arthur!" He responded with a simple nod and tried to stifle the sobs that desperately wanted to be released.
"You know, it's okay to cry." Alfred exclaims innocently, blinking. He continues, "But you need to have fun after something makes you sad, or you'll be sad forever."
Arthur looked up at him, his eyes wide. He had to take a moment to process that in his head. "Fun?" He let out those sobs, allowing quivers to rake his body. Although he thought the sounds coming out of his mouth were the ugliest noises in the whole entire universe, he didn't care anymore. He didn't care about anything. "Brother… W-Why…" The Briton yelled at the top of his lungs.
He flashed back to the last time he saw him, alive.
He was running, running as fast as he could to his house. His ill brother was there, sprawled out on his bed. Thinking back on it now, he should have gotten there even quicker. He clutched the doorknob and opened it- Sprinting in large leaps up the staircase. 'PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!' He thought repeatedly in his mind as he flung the door open to check his brother, holding tightly in his hand- Medicine. The one and only hope he had, something they heavily depended on with their lives.
He caught sight of the figure, his head lolled unnaturally to the side.
"Peter!" He murmured in a hushed tone. When he didn't receive a response he said it again, louder this time.
SILENCE.
He put his hands on Peter's shoulders and shakes him violently, tears pricking at his eyelashes. Finally, he heard something emanate from his mouth- a soft and barely audible wheezing sound. He opened his eyes the slightest bit his eyes lacking warmth- It was like the life was sucked out of him… With a first glance, the rockstar couldn't even recognize him. "A..rth..ur." His sibling muttered, his face distorted due to agonizing pain.
"Get up, so I can feed you this medicine!" Arthur blurted out, his voice amplified. His brother nodded feebly and puts his hands on the edge of the bed, for support and weakly tried to pull himself up. In which he failed unsuccessfully. He clenched his teeth together and then collapsed, closing his eyes again. His breathing gradually became faster, coming in short labored breaths.
'He's deciding to give up, he can't!'
The Briton sniffled and stared at him, wondering frantically- 'What can I do?' He opened Peter's mouth and poured the fluid down his throat, now crying hysterically. "Don't you DARE leave me like father and mother did! NO!" He cried out, clinging onto his arm.
His brother went limp, drawing out his final breath. His chest stopped moving- and everything went quiet.
The rockstar grabbed the music sheet on the stand and crumpled it- the tears refusing to stop. "This.. W-Was his favorite song." Alfred began crying as well and whispered, "I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry." The child wrapped his arms around Arthur and apologized multiple times under his breath.
"Can I be your friend and make you feel better?"
"Yes, you sure can.." He replied, holding him close.
Later on, he attended Peter's funeral and he had to sing that one song. When he finished doing so, he smiled somewhat and thought that maybe his little brother was somewhere up there in a better place, above the clouds.. And the rainbow.
To clear up any confusion, and to just add onto this story. First off- Arthur had to work real hard to get money to buy medicine. He was poor because his mother and father died in a car crash therefore, he was left to take care of his brother. There was nobody to turn to when the event happened so- he decided to take up the opportunity to do what he had to do.
One day, his sibling got deathly ill and he had to work every single day without breaks. He couldn't go to the hospital because of the darned unfortunate money problem and he could never truly find out what kind of sickness has overcome his brother. Since he was never the social type, he never relied on anyone for anything. As he thought that was a 'good' thing. Quite horrible it was, until he finally got payed enough to buy the medicine Peter desperately needed. But, it was too late.
In the nearby future, he began writing his own songs- Because it was his one and only venting solution. It didn't seem like he wasn't splendid at doing other things so he stuck to this hobby. He sat on the streets and sang those songs out loud- The songs were crawling with emotion. As it wasn't really hard to guess- They were all secretly about Peter.
A passerby found that he was fantastic at singing and it was a mere coincidence that he was in search for natural talent. So, he brought him in and BOOM, he was famous..
In other words, his brother helped him become well-known.
Without this- He wouldn't have gotten the chance to bathe in the spotlight. Thanks to him he has more than enough money. A nice and cozy house, food, and everything he could possibly need.. Including a life.
[AGES]
Arthur Kirkland- 19
Peter Kirkland- 9
Alfred Jones- 10
[Israel Kamakawiwo' ole- Somewhere Over the Rainbow] -I STRONGLY suggest you search this song afterward- JUST LISTEN TO IT!