Mary sniffled as she made another pitiful attempt of pushing herself up on the new swingset. While dad may have finally found the time to set it up, he was still an adult. And adults were busy sometimes and couldn't always push you on swings.
"That's where older sisters come in." He would say. He was right, of course. Ib was always there for Mary, ready to play and color and help with homework, even when she had trouble with it herself. She was a role model for siblings everywhere. That's what Mary thought at least.
Until about a month ago.
"It was ever since they went to visit the art gallery. Mary could point out the exact moment something felt wrong in regards to her older sister. It was the look she gave her right before they left the gallery.
A look of confusion. Of anger. Of terror.
It was a lot to comprehend for the little girl, but Mary understood one thing very clearly. Whatever happened, Ib now hated her.
Her eyes started to burn as tears started to brim her eyes. She didn't know what she did wrong. Of course there were times where Ib got annoyed with her, but Mary couldn't think of anything she'd done to make her look at her like that. Like she was the evil witch in the fairytales mom reads them.
She may have dressed up like one for Halloween, but Mary wasn't a witch. She wasn't evil and Ib knew that.
Mom and dad said that Ib wasn't feeling well, and that it made her think differently. Kind of like how you have bad dreams and feel lost and confused when you have a fever. They asked her to be patient and to give her older sister some time to get better.
But fevers don't last a month, and they don't cause your sibling to hate you.
Mary's fists clenched around the chains of the swing as she tried to make one last attempt to get herself up in the air.
"The result was a tremendous failure as she slipped from the seat and fell hard onto the , frustrated, and confused, Mary finally let the tears fall.
She just wanted to play on the swing with Ib. She wanted Ib to smile and look at her again, not with hatred but with that kind hearted gaze she reserved for friends and family. Mary just wanted her sister back.
With a harsh shove, Mary pushed herself off the ground and trudged back into the house. She wasn't in the mood to play outside anymore. In fact, she wasn't in much of a mood to do anything.