I awoke to the sound of a phone ringing. It was similar to our old landline, so I assumed it was our new one.

Groggily, I pulled myself out from my bed. I was tucked in with a heavy comforter and my clothes were not noticeable.

Darlene! She must have cleaned my clothes up! She's truly a sweetheart. Also, she tucked me in, she always did that.

Smiling at Darlene's kind actions I found my way downstairs. The phone rang continuously, I wondered if it'd ever stop.

I didn't know where the phone was, so I kept on bumping into different objects around me. Urgh, I hated new places, I don't know where anything is.

Finally, I found a cylindrical black object that was vibrating, I picked it up and placed the screen on my ear.

"Hello?"

"I'm so sorry to inform you that Ollie Stewart, Bella Jenkins along with their three month old son; Jairus Stewart passed away in a tragic accident that occured along the Mainroad Highway, Perth, Australia."

I sank to the floor.

"Wh-what?"

"Ma'am, would you like me to repeat that?"

"No."

"The bodies wi-" I put down the phone.

Ollie? My eldest brother? Dead? Was I dreaming?

No. This was reality.

"MUM! DAD!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

I was sobbing, so hard.

He was the only person I could talk to, express my feelings too and he could understand me. Most of all, he was my elder brother, a part of my family. A person whom I truly love.

I brought my knees to my chest and buried my face and cried so hard. I had never cried so had in my life.

"Gigi, what is it?" I heard a palm touch my shoulder. It wasn't my mother or father's voice. It was Darlene's.

She pulled me into her embrace and rubbed my back. I hugged her tightly and cried onto her shoulder.

"Ollie's gone. And so is Bella and little Jairus, I never even met him!" I told Darlene, crying.

She nodded her head, listening to me. I could see tears well at the corners of her brown eyes.

"When I was your age, my father left me. Not as in ran away, left for good, to meet my grandparents. I was devastated by it. I couldn't bring myself to accept it. But, I imagined him being in a better place, with lots of food to eat and glasses of clean water, with pretty roses. "

She paused and wiped off a tear from her pink cheek.

"Death changes everything, but time doesn't change a thing. I still miss the sound of his voice, the wisdom in his advice, the endless stories about his life." she laughed.

"But yes, I miss him as much today as the day he died and not a day came by without me thinking about him. The presence of your dead ones always linger around. You won't feel the loss, you'll feel the loss of reality." she continued.

I hugged her. I tightened my embrace around her.

"I am so sorry for your loss." I whispered in her ear.

"And I am sorry for yours." she told me.

"Where's mum and dad?"

"You've slept for a whole day, yesterday, they're at work."

"Please do me a favour and give them a call, I can't bring myself to talk about this topic." I told her, standing up and walking up the stairs.

She nodded to my request.

"What about Anwar and Martin?" I asked.

"They're at your neighbour's house."

I didn't say anything to that, instead, I walked up and closed my room door behind me. I slid down the door and started crying. Even harder than before. It wasn't a small thing for me to get over with. He was my brother, my best friend. He meant the world to me.

I never got to meet my nephew, I never got to touch my nephew's soft baby skin.

I never got to say goodbye to my eldest brother.

I never got to see his new house.

He had a bright future ahead of him.

All his hopes and dreams, crushed.

Why had fate chosen him?

What sin has he committed?

I remembered the words in his favourite book;

"How terrible it is, to fall in love with something death can touch?"

I fell upon the carpeted floor of my room. My body was weak. I knew I blanked out.

___________________________________________________________________

There was a loud knock on my door that caused me to awake.

"Honey, it's me sweety, open up, I'm here for you." I heard my mother's calm voice. WHY WAS SHE SO CALM?

Oh right, my mother was my father's second choice after his divorce. Ollie wasn't her child after all, why should she care? Maybe a few crocodile tears would be shed, nothing more.

I opened the door and I was greeted with a hug.

"Mum?"

"Hmm?"

"Why do the best people die?"

"In a garden, which flowers would you pick?"

"The most beautiful ones." I replied, without second thought.

Ollie, maybe it was his time, his destiny, maybe better things awaited him up there.

Jairus, most probably the same.

As for Bella, I never knew her personally, but maybe it was God's decision for them to reunite the three of them in Heaven again.

"Babe, we're going to Perth for the funeral, pack your things." my mother told me, cupping my cheeks in her palms.

She placed a gentle kiss on my forehead and managed a smile. Her eyes were red from crying, that wasn't any doubt.

She left me, closing the door behind me.

I immediately packed all the dark pieces of clothing I had. It wasn't hard to find any because most of the clothes I owned were black.

I packed everything in a backpack. I ran over to my drawer where I found a picture of Ollie and I in my hoodie pocket. It was my favourite picture. I took it and stuffed it in my backpack. At least, he'd have a picture of us, for the memories.

Thinking about that day, Ollie and I, at the park, sharing an ice cream, playing with the stray puppies, it was almost a magical feeling to me.

But it wouldn't happen again. Those kinda days will never come back.