Josh's Story

A Story by Stac

When a child is hurt tthe only way is to seek help in others

There was a bang and Hannah looked up from her work she was doing. She was curious. What just happened?

“OUCH!” came two voices in unison.

Hannah realized these were the voices of her 2 brothers, Rhys, the eldest and Josh, the baby of the family. Josh came into the living room with a cut on his leg.

“WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE?” Hannah shouted just as Rhys appeared behind Josh.

“Never slide down the stairs on a, mattress with broken springs” Rhys replied with a smile.

“Honestly, Josh you’re 18 and Rhys you’re 22, but you both act like kids.

Hanna got so annoyed she stormed upstairs and slammed her bedroom door shut.

“Wanna do that again?” Rhys asked Josh.

“What? Slide down the stairs on a bad mattress? Yeah why not, could be fun.” Josh said with a grin going from ear to ear.

Upstairs Hannah heard the door open. It was her Mum and Dad.

“WHAT HAVE YOU BOYS BEING DOING?” She heard her Dad, Neville, shout.

“We…. Well…. We….” Josh tried to say something but couldn’t think of the words.

“They’ve been sliding down the stairs on a mattress with broken springs.” Hannah had appeared behind Josh.

“You boys will get hurt,” their Mum, Suzanne, said before walking into the kitchen.

“Sounds fun, I want a go” Neville said.

“NO!” Exclaimed Suzanne.

“I thought she couldn’t hear us from in there.” Josh said.

“I’m not deaf,” Suzanne said while making dinner.

“We’ll see about that,” Rhys said with a smile on his face.

“Josh.” Hannah muttered.

“Coming” Josh, said as he rolled his eyes. He knew why Hannah wanted him.

“You ok?” Hannah asked as Josh walked through her bedroom door.

“I…I…I haven’t been feeling well for weeks. I think its back Han.” Josh said with tears in his eyes.

“What’s back?” Hannah was confused.

Josh took a deep breath before saying the answer.

“The leukemia”

“Stay here and sleep…. Please Josh.” As Hanna said that Josh could see the fear in her eyes.

Josh laid on her bed and quickly fell asleep. She went downstairs and found Rhys lying on the sofa with a plaster on his arm. Roughly an hour later Suzanne shouted them for dinner only that time Rhys was missing his best buddy.

“Hannah, go get Josh, I need someone to throw peas at,” Rhys mumbled.

Hannah went upstairs and opened her bedroom door. She saw her baby brother asleep, cuddling her favorite bear. She went up to him and gave him a kiss on his forehead before messing up his hair. She went back downstairs thinking about what Josh had told her earlier.

“Where’s my pea throwing buddy?” Rhys said quickly.

“Josh is asleep; he hasn’t been very well for a while.” Hannah said.

“More dinner for me then.” Rhys muttered.

Suddenly there was a bang. Hannah and Rhys ran upstairs and saw that Josh was on the floor.

“Hey, you ok?” Rhys said with a big grin.

“Ouch! I think I figured out that Hannahs' bed isn't near a wall.” Josh said shooting an evil glance at Rhys while rubbing his head.

The following day was a typical summer, raining, and downstairs there was a lot of shouting. Rhys, Hannah and Josh were listening from the stairs. They looked at each other and nodded.

“MUM, DAD!” Rhys shouted.

“WHAT!” Neville Shouted back.

“Me, Josh and Hannah are going to give you some space.” Rhys said as they walked into their rooms.

Their Dad didn’t care, so when Rhys and Hanna packed their stuff, Neville went around hitting Josh. Upstairs Rhys heard a bang and went downstairs.

“Where’s Josh?

“He ran off.” Suzanne was sat on the chair crying.

At that moment Hannah knew what had happened.

Rhys ran to the door, opened it and went outside. Hannah appeared behind him. They searched the street.

“JOSH!” They both shouted.

They couldn’t see him anywhere. Hannah started crying and Rhys told her it would be ok, before they went inside.

“What have you done to Josh?” Rhys muttered while he wondered the room.

“Nothing,” Neville said.

“Well you had to have done something to make him run off. And now he could be anywhere,” Hannah started crying again.

That evening there was a knock at the door. Hannah went to it. She opened the door but no one was there. She looked down and saw an envelope on the doorstep with her name on it. She looked around but there was no one around.

“Hannah, you ok?” Rhys said from the living room.

“Yeah” Hannah said taking another look outside.

“You ok?” Rhys said.

“Someone left this” Hannah said as she showed it Rhys before she sat down.

“Open it.” Rhys said excitedly.

Hannah opened the envelope and read the letter that said:

To Hannah,

I’m safe, don’t worry. I’m at Justin’s; he took me to the hospital after he saw me in the park. I told him what Dad. Dad broke 2 of my ribs. Hannah, I’m scared, and I don’t know what to do. Please don’t let Dad see the letter. I miss you and Rhys, but I’m safe.

See Ya Soon

JOSHY

Hannah read it twice. She showed Rhys and they ran to Justin’s house. Once they were there, Hannah saw Josh and gave him a big hug. Rhys gasped when he saw the state Josh was in. His face was swollen and Rhys and Hannah broke down. How could they let something like that happen to their baby brother?