Chapter One: She Dreamed

“Hi baby,” I heard my mom say to my little sister, Tabitha.

“H….hi…..mom,” Tabitha choked out. For some reason she had been crying all day. Was it because she had taken too much medicine for her pain from Luekemia? Was I because she was dying as I thought of this? Nobody knew.

I could make out mom saying something, and I strained my ears trying to get her exact words.

“Oh, sweetheart,” you could hear mom sit down on the bed, “what’s wrong?” Mom asked. Nobody had asked Tabitha yet. Maybe she would tell mom.

“Las--last...ni--night...I….I drea�"dreamed…I dreamed th�"that I co�"could ru�"run and play like a�"all the oth�"other ki�"kids,” Tabitha cried.

Mom didn’t reply. She just kissed Tabitha and gave a sad, “Goodnight, honey.” But Tabitha’s words where in my head still.

She dreamed that she could run and play like all the other kids…

She dreamed that she could run and play like all the other kids…

She dreamed that she could run and play like all the other kids…

***
The next day was pretty normal, everybody tried to be as supporting as possible, but you could we where all thinking the same thing.

"Great pancakes, mom," My twin brother, Alex offered.

"Yeah, these pancakes are reaal good!" Dad added in.

"I wish we had them every morning," I put in with emotion.

"Are you going to eat, Tibby?" Mom asked, looking over to Tabitha.

"I'm not hungry, mom," Tibby replied with a smile that you could tell took too much effort.

I shoved my seat back.

"Where are you going?" Mom asked.

"Where are you going?" Alex echoed.

I shook my head. "I'm not going to sit around here and watch this, you know that, right?! I'm not going to sit here and watch her die! I'm not going to! I'm going to try! Not going to sit here like I'm too lazy to TRY!" I screamed.

Mom had tears slowly streaming down her cheeks. Dad had a weird look on his face. He wasn't mad. He wasn't happy. He wasn't sad. He was almost emotionless. Alex had a sort of glare on his face, telling me I went to far
this time. When I looked at Tibby she gave me a motherly soft smile, telling me I did nothing but what I felt was right and nothing was wrong with that. I didn't know what to say after that. I didn't know who to believe. My 14-year old
twin brother, Alex or 12-year-old Tibby?

Tibby slowly got up and made her way across to my side of the table. She faced me and in what seemed like lower than a whisper said, "I love you." She held up her arms and I, carefully took her in a hug.

"I'm sorry," I told her so soft only she could hear it.

"You didn't do anything," She replied.

"You know I love you, right?" I asked her.

I could feel her nod.