A Second Glance

When I remember him the world becomes a beautiful place

 

“Katie, look this way! Katie look what I’ve found!” The voice danced across my memory, as crisp and thrilled as it had been that day. “You won’t even believe it, it’s amazing.” The voice of my kid brother, still imprinted in my mind. “It’s amazing…”

Days pass by in a monotone repetition. It seems to be human nature to schedule out our lives, to make plans and goals. That’s why we get so wound up when something unexpected happens; it’s almost as if our flawless plan failed us. Each day I walk the same streets, touch the same things. Every day I look upon the same visuals without ever really seeing them at all. It’s as if I’ve seen it all before without really seeing it at all, a demented sort of déjà vu.

“Katie, Katie!” The childish voice echoed in my ears. The sound of little feet splashing along the shore, making their way to me, followed the voice.

I could see it all perfectly, like a vivid dream. Every day it feels as if I just woke up, but this time I’m not really dreaming.

 

Owen, my nine year old brother, was running towards me, his bare feet padding across the soft sand. His shorts revealed his sandy legs and bruised knees and his blond hair was bleached from the sun. There was a small object clenched in his fist and a toothy smile stretched across his face.

I had been kneeling in the sand, my camera in hand. A seagull was perched on the rock just outside the shore and I was about to get the perfect picture of it.

“Katie look!” Owen was now at my side, his arms extended to show off the rock in his hands.

“Not now,” My focus remained on the bird, just a slight twitch of its wing and I would have the shot that I wanted.

“But it’s amazing.”

Distracted, I lowered my camera and looked at the rock that Owen was so excited about. It was just like any other rock you could expect to find along the shore. It was grey in color and smoothed down from the waves. A clump of seaweed was cluttered on one end but other than that it was very ordinary. As far as I could tell there was nothing amazing about it.

“It’s just a rock,” I rolled my eyes and looked back to where my bird had been perched. In my short distraction it had flow away, taking my perfect picture with it. “Look what you did,” I accused. “The bird’s gone now! And all because you wanted me to see a stupid rock.”

Owen looked down at his treasure. A scab on his elbow began to bleed. “But look at it Katie, it’s amazing!”

“I have looked at it and there’s nothing at all special about it. It’s nothing but a rock, there are thousands of them.” I bent down and picked of a stone. “Look, oh found another one! “

Owen didn’t flinch at my remark he just looked at me with a sense of confusion.  “You don’t see it do you Katie…”

 

Little did I know at the time that that day would become much more than a perfect photograph. It would forever remain a broken film strip in my mind, foggy at the edges and on constant repeat. A list of could haves, would haves, should haves would formulate in my head, forcing me to stay awake at night. A day that was so ordinary would become the most memorable day of my life, the marking point of where my life was changed forever.

They say that when something tragic happens it’s the little things that we remember. The musty smell of his hair. The way his arms tanned in the summer. The freckles that dotted his cheeks. The way his blue eyes caught the light, absorbing everything around him.

That was the day my perspective changed. There are no longer ordinary moments. It’s never just a rock and the reflection of the sun on the water doesn’t pass my eye like it used to.

Whenever I remember him the world becomes a beautiful place.

Author's Note

Enjoy!

Reviews

[Seracies]

I sure did enjoy! I loved the cynical mood of the character in the beginning; it really stayed true to her. The pace of it all was great, and there is this distinct vivid quality about your writing that makes it not only easy to see, but also believable.
The overall message (or at least what I believe it to be) was great. Humanity always so busy, always looking forward to the next best thing without really seeing anything at all. I love how the little boy was able to see beauty in that rock, to be amazed by it, and then confused that his sister couldn't see it to.
Good job!