The sun was shining over a sunflower field which was located near a simple, white house in the country. A tall man, whose name was Ivan, was lying down on a blanket in the center of the field, which had a small patch of grass. Ivan was sleeping, his grayish blonde hair moving with the cool breeze. It felt quite lovely to him. Then a rustling sound came from inside the sunflowers. Ivan opened his eyes slightly,
"Who is there?"
A shadow appeared above him; of course it was natural instinct to look up. After he did, a teenage girl fell into his arms. "It's good to see you again, Sister." Her name was Piper, and she rarely got to see her brother since she was living with their aunt and other sister, but she really wanted to live with Ivan.
"I am so glad I was able to come here to see you again, big brother. Katyusha said you would be out here," she said with a big smile, yet Ivan gave her a concerned face. He noticed a cut on the left side of her neck. "Where did this come from?"
"Oh. Uh, yeah that. I got it from a knife while I was trying to cut watermelon."
"Piper, you need to be more careful."
"... I know."
She nudged him slightly to move over; when they were younger they had lied in the same place and took a nap together. Ivan did move then Piper laid next time him and got comfy. However, before they could start napping, their older sister Katyusha called for them.
"Ivan! Piper! It's time for dinner!"
Ivan sat up and sighed. "We are on our way." He helped Piper up and they made their way to the house. Katyusha was setting the table for the three of them and humming a little tune like she usually did. Piper opened the door then hugged her older sister. Of course, Katyusha noticed the cut as well, but she didn't say anything.
"Ivan can I talk to you for a moment alone before we eat?"
"Sure," he responded as Piper sat down to wait for them. The two went into the hallway that was nearest to the living room. Katyusha frowned at Ivan.
"Ivan, I am very concerned about Piper. Where did she get that cut?"
"She said she got it from cutting watermelon."
"But it was on her neck, there is no possible way she could've cut there."
"What are you implying?"
"I think our aunt or Natalia did it."
"No, our aunt couldn't ha-" He was interrupted by the telephone. Katyusha picked it up. The conversation wasn't too long.
"Who was that?"
"It was our aunt; she said Piper ran away from home"
"What," Ivan exclaimed. Why in the world would Piper run away from home? Was Katyusha right, or did Piper just want to see them again? Maybe both? This made his head hurt, but he decided to ask Piper about this himself.
After dinner, Piper helped Katyusha clean up and do the dishes. They chatted a bit about what has been going on and such. When they finished, Ivan pulled Piper to his room and sat down. "Piper, our aunt called earlier. Is something going on?"
"No. Nothing at all."
"Then why did you run away from home?"
She went silent, then Piper said, "I really wanted to see you again brother; I missed you so much." Ivan smiled at her then patted her head.
"Well, you didn't have to worry our poor aunt."
"I know," she said, looking away.
Then came a knocking at the door. Katyusha went to answer it. It was their aunt; she was a lovely woman who wore a scarf, long brown trench coat that had fur at the bottom of the sleeves and tips of the hood, boots, and black gloves. Her medium-length and messy hair was brown with soft touches of gray.
"Ah, there you are Piper, I have been looking everywhere for you," she said as she approached her.
Piper immediately went behind Ivan. The aunt looked at her strangely. "I'm sorry, she just wanted to see me," Ivan said as he rubbed Piper's head, making her hair messier than it already was. She tensed up a little; something didn't really feel quite right.
"Come now Piper, Natalia is waiting in the car, and you know how impatient she g-"
"Oh big brother~"
Ivan's eyes grew wide as the quite crazy and obsessive Natalia stood just inches outside the front door. Piper glared at her, the two didn't really get along too well. Natalia was in love with Ivan, but he had always paid more attention to Piper, which in turn made her very jealous. "Now big brother, let us bec-," Natalia was swiftly interrupted by an incoming tan boot. It was Piper's boot.
"Leave him alone, you attention whore..."
"Why, you little brat!"
"Yes, I can be a brat, but at least I am not trying to sleep with my sibling! That's gross, dude!"
The two were ready to rip each other's guts out, but their aunt got in-between them, "Now girls, let us not have any bloodshed go around." They put down their arms, but continued the glaring contest. Plenty of tension lingered in the air like a heavy aroma. Katyusha walked over to Piper. "Now you better be getting home."
"But Katy... I want to stay here," said Piper, looking at her with irresistible puppy dog eyes. She looked at her for a bit, before their aunt pulled Piper toward the door, yet she tried to fight her off. Piper just didn't want to leave, but after some struggling, their aunt managed to get her in the car. However, Piper rolled down the window quickly and tried to make a jump for it. Ivan had never seen her fight so hard just to stay with him and Katyusha. Natalia grabbed for her waist, keeping her in one place, but Piper continued to fight, though in vain. They drove off, with Piper in tears screaming for Ivan and saying that she didn't want to go back to the house. Ivan felt bad just to let their aunt and Natalia take her away like that. "I will have to see them tomorrow, when things have calmed down," he muttered, watching the car drive out of his line of vision.
Night fell. Katyusha was already asleep in her bed. Ivan was sitting on the couch looking at an old album. He had his eyes on one particular picture; it was a family photo that was taken when his parents were alive and Piper was just a baby. Ivan smiled and started to remember all the good times that they all had, but the memory montage was interrupted by the telephone ringing. Who in the world would be calling at this time of night? Ivan wondered.
He answered it, but it was silent for a short time... Then a gut wrenching scream came out of it, and also the sound of his aunt yelling, "You worthless girl! You can't do anything right!" Ivan jumped, he didn't expect to hear it and he couldn't believe what he was hearing either. What's going on! Who is screaming? These thoughts clouded Ivan's mind, until he heard the familiar nickname.
"N-ni...Ni, h-h-help me..."
Ivan's eyes widened; the one who was pleading for help was Piper. He dropped the phone then went straight for the car. When he arrived, it failed to start. Time was of vital importance, so Ivan quickly gave up on trying to start it and began to make a mad dash to his aunt's home, which was about twelve miles away from his own. While he was running, it began to rain making the road a little slick. Ivan had almost slipped, but he managed to maintain his balance.
The house was in reach now, but instead of knocking, Ivan bust down the door. "Piper! Where are you? Piper," he shouted as he ran around the halls. He heard a faint scream close by; Ivan went in that direction immediately. Piper was laying on the floor of the kitchen with a small puddle of blood under her. She was crying very hard and was coughing up blood. "Piper! Are you all right," he asked as he went by her side and held her.
"N-N-Ni ni," she whispered looking into his deep purple eyes.
"I am here, sister, nothing is going to harm you now," he said, cradling her. But he did not notice that their aunt was right behind him with a butcher's knife.
Piper's eyes widened and she screamed, "No! Don't hurt him! It's me you're after!"
Ivan turned his head and saw her with blood on her apron, "Why are you doing this?"
"Why? Because she deserves to be punished!"
"Why does she deserve that?"
"I don't have to state my reasons, boy!"
She raised the knife slowly, "Now out of my way!"
"I will not let you hurt her anymore!"
"Fool! Then die with her," she shouted as her arm swung, Ivan closed his eyes then the blade slashed flesh, but it wasn't Ivan's. It was Piper's back that got slashed. The cut wasn't too deep, but it still let out a small amount of blood. Ivan opened his eyes, seeing his sister guarding him with tears still rolling down her cheeks. She fell. Ivan shouted her name then went straight for his aunt. In a swift motion, he grabbed her arm that had the blade then threw her at the wall with a good amount of force, causing her to fall unconscious.
Ivan panted for a bit before he went to the phone and called 911. He had no idea how long Piper was going to live, which worried him. He started to cry as the ambulance went through the door and picked her up. Hours passed. Ivan was waiting outside the room where his sister was being treated. Katyusha and Natalia were there with him, one was crying and the other, for the first time, was sad as well. Memories flashed through Ivan's mind; he heard Piper laughing and also her saying his name.
"Ivan! Ivan," the young Piper shouted as she was running through the sunflower field. He looked up from his laying position. Then she jumped into his arms, giving him a big hug before she asked, "Hey big brother, will you always protect me?" Ivan smiled and then held her even closer.
"Of course I will."
His tears were thick as that memory played over and over in his head; he had broken the promise to protect her from harm. Yet she was being harmed right under his nose. There wasn't anything he could do. Katyusha and Natalia went over to him to try and comfort him, but it seemed the only way he could be comforted was if his precious little sister made it through.
One of the doctors walked out of the room. Ivan looked up and asked, "Is she ok? Is my sister going to live? Please, doctor, tell me she is!" The doctor smiled.
"Well, sir, it is a miracle. Your sister is going to live. I am surprised that she wasn't dead by the time she got here. She must be quite the fighter."
"You have no idea," Natalia said, smiling. Ivan began crying tears of joy and went into the room. Piper was sleeping. Her arms had some stitches and so did her stomach, but the only thing that mattered to Ivan was the fact that she was going to live. But he couldn't celebrate just yet; a police officer walked in and tapped his shoulder, "'Scuse me son, I need to ask you some questions."
"Alright, but can we talk here," he asked. The officer nodded then asked Katyusha and Natalia to leave the room. Once they were gone, Ivan began to explain what happened. The talk lasted about an hour and he was not charged. The officer left it as a self-defense case. As soon as he walked out, Piper started to wake up. Ivan sat at her bedside, lightly stroking her cheek while smiling. Her eyes opened slowly, brightening up when she gazed upon Ivan. She was happy to see her brother's face again.
"Ni ni?"
"Yes Piper, it's your ni ni."
She sat up and Ivan gave her a soft hug. Her back was still a little tender from the butcher knife, and he didn't want to hurt her. Katyusha and Natalia walked in with smiles on their faces then joined in the hug as well.
Many days passed after Piper was released from the hospital. She finally got what she wanted: to live with her brother and sisters. Some of the wounds went away, but the cut on her stomach and back became scars like the one on her neck. It didn't matter to her at all; the only thing she was focused on was the happy life she now had. "Big brother, let me in," shouted Natalia as she clawed at Ivan's locked door. Yet she didn't know that he escaped through his window to join Piper in the sunflower field.
The wind was very pleasant, Piper was picking some sunflowers in a long and flowing white dress. "Piper? Piper, where are you?"
"Over here, brother," she shouted from where she was. It didn't take him long to get to where she was, but she wasn't there. "Piper," he called looking around, not noticing that she was behind him. She jumped onto his shoulders and yelled, "High-Ho Silver! Awaaaaaaaah!" He had fallen over and the two laughed until their stomachs started to hurt.
"Hey, big brother."
"Yes?"
"I'm happy."
"I am too."