This is a story about a brother and sister, told from the perspective of a little girl named Auburn. Enjoy :) (Green flag for music) .・✧ ☽ ✧ :-゜・.・゜-: ✧ ☾・☽ ✧ :-゜・.・゜-: ✧ ☾ ✧・. I never knew my mom, she passed when I was an infant, and my dad was always either working or out with friends and almost never spoke to me. Most of the time it was just me and my older brother Paul, who technically raised me. He was only 5 years older than me, but he was really all I had, and an 8 year old girl couldn’t raise herself. He was my best friend and the only person I could talk to when I was sad or lonely. He was fun, kind, and protective and would always stand up for me when mean kids bullied me. Some nights, or most nights, when my dad was out late, Paul would tuck me in my bed, tell me a bedtime story about dragons and princesses, and kiss me on the forehead goodnight. He was all I could ever want, and he was all I ever needed. It was the middle of the night one night and I was sleeping peacefully. My dad was out at party with his "friends" and was gone since morning. Paul walked inside my bedroom and slowly shook me and whispered in my ear, “Auburn, wake up.” I woke up and sleepily looked up at him, “yeah?” I rubbed my eyes and yawned. “Shhh, follow me, I want to show you something…” I grabbed his arm and followed him outside. “What are we doing?” I asked, with another yawn, looking up at Paul innocently. He looked back down at me and smiled then looked up, “Burnie, look deep into the sky, what do you see?” I looked up, at the beautiful Autumn night sky, and at all the stars. “I- I see the stars, and- and the constellations!” I said excitedly as if the stars were waking me and warming me up in the cold night. “Okay, what is that star right there?” Paul pointed at a bright star in the center of the sky. I loved learning about Astronomy, the study of the stars, so this question was not too challenging to answer. “It’s- It’s Polaris, the North Star. It points North, and people use it as a compass when they are lost…” I answered confidently. Paul nodded his head, “Good job! Yes, Polaris has guided sailors and travelers for centuries. It always stays in the same spot in the sky and always points North, providing a natural, constant compass” he said in his grown-up voice. I loved when he used that voice, it made him sound like a teacher, which was what he always wanted to be when he was older, it also made him sound very wise. “You took me out to see the North Star? Are we going on an adventure!?” I asked excitedly looking up at him, my auburn pigtails dancing in the wind. Paul smiled and squeezed my hand, “Well, life is an adventure and sometimes the sky will get blurry and the stars will be hard to see. But when that happens, remember that I will be your big brother always, and I will be your North Star when you are lost and need me to be there for you. I’m your brother and you are my sister, we will always be, even if we are far apart. Life is full of thorns and thistles but also full of beauty and love, like a rose! Every person is like a rose, full of beauty and purpose as well as full of pain. Then there are some people placed into our lives to guide us.” He finished and I look up at him, curious and inspired, but I was young so I didn’t get some of it. “Woah!! You are so good at- at speaking!” I exclaimed rapidly when he was finished. Paul smiled and laughed softly, just now realizing he was using too many metaphors and similes. “But still, thank you so much for being my big brother. We are together forever, right?” I asked innocently, leaning my head on my brother’s shoulder and squeezing his arm tightly. He nodded and smiled down at me sweetly, “Yes, no matter where life may take us, nothing or nobody can separate us.” (3 years later) A few years passed, and Paul was now 16. My dad started to focus on him more, trying to make him become a man, like him, if you can even call my father a man. Although my dad was more focused on my brother, he didn’t really show any sign of love to either of us, he was just proud to have a son and treated me like I was some kind of burden. But even when my father wasn’t, Paul was still there for me to support in everything I did. One fresh Autumn morning, exactly 3 years from that night when Paul vowed that he would always be by my side, my dad unexpectedly asked me to come with him on a walk. I chose to go with him, it was the first time we talked for what felt like forever. Paul also went with us. We had a conversation, me and my dad, but not a happy family conversation. No, we had a cold conversation about his job and adult things I didn’t understand or care much about. The beautiful fiery leaves fell from the tall trees that surrounded the road we walked down as the morning wore on. My auburn hair flowed in the cold breeze, as if giving a warning. Suddenly we took a turn down an old, unfriendly looking road. (Continued...)
(...Continued) Then we saw a big building with a faded sign that looked like a large house. Paul’s eyes widened when he realized where our father was taking us, and he held onto me as if for dear life. “Daddy…” I started right as we walked up the steps to the building. My dad pounded on the door and an old woman opened it up. She looked kind but stern and strict. Suddenly my father grabbed hold of my arm and violently pushed me into the arms of the woman, I screamed and tried to escape. “What are you doing!?” I cried as the old woman held me up and comforted me. She looked at me with kind yet sad eyes, and by the look in her eyes I finally realized where I was... an orphanage. “No! Please don’t let him do this to me!” I wept, trying to run off, but I couldn’t go anywhere. Paul was filled with rage as he tried to reach me, trying to stop this from happening, but my father grabbed him and stopped him. “Let me go!” Paul snapped at him trying to fight him off, “You can’t leave her! And you can’t stop me from fighting for her!” I watched as my father became the villain, “I am your father! You have no right to talk to me like that, boy! You listen to ME!” But Paul wouldn’t stop, he wouldn’t stop trying to reach me as my father forced him away. “Paul!” I cried trying to struggle out of the strong hold of the woman, but she wouldn’t let me go back to my father, she new he was dangerous, “Please, don’t leave me!” I could see tears in his eyes as Paul and my father faded from sight. I wept and wept and wept, hugging the stranger who held me close to her chest. “Shh… It’s okay, you will be alright,” she said kindly to me as she walked me inside the orphanage. I sniffled and clung to her as if she were my only hope, but I wanted to argue so bad. No, things aren’t okay! My North Star is being dragged away to live a life with a man with no heart. The sky has faded and I am lost because my North star has disappeared. My father crushed the last rose in my garden, and now all the beauty in the world seemed to disappear. Even Autumn seemed to lose it’s beauty, it no longer seemed beautiful and magical but cold and unfriendly. But my brother made a promise, and I knew he wouldn’t stop fighting to reach me, and I won’t stop fighting to reach him. (4 years later) Life went on, and I was now a teenager. I’ve been at the orphanage for 4 years at this point. I’ve done fine. Kids were nice to me, at least, some were. But this time Paul wasn’t there to stand up against the mean kids. What reason do they have to bully me? The fact that I have natural red hair and freckles? The fact that I spend all my time daydreaming and reading fairy tales? The fact that I would never get involved in games of mischief? I don’t really know anymore, but I know that they didn’t have the right to do so. If only I had my brother back at the time, he would have known what to do, he would know how to get past these thorny bushes. It was the middle of the day and I sat in the hall, reading a book. It was really good, but not like the stories Paul used to tell me. I tried to repeat them in my head, but it just didn’t sound right. I sighed, this place just didn’t feel like home, and I felt lost. Would Paul ever come back for me? Suddenly I heard Miss Peyton, the owner of the orphanage and the woman I met at the door on the first day I came here, talking to a man downstairs. At first I didn’t care but then I thought I recognized his voice. “Good afternoon ma'am” the man said, “I am looking for a girl, I am hoping she is still here.” I sat still for a few minutes, trying to think who’s voice it was. I stood up and walked to the stairs where I could here him better. “Who is it you are looking for?” Miss Peyton asked, then there was silence for a few moments. “Her- her name is Auburn…” the man spoke up again. Then it came to me, I knew who this man was. I gasped and started running down the steps and over to the entrance. And there he stood, Paul, my brother that I have been longing for since the day I came to this dreadful orphanage. It was him, he came back for me, just like he promised. “Paul!” I cried when I saw his face. I ran up and squeezed him the tightest I’ve ever hugged anybody, “You came back!” He hugged me back, not wanting to let me go again. “Burnie! Of course I did, I promised that nothing could separate us. A promise is a promise!” Tears strolled down my cheek. I had so many questions to ask him, but I didn’t have the time. After that day I left the orphanage. Paul had adopted me and he was mine again because, like he promised, nothing or nobody could ever separate us. My garden of roses re-grew and Autumn finally felt beautiful again. Paul and I, we were each other’s garden of Auburn roses. Each other’s North Star. Brother and sister forever, no matter what. ✧ ☽ ✧ Credits: @VintageBoots for the Autumn Writing contest Paul is inspired by my dream older brother :’) Thumbnail made on Canva Song: Minnie (instrumental) by @Journiie
