That day, all my siblings were just short of a few inches from getting killed by me. Hyperbolically. Dyllan excluded. He was two years older than me, and he would bring me back gifts whenever he returned home from Japan. One day, I told Dyllan on a whim, “I want to go to Japan!” All he said was, “let’s go!” And that is how we ended up in Okinawa for the summer holidays.
“Charles!” I yelled out the name of my seven year old brother as he ran out to the verandah of the hotel room with his swim trunk not around his waist but around his forehead. His squeal almost tore my eardrums as I ran after him. We had planned a day out at the rocky beach of Kerema Island. I had made sure to pack my snorkel and mask as Okinawa was known for its clear subtropical water and coral reefs but I was worried that by the time we would be at the beach it would be evening.
“Lily, is the lunch basket ready?” My mom called out from the bathroom.
“Why don’t you ask Marc to do something?” I turned around to find Marc sitting on the couch, sticking a tongue out at me from behind his gaming console. I stuck my tongue out too, mocking him and ran after Charles.
“I,” said Luna timidly as she approached the coffee table “can help.”
“That would be great!” I thanked her although I was worried as the Tupperware box where she was going to fill the sandwiches in, looked almost twice her size. She climbed on the sofa and started filling the box.
I heard a scream and rushed back into the room. At the table, Luna held her hands stretched in front of her, crying ,”hot! Hot! Hot!” The white sofa was brown with coffee and my mom was shrieking at the top of her voice in front of the bathroom door. I grabbed a towel and rushed to help Luna. The sandwiches that my mom and I had made were all soaked too so we had to buy some takeout food later. I had given up on Charles as he started a game of hide-and-seek in which I was perpetually meant to be the thief. I was hoping my mom or Dyllan would take care of him but Dyllan wasn’t back yet. He had to be stuck now of all times, at the reception, sorting something with the receptionist along with dad. Marc was still being a nuisance on the couch.
“Gotcha! A win!” He announced jumping up, eyes still on his console.
“Really?!” Charles popped his head out from the verandah door and squealed as that was the only pitch his vocal cords managed to produce. He joined Marc on the couch and both were immersed in the game Marc was playing.
“Left! Look out!” Charles squealed.
I ran to the couch, blood rising to my head and grabbed both my brothers’ wrists almost lifting them off the ground. “You both aren’t coming! I’ll make sure Dyllan sees to that!”
Thirty minutes later, I sat sunken in the backseat of the car my dad rented for the trip, lips twitching, arms crossed, eyes set on Charles and Marc squeezed in the front seat, beside Dyllan who was driving. Their eyes were still glued on Marc’s console.
“Can’t you guys stop the game for once? We’re going to the beach, you know?” I asked but none of them replied.
Luna was still sniffing on mom’s lap. She was licking on an ice bar that Dyllan bought for her when he got the supplementary breakfast to make up for the sandwiches that she had spoiled.
“Dyllan, can you put some music on?” I asked hoping that that would help distract my thoughts.
“Lily, no. We at last have some quiet,” my mom said.
“Mom, it’s okay. Lily’s had a rough morning,” Dyllan said. I pursed my lips and tried to hold back my tears. He put on an album by Abba and in a few songs the lump in my throat had gone away and my head started to bob in beat. As I was completely taken away by the rhythm, I suddenly felt something cold on my thigh making me yelp. Luna had fallen asleep and the remaining ice cream had fallen off the stick she held.
“Luna!” I yelled, surprising the five year old awake. In shock, Luna began to cry again.
“Lily!” My mom scolded me and I began to cry too.
Once at the beach, both Luna and I had a softie in our hands. As we had expected, the beach was rocky and one could hop on the rocks to get to a spot that was slightly deeper to jump into the water. Mom and dad said they wouldn’t get into the water so they settled on one of the boulders. Dyllan was there to look after us. We threw our clothes off and went skipping over the rocks until we reached a big boulder we all could stand on. I looked at the horizon, feeling the sea breeze in my hair and for a moment felt as though I was in the Titanic movie. The next moment I was pushed into the water. I hadn’t even put on my mask over my eyes so I came up immediately to find out who the culprit was. I was sure it was either Marc, Charles or both. I came up to find Dyllan laughing at me. Marc and Charles joined in. My ears had begun to heat up again. That day, all my siblings were inches close from getting killed by me. Hyperbolically. Dyllan included.
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