My brother is gone.

He was a giant on his knees filled with rage and a silent scream

Yelling “Sofia, you might be smart but do not underestimate me!”

We both knew that his presence that day was not invited

But he did not know that when he left me I was very frightened.

In a mall full of excited, pleasant, and welcoming faces pushing through the crowd with bags from Forever 21, Footlocker, and the Children’s Places...

I could not find the boy who walked out of my life as easy as walking through a mall exit door.

My brother is gone.

And I wished that he was never born. No! Never gone!

But the tension was blinding and too thick for unwinding.

But mostly blinding like black light and not colorful rays

as pink as the tongue reciting lines from his favorite anime shows

or as red as the scars made from innocent games

or as white as the teeth smiling on every sunny day.

I missed it all because my brother is gone.

Anyway, he found a bus to take him home.

I know! A ten year old on a bus alone is not the norm.

Well, it does not matter because he is found!