Without Words

By Meredith C. Olson

Rye NY

Dreary and dark, a night to watch sad movies.

Headlights from the road spill in from the French windows, bathing the room in an eerie

eleven o’clock glow.

Two sisters sit.

The eldest taps her little sister’s toes as they continuously swing

Back

Forth

Back

Forth

Heads lean in against each other, comforting and quietly loving.

Identical jackets, different colors.

It describes their lives.

There is comfort in the hand, resting assuredly on a sobbing shoulder.

Legs tangled with carelessness, like the laundry she throws on the floor.

Oldest stares at the screen with caution, ready to cling to the little one if it gets too

upsetting.

She sees the world through Coke bottle glasses

She sees the sadness in the film

Of her sister’s fear of

What if?

What if this happened to me, this sadness, and I never knew it was coming.

The littlest.

She thinks, what would I do without her?

The oldest holds back her tears and clutches her only sister closer to her.

The night, dreary and dark, perfect to watch sad movies, witnesses the bond of two

sisters.

Without words