Henna And The Coloured Pencils by Amarjit Bhambra Delightful short story about a small girl who threw her coloured pencils away bu... [586 words]
The Need To Be Heard by Dawn Matley Maselli Women's Literature. [59 words]
The Faniciful Unicorn And Littlest Elf by Jessica And Lianne Smith This childrens story is about a unicorn named Sunshine and a elf named B... [582 words]
Thank You Child by Dawn Matley Maselli - [82 words]
Jan's Mysterious Adventure by Allison Joseph Jan fell into a stream. The strong current took her down the stream. She believes h... [20 words]
The Traffic Light Song by Rebecca L Eckerdt This is a little rhyme I made up so my children remember what the colors of the traffic ... [14 words]
Princess Nila by Gene Gennady The first chapter of my project that I've just started and mean to be developing day by day, step... [1,985 words]
Franklin And The Brussel Sprouts by W Rasheed Mzwritebyme This is a short, humorous story of a boy faced with the problem of having to ... [1,403 words]
A Dog Named, Baby by Erickson This is a story for children! it's about my dog! her name is "Baby" I called, her "Baby... [181 words]
Jessica And Harry In The Magic Jungle by John Roberts A short adventure story for children recounting the exploits of Jessica a... [2,257 words]
Camp Jonahs by Coralie R Watts This is a story about two girls and their experience's at camp. [4,348 words]
The Trial Of The Smarty-Pants Dwarf by Jack M Brown Gomper the dwarf, a clock salesman, is convicted of murder but is too smart... [1,384 words]
Cheese For Me' Crackers by Jack M Brown An old Elf called Teak awaits destruction from the moon that is gradually falling from ... [522 words]
The Melanie Files by Shelley J Alongi This file has now in September, 2004, been updated! Various musings from my encounters with m... [2,801 words]
Tickle Bugs by Elizabeth Burnett A little story to help put a smile on a childs face. [137 words]
Paladin's Beginning by Brian Ashburn A short story. [520 words]
Tommy Tumbleweed. by Nathaniel A Miller An unfinished work by Grandmother, annexed by permission and posted. A story that is the poin... [804 words]
Project Baby And Other Fourth Of July Adventures by Shelley J Alongi Standing in a muddy hole on any day is probably never romantic... [1,132 words]
The Present by Nur Syafiqah A Jaaffar A girl adventure in buying her mom present. [678 words]
Free Lane Ta Fly by Brion' O Neil Somthing to do as a child at play, inside, alone on a rainy day. [106 words]
Dr. Kitty's Adventures At The Movies by Tom River CHURRAH! The Trilogy is nigh! Buy the Special Edition DVD and complete it!... [464 words]
Bumbleville - The Mystery Of The Missing Masterpiece by Tomphil Detective Beech must solve his most difficult case yet. [1,423 words]
The Tooth Fairy by Narinder Bhambra The Tooth Fairy is for small children – I wrote it for my daughter and her cousins especially S... [5,110 words]
Spiral Suzy by Rose Raposo I am not finished yet but please comment on what you think of this story so far.. [923 words]
The Happy Happy Kids Who Liked To Play And Stuff by Tom River The moral is in my pants. SPELI! [346 words]
The Treasure by CarineC A young boy uncovers a treasure that at first seems worthless, but soon discovers there are treasu... [631 words]
Fairy Tale Country by KumarR An orphan girl has to make a choice : whether she will spend the rest of the life with her ... [2,117 words]
The Sapphire Box by David L Buchanan The Sapphire Box is about a young, beautiful, ambitious, teenaged girl named Pearla Pierson wh... [6,686 words]
Tak The Cat by Elboc Noj A little rhyme I wrote that had pictures to accompany it... in the end Peggy Pigtails had a huge sc... [47 words]
Coach B & The Soccer Misfits The Genie's Curse by Chauncey Brummell Coach B and the Soccer Misfits is about a teacher name Coby Brun... [1,707 words]
Dr. Kitty's Mexican Adventure by Tom River Dr. Kitty is a smart dog who likes eating chiclets. CHICLETA! Watch him bring abo... [255 words]
Memoirs From The Thanksgiving Season by Christina Aspears The title speaks for itself! [453 words]
Little White Bunny by Erickson Poetry for Parents and Children [94 words]
Cookies Are Not For Dragons by Jose R G Abue As a new english teacher in my country, I made so many different works for children... [215 words]
The Lead Pencil by Emma Dix A Lead Pencil's short life. [1,170 words]
My Cotton Angel by Ivonne León Vonchyta This is a little story for the little ones that like magic, fantasy and angels. Discover your a... [276 words]
Abby's Korean Christmas by Janice Porter Hayes Abby learns that just like Christmas, charity can be found all over the world. [809 words]
My Brother's Passing
The Visitors by Sandra Pirnat The story is about a shy new born puppy, secure in his farm world, who makes a choice that teaches... [1,199 words]
Jungle Jim by Pauline A White You tell me where Jungle Jim is now. [2,023 words]
Squat The Turtle by Pauline A White This is a children's story, about an over weight turtle who loves his family and friends very ... [4,520 words]
The Twin Princesses by Crystal S Hughes When princess Martina learns of the King and Queen's plan to make her twin sister Christian... [1,613 words]
The Last Visit by Jennifer Street A story about a young girl's last minutes with her dying piano teacher. [1,373 words]
Real Friendship by Shahid Kherro - [153 words]
Africa Rhymes by Nevine Boccara Three childrens poems with wn african theme. [614 words]
Dr.Kitty's Adventures In Politics by Tom River Dr.Kitty is a smart dog who talks to chairs. He likes to lick cars and skateb... [148 words]
Regina Saves Christmas by Anthony S Maulucci - [974 words]
The Blue Bird On A Snowy Day In The Light Of The Moon by H I hope you enjoy my children's story. :) [329 words]
The Teddy Bear War by Debbie Bailey Two teddy bears argue to see which one is the cutest. [641 words]
Footstools by K Whan Children's. [310 words]
Aj And His Lost Ball by Rose Molina - [245 words]
The Magic Wish Star by Kathy R Swartz A tale of magical encouragement, with family warmth intended for the 4 & 5 year old age gro... [262 words]
Duty And Dedication by Amit Gupta A children story. [499 words]
Charley’s Puppies by Kelley Rose This is a story about a special family camping trip with a surprise discovery! [2,115 words]
Natalia's Drugs by Rose Trimovski It's about the lesson of not to take any drugs because they are bad for you, and it talks about... [2,442 words]
Annabelle The Ant by John Thomas Barragan An 80 line poem/children story about a little curious ant and her over protective mother, and... [716 words]
Little Metal Riding Hood by Veronica Ewing A twisted tale of little red riding hood [696 words]
Princess Competition by Rose Trimovski It basically talks about a lesson to be learned in the story, "never think your better the... [2,628 words]
Dying Love by Rose Trimovski It talks about way back in 1949, about this girl named Martha, who thought she'd never be able to ha... [3,032 words]
Timmy Takes Care Of Mom by Diya A children's short story. [283 words]
Snowman, Pet Story by Anna Henderson Verses for children. [279 words]
Them Ugly Beardens by Pegi Handley The Bearden bunch lived in a three room shack on the outskirts of Pickle Gap, a fallin' dow... [1,481 words]
Fins, Feathers And Furs by H E Gurlitt A children's short story. [747 words]
Stran's Folicle Adventure by Shannon Pypper Leary A stran of hair takes off from a little girl's brush and flip flops through the busy ... [645 words]
Sundays by Shannon Pypper Leary Story of a scuba trip and on extremly mischevious excited little girl. [514 words]
Give Up The Grub by Cairo Malet A story about a turkey who doesn't want to be eaten on Christmas. [603 words]
Max's Adventure by Cairo Malet A story about a cat that is sold. He doesn't like his new home so he tries to find his way home... [639 words]
The Story by Jacquelyn Wilson This is a series of stories about little forest elves, Amber and her husband Alfred and the different... [2,084 words]
House Friends by Jacquelyn Wilson This is a series of stories about little forest elves, Amber and her husband Alfred and the diffe... [2,727 words]
To Be Or Not To Be by Debra Phillips Rhyming children's story for ages 4 - 9. Old Miss Peahop is terrified when she thinks a bee ... [768 words]
The Strange Mansion by Rose Trimovski The story is very long and it's a scary story. [1,329 words]
The Iron Kinger by Joseph Xavier Martin We weave a fable of myths when we are young that somtimes take on a greater ring of truth to th... [2,246 words]
The Maltese Marble by Joseph Xavier Martin The magic in a small boy's heart is the catalyst for creating a reality from pure conjectur... [2,652 words]
Judy and the Frogs by Judith Z Marrs Children's story. [3,778 words]
TAG by B Andrews A children's story. [1,700 words]
Princess DiDi
Spider's Wonderful Garden
Cricket
Galaxies Undiscovered
Go to page: 1 2 [3]
| |
TITLE (EDIT)
My Brother's Passing |
DESCRIPTION
A tragic tale of a young boy's death.
[1,219 words] |
TITLE KEYWORD
Teenage |
AUTHOR
Buchanan Street |
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
I'm only sixteen and have just done my standard grades. Writing is just a hobby at the moment but I'd really like to make a career of it. (I also write under the pseudonym Jennifer Street)
[August 2002] |
My Brother's Passing
Buchanan Street
Benjamin was so quiet. Such a quiet boy. That's why nobody guessed. Nobody even thought to guess until it was too late. I felt I was mostly to blame, after all he had been my brother, seperated in age by only a year.
I pick up a photograph of the two of us. The beautiful bright eyed children with hair the colour of corn and eyes the colour of treacle with tints of brandy - mind you, it's hard to tell that in the picture where they just look plain old brown.
We were so happy. Or were we? We certainly never complained. We didn't cry when mum had died when we were little. We didn't cry when dad ran off with another woman. We didn't resent him, we weren't angry. If we were, we never admitted it.
The homes...... there had been so many. But perhaps home is not the right word. A home implies crisp welcome mats and faded sofas in scarlet red or primary blue, photographs on sideboards of fairytale families with glimmering smiles. Our homes were never like that. They were places of fear and hatred. But Benjamin and I, we didn't let it get to us - or at least I thought we didn't.
But I thought finally it was all working out. The Branders were a nice family. Mrs Brander worked on the Parents Association, she made biscuits at Christmas time and bought us hot water bottles for the cold winter's night. Mr Brander played golf and worked in an office. He was a nice guy, he liked tv and beer, he didn't like abusing children. I thought he was fantastic.
Then there was Jill, a bit of a prima donna/drama queen but nothing we couldn't handle. She did ballet and had a pony called Roberta. She was a year to my senior, the same age as Benjamin, but we made friends. She took me to the stables and I fed Roberta apples and sugar cubes, enjoying the trust the pony had in me and the velvety, soft mouth nuzzling into my scarred hand.
I shared a room with Jill at the Branders, which I'm sure Jill hadn't been to keen on, at least at first. It was a nice room, the walls were lilac and blue, the beds sturdy and oak, the lamps gaudy and impressive. Benjamin had his own room. I thought he would have liked this but he didn't seem to. He missed my company, just as he missed it at school when he was eventually put up into the year above me, Jill's year. He was a good-looking guy but he was too quiet and shy to make friends, at the other school he relied on me to find our friends - which we shared as we shared everything, except death.
I know Jill made an effort with Benjamin, after she had got over the initial resentment at our coming, she invited Benjamin to parties and outings. He'd refuse whenever he could and if he did go sit in the corner in silence. Talking to someone who doesn't walk to talk back is like talking to a wall. Benjamin never talked back.
At then, he wouldn't even talk to the Branders. He had liked golf and had played it with Mr Brander. He had liked baking and had helped bake cakes with Mrs Brander. He would talk with each of them, though never at the same time, but then he wouldn't say anything. He'd just sit, his rose petal lips remained jammed shut.
He'd still talk to me, occasionally, in whispers. He never told me anything important, like how he was feeling, but then again we had never talked about that. I could see Benjamin was retreating into his shell but I didn't think it was serious, why didn't I think it could have been serious?
Then. One night. I needed the toilet, I didn't usually knock on the bathroom door because I felt it bad manners (even though Jill didn't think twice about banging her fists against it and hollering for whoever was in the bathroom to get out fast, except with a lot of swearing too). I really needed the toilet. I knocked gently on the door, hoping that Mr or Mrs Brander wasn't in.
"Go away." It was Benjamin, that was alright then. I could tell him to get out.
"Please Benji, I need the loo, let me in?"
"I'm sorry Amanda. I'm so sorry." I couldn't understand. Why was he apologising so profoundly over being in the bathroom?
"That's ok. I can hang on." I called.
"But I can't." A horrible icy dread crept its way from my throat down to my stomach.
"What do you mean?" I shouted, banging my hands against the smooth wood of the door.
"I love you Amanda. That's definitely important. I couldn't have lived this long without you."
I began to cry, suddenly aware that I very much did understand what he was saying. "MR AND MRS BRANDER! PLEASE COME QUICKLY!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I could hear three sets of footsteps as everyone ran to the bathroom door.
"Ben, open the door. Please Ben, open the door." Jill, the only person who ever called him Ben - because it was 'cooler' than Benjamin or Benji.
"Why won't he open the door?" Mr Brander said, bustling around trying to look important.
"He just won't." I said and weeped. Mrs Brander held me tightly to her chest.
"This is ridiculous. Benjamin you open this door right this instant. You have got this family in an awful state, your poor sister is wailing her beautiful eyes out."
No answer.
"James, go and get a screwdriver, to open the door." Mrs Brander hissed.
"Fine." Mr Brander disappeared downstairs, still refusing to accept the seriousness of the situation.
The door was unlocked and opened. I slid to my knees and felt my world go dark. My beloved brother Benjamin. He had died.
"I didn't realise he even liked this band." Jill said, holding up a Reel Big Fish disc.
"Neither did I." I said thoughtfully.
"I guess not a lot of people knew things about Benjamin." Jill said soothingly, putting a careful arm around my shoulder.
"They didn't." I agreed.
"You knew him best of all though? Didn't you Manda?"
"Yeah," I smiled through my tears, "I did."
"Hey what's this? It's like a notebook."
I picked up the green leather bound book.
"It's like a diary." I almost said, imitating her way of talking, but I didn't because I suddenly didn't want anyone to know about Benjamin. He had worked so hard to keep himself a mystery.
"Uh I'll keep that." I said instead.
"Whatever for?" Jill asked curiously.
"Just because it was Ben's. I think he'd want me to have it." And I think he would have, because that diary contained all the thoughts and feelings we'd never managed to talk about in real life.
"Want to go to the cinema? New Brad Pitt film's showing?" Jill asked in a not so rare as it had once been offer of friendship
"Uh nah, better not." I felt a little pang of disappointment. I did want to go but I felt guilty because I wanted to drool over Brad Pitt, and laugh and eat popcorn instead of mourning Benjamin.
"He'd have wanted you to." She said.
"Yeah. Maybe he would have." I thought for a second, "OK definitely would have wanted me to go. I'll get my coat."
|
READER'S REVIEWS (1)
DISCLAIMER: STORYMANIA DOES NOT PROVIDE AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR REVIEWS. ALL REVIEWS ARE PROVIDED BY NON-ASSOCIATED VISITORS, REGARDLESS OF THE WAY THEY CALL THEMSELVES.
"Magnificent! I would sugest some more thought shots. When somebody says something to your main character how does it make her feel? Another thing is just add in a little more senses. Smell, sight, touch, taste...but other wise I was very jelous of your diverse and sophisticated work for such smalll age! jk..but really i enjoyed it!" -- ellen, Austin, Texas 19, USA.
TO DELETE UNWANTED REVIEWS CLICK HERE! (SELECT "MANAGE TITLE REVIEWS" ACTION) |
|
Submit Your Review for My Brother's Passing
Required fields are marked with (*).
Your e-mail address will not be displayed.
|
|
Submit Your Rating for My Brother's Passing
|
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© 2002 Buchanan Street |
STORYMANIA PUBLICATION DATE
August 2002 |
NUMBER OF TIMES TITLE VIEWED
2269
|
|
