The Mistake

I plopped on the couch listening to my iPod while my younger siblings were playing on the floor with their small toys. I had three younger siblings: a twelve year old, a ten year old, and a 6 year old. I was sixteen at the time . . . the oldest. I was such a jerk at the time. I was selfish, immature, and snobbish. What I did that day was horrible.

“Rita! Will you play with me?” my six year old sister asked.

“No! Leave me alone!” I yelled.

“But Rita please,” my 10 year old brother tried to help.

“Shut up you little brat!” I shouted. My youngest sister began to sobb and snorted each time a tear fell. My ten year old brother gaped at me and then went to my sister and tried to calm her down, holding her close to his warm chest. Her sobbing had relaxed to a quiet whimper. My twelve year old brother had stood up and began to glare at me.

“See what you did? You have to stop being so harsh!” he said in a protective voice. My emotions began to ball up and it became fury. Then, SMACK! My hand had hit his soft face. He held his hand to his cheek which now had a giant red mark.

I didn’t mean to do it. It was like I had an out of body experience. Like my spirit decided to step put for a second. And my mind’s first instinct was to do that. Then, he stood up stared at me for a few seconds, and finally slowly walked up to his room. We didnt talk to each other for the rest of the evening.

The next morning, I had totally forgotten about the damage I had done to my brother. I barged into his room in an excited manner, he just layer on his bed staring at me, not daring to speak. Now I am twenty-two, my brother is eighteen. We never speak to each other unless it is needed. It was a terrible mistake not to apologize to him. But would he even forgive me? I try to give as much as possible to my final two siblings. But it will never atone for what I did to my poor brother. And yet he has the whole world in the palm of his hands now, and I’m working a minimum-wage job at a department store. Take my mistake and learn from it. Love and care for your family and never leave them behind, or you might end up like me.