Disclaimer: I do not own the X Files
Note: I am thinking of doing a short series of drabbles about different times Dana misses her sister so tell me if this is any good. I have two sisters that I live away from and I miss so I guess this is kind of a tribute. Hope you enjoy.
My Sister
It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the grass was so green and the skies so blue it made everything look even more colorful. Melissa lay in the grass looking up at the sky that was filled with beautiful white fluffy clouds. I was running from Charlie and his squirt gun running to the kiddy pool to fill my own back up. Bill surprised everyone by grabbing the hose and spraying water all over the place. It all sprinkled through the air making rainbows in the sky. I laughed and danced in it with Charlie, our gunfight forgotten. Melissa on the other hand shot up and ran at Bill full speed.
"I'm not in my bathing suit Bill!" She screamed and pushed him.
Bill was ten and only two years older than her but he was much bigger and her push didn't move him an inch. He just laughed and proceeded to point the hose right in her face.
I heard my sister scream and ran over to assist. She was covered in water and trying not to laugh. At six years old I was ready for a knock down drag out fight and ran at Bill with my head like a battering ram. I hit him right in the stomach and it seemed to knock the wind out of him. Melissa and Charlie laughed out loud as I ran for my life before Bill could regain his breath.
"Dana! I'm gonna get you!" He shouted still somewhat short of breath grabbing a water gun. He started to chase me around the house. Missy and Charlie decided to arm themselves as well and ran after Bill shouting meaningless threats. We all chased each other in circles until we finally ran out of energy and fell back into the grass causing many a dandelion fluff to rise into the air.
Melissa took my hand as we all finished our laughing.
She pointed to the sky,
"Look Dana," She said, "It looks like a butterfly."
I looked up but found that the sky had turned black. I looked to my left and found my brothers to be gone and the ground turned to dirt. I looked to my right and there was a grown Melissa lying dead, hand still holding mine.
I woke up screaming covered in sweat. I looked around realizing I was in my apartment alone and began to cry. I don't know how long I cried but it was long enough to make my eyes, cheeks, and nose sore and red. When I calmed down a bit I turned to look at the clock that read 5:43am.
'What's the point of trying to go back to sleep.' I thought but my tiredness argued that if I did not get more sleep I would have a bad day.
My head was pounding so I got up to take some Tylenol. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and hated the person who stared back.
All that I could think about way my sister's body lying on the floor of my apartment left alone to die. I felt like crying again but it seemed all my tears had dried up.
Missy was my best friend. All of my childhood memories included her but because of me she was taken from the world. Taken from me. When I heard of her condition I began to pray to God that we could trade places. I belonged on that bed, not her. That bullet was meant for me. I knew what I had gotten into and I knew that by continuing my work I was making enemies but Missy had not asked for any of this. What did she die for? This elusive 'truth' that Mulder and I had still not found?
I made my way back to my bed and lay down. I took the picture next to my bed and looked at it. It was Melissa and I around the age from my dream. We were at a playground near our house Missy sitting on top of the monkey bars that I was dangling upside down from. For some reason I remembered the day it was taken so clearly. We had gone to the park for a family picnic. Mom made sandwiches for us and brought cold soda and brownies. Our childhood dog, Star, was hooked up to a tree far enough away that she couldn't get into the food. As soon as we finished eating my dad had taken the boys to the field to play baseball. I ran right away to the jungle gym yelling for Missy to come too. We played pirates and astronaut and mermaids for hours. Mom had somehow managed to get us to sit still for a moment to take a picture.
I felt the ache in my chest rise and held the frame close to my chest.
"Missy I am so sorry that you had to die in this quest. I am sorry you died in my place. I wish more than anything that I could have you here with me right now." I began to talk to her like I did sometimes when things got too hard. "I know you probably already know but I was diagnosed with brain cancer a week ago. Only Mulder knows right now. If you were here I would have taken you with me to the doctor when I found out. You would have held my hand and suggested all kinds of new age treatments that could cure me." I laughed through my new tears. "You would have dragged me to some hippy store and bought crystals, incense, different kinds of oils and all that crap. You would brew special tea and pray-Indian chants over me. God, I miss you." I sniffled and reached for a tissue discarding my wet old one into the growing pile next to me. "Don't worry about me. Who knows I might be with you soon. That is one plus right? Mulder is taking care of me. I'll tell mom and the guys soon but I just don't want to upset them so much yet. You would be telling me that I am only holding it back from them because I don't want them to tell me to stop working. They would tell me to sit back and get treatment and would look at me with sad eyes. You know me so well. You would tell me that is the real reason. I hope you are happy though. Wherever you are I hope you are there with dad, grandma and grandpa, and Star. I miss you."
I blew my nose one last time and deposited the tissue into the pile that I would take care of in the morning. I fell asleep holding the picture of us to my chest thinking of warm summer days filled with laughter and playing and my sister.
