Normal people would be waking up because of the gentle rays peaking through the curtains, accompanied by the early birds’ singing. But normalcy like that is something far beyond my reach. The deafening ringing of my digital clock broke my peaceful slumber. I tried to drown it out by burying my face under my pillow but the damn clock continued to ring.

“All right, I’m up!” I shouted at no one in particular and the loud ringing of my clock echoed through my small apartment and bounced off the walls. Irritated at the nonstop noise that’s beginning to bring a headache; I flung my pillow at the clock, and finally silenced the loud contraption as it lays there on the ground, batteries out. I sat up on my bed, enjoying the silence, and padded my way to the bathroom, thinking when I’ll be able to wake up like those people in movies – all smiles, sunshine so bright and cheery, and their apartment neat and clean…

“Who wakes up like that in reality? I dare them to wake up smiling through an annoying digital clock ringing! My life desperately needs a new author; it’s turning into a very crappy movie!” I vented to my bathroom walls as I my shower and froze as the cold water touched my skin.  People usually shower with hot water; then again, I’m not someone who you can call normal so I never did that. Hot water just makes me sleepier and seeing how much I hate mornings with a passion, sleeping while standing in the shower isn’t going to help me avoid tardiness. Moments after being a human ice, I could finally greet the next person I meet a hearty ‘good morning’.

“At least without the urge of screaming it on his face that is.” I finished my shower and hopped into my chosen outfit for today, school uniform without a tie. “God knows where that tie ran off to.” I defended through my innocent mirror. I slipped on my shoes and exited my apartment, wondering how out of the ordinary my day could get.

“Kai!” a familiar voice called. I know people would be happy hearing someone familiar calling their names, but then again my life isn’t normal, plus that voice brings everything but happiness early in the morning. I turned around just as my left eye started to twitch.

“Can I copy your work, please?” he said and I fought the urge to bang my head on the wall. Praying that my sanity would stay intact, and not wanting to argue about the justice of having my work copied, I pulled my sketch book from my bag with a sigh and gave it to him.

“You’re the best Kai!”

“Just make sure you revise your work, you dork!” I said and smacked his shoulder with a vengeance. And that’s about as far as a bully I could get. Having a sickly younger brother made me see people as fragile as him. A reddening slap mark on the skin scares the hell out of me. Making sure that every part of him was still in place, we made our way into class. We started talking about a bunch of nonsense with my occasional laughing like a retard at his antics.

“Where did I even find this moron of a friend?” I silently asked the heavens. Maybe he was lucky that he found me. And I didn’t know if I should cry or laugh at my fate of being found.

“So today is just another normal day, huh?” I told the air as I realized that today is just as far as normal as my life offers it to be. I succumbed into my normal world as I started to sketch. Usually, characters that can be considered aliens are what appear on my sketch book. But today, a very familiar face made its way into my sketch book’s empty pages. I frowned, it’s not everyday that I get to half consciously sketch my brother. Something suddenly felt off. I began to worry, and the almost sad and solemn expression staring back at me from the pages did nothing to ease my worries.

“Mr. Kim, would you mind answering your phone already? It’s disturbing the class” a female voice snapped my attention back into reality as the ringing from my phone gradually became audible. I stood up and excused myself, answering the call as I closed the classroom door behind me.

Moments later, I was still too shocked to move a muscle. The beeping from the ended call mocked me as it continues to linger on my ears. For the first time, I felt like a jerk for wishing my life to turn out to be something more exciting… to something new finally happen. The news I received are not something I wanted to happen to stir up my life. I left school early, the teachers already knowing the news my mom just told me. I booked a flight back home, leaving first thing tomorrow. I fought the urge to sketch – the only stress reliever I know – scared to end up sketching that familiar face that I love so much.

I sat on the plane the next day, the sky looking as grey as my heart feels. I reached for my wallet to double check my plane ticket and a picture caught my attention. Two identical faces smiled at me, features that could pass for twins despite being two years apart. The shorter man just a tad paler than the taller. A tear fell, followed by the others. I closed my wallet.

Normally, coming home would make me feel excited and ecstatic.

Today, I begged to end up dreaming and wake up.

This reality is unacceptable.

He’s too young.

We weren’t prepared to lose him… I wasn’t ready for him to leave.