Loss
Eleanor
16/08/2023
Today is the worst day of my life.
I was sitting in my room studying for my mid-term exams when I heard my mom crying. I’ve never heard my mom cry, not even once, so I ran to her room like a maniac and barged in.
Mom was sitting on the edge of her bed with dad wrapping his arms around her. There were tears in his eyes too, that really scared me.
There was a letter on the bed and I took it knowing that it was the source of the trouble:
To: The parent/ guardian of John West,
It’s with great sorrow that we inform you that your son is dead.
He died at the 15th/ August.
He was a brave soldier, died while protecting little kids from two soldiers from Norventia.
The body can be buried in a local cemetery at the capital or it can be sent back to his home city to be buried, the choice is yours.
Whatever your choice is, you have our full support.
Elias Grey,
Head of the Austorian Government
I stumbled to my knees upon reading the letter, my vision blurred, I closed my eyes and my world darkened.
“ELEANOR!” yelled my dad, but for some reason his voice was faint and distant. He kept calling my name until I couldn’t hear him anymore.
“You’re going to hurt yourself, El.”
“It’s okay, ” I answered “come on.”
John was in the city for the weekend so I couldn’t waste the opportunity, I barely get to see him during the year, so I decided to take him to the summer festival.
John looked different since the last time I saw him. His dark brown hair was shaved and he grew stronger. John was different than me, I can never be as tidy as him, for example, my light brown hair was messy although I tried to tame it while his was effortlessly tidy. We both had the same blue eyes but his were focused and determined while mine always seemed distracted. John is twenty two and I’m fifteen but it always seems as if he’s a century older.
“El?” John’s voice brought me back to reality “are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m,” I looked deep into John’s eyes “why did you decide to join the army?”
The question startled him, he obviously wasn’t expecting that. He stopped walking for a second before answering the question.
“I became a soldier to protect people, that’s what I like to do. For some reason, seeing people happy makes me happy. And I also love my country.”
“You always put other people before yourself.”
“No,” I glared at him because he was saying nonsense “I’m selfishly looking for my own happiness and also selfishly protecting something I love from other people.”
I laughed at his serious expression. “That’s not how it works idiot.”
He smiled too and we reached the festival.
“Before we go in,” he said “I saw this at the capital and it reminded me of you, so I bought it as a gift.”
It was the most beautiful necklace with polished purple stones and a silver heart between them.
“Thanks, Jo”
“Anytime, El”
“ELEANOR!” my father's calls woke me up
We were in a room with bright lights, I instantly knew that we were in a hospital.
The dream I had was a memory from my brother’s, John last visit.
My father looked as if he’d aged ten years while I was unconscious. I realized that I’ve been a terrible daughter. My parents were dealing with John’s death while I have been running away from it. I can’t believe what I’ve been doing, John would’ve thought that I was weak.
I got up and hugged my dad.
“I’m really sorry.” I whispered
“It’s okay.”
Dad took me home. Mom had locked her bedroom door. I felt sorry for my father he was the only one doing something, John's death affected us all but he was the strong one.
My best friend Lizzie visited, she was the only one of my friends who knew John.
I cried for hours and she kept hugging me.
"I'll always be by your side." she said. I could see that she meant it in her deep brown eyes.
"I know."
18/08/2023
John's body was sent today.
It was buried in a local cemetery with the rest of our family members.
I saw my brother one last time before he was buried, his eyes were closed and he looked imaginary.
I know that I'm going to miss him, I wasn't ready to lose my brother yet.
The funeral was all family members but there also two other people, a man and a woman but I couldn't see them clearly because I was busy. The woman kept crying and the man was standing besides her, they immediately left at the end of the service.
John's stuff were also sent Today, mom was sensitive about anything related to John and she wouldn't go near them so dad told me that I can keep them.
I started going through the boxes and Lizzie helped me.
John had kept all my letters and gifts, there were also a bunch of clothes.
"Hey, El," called Lizzie "what's SF008?"
"I don't know." I snatched the paper from her hands, but there wasn't anything in it. It was in John's handwriting but I couldn't understand it, he only wrote SF008 1/09.
"It looks like we'll get to know soon enough." I said
