Found in Paradise

He couldn’t believe it.

His hand reached out — as if to touch, to feel, to confirm — but drew back at the last moment, afraid.

What if it was all an illusion?

A sick, twisted joke on his homesick mind.

But for once, he dared himself to dream — to hope.

So that's what the young boy did, inching closer, heart soaring with every step.

The figure in front smiled endearingly at him, her blue eyes crinkling into crescents, and held out her arms. He fell into her warm embrace, hot tears prickling at his eyes, reminding him just how dearly he had missed her.

His dearest friend.

His closet confidant.

His older sister.

He sniffled and hugged her tighter, refusing to acknowledge the growing wet patch on her shoulder. She looked at his figure and laughed, a clear, lovely sound he hadn't heard in ages.

He wanted her to keep laughing.

"You've gotten so much bigger, Hush." She mused, a nostalgic tone clouding her remark. 

The boy looked at her closer and discovered that, on the contrary, his older sister looked like she hadn't aged a day. Her pale face was still smooth and lean, her expressive blue eyes clear, golden locks healthy and glowing – in fact, she looked healthier than the last they met. 

The most striking detail, however, was that she used to be two heads taller than the boy, but now was only half a head taller.

He hadn’t noticed it before, but he reckoned he really had grown a lot. 

"I've missed you so much." The little boy mumbled in response, throat sore and raw. "So much."

There was so much — so much they needed to say, to ask, to tell, he had dreamt of this moment for years and was bursting with quips and questions and stories to tell her — 

There was so much she had missed out on in his life, and so much he had missed in hers that the very thought of it was monumental and —

"Hush," She called his name. "How have you been today?"

It was so random.

But yet, so normal. 

A very lighthearted question. 

Over a million responses overwhelmed his head.

What was he to say? 

The universal "fine"? But he wasn't fine. 

Was he to brush it off?

Was he to tell her all the woes he had gone through, all that he had fought and lost and wept through the time they had been separated? 

In due time, he would. But, he decided – Not now. 

"Well... Better," He settled on. "Much better." 

She grinned, her iconic smile lighting up and eyes sparkling. 

"That's wonderful." She gushed.

And he had to agree. Today was surely wonderful. 

___

"Lori."

“Yes, Hush?” 

"Lori, Lori, Lori." He repeated, tasting the word on his tongue again.

It felt right. 

He had forgotten how much he’d missed that gentle voice calling his name. 

He seemed to have missed a lot of things.

He missed the warmth of sunshine on his back, the earthy smell of his very own garden back home.

He missed the sleepovers he had in the attic, ghost stories told under a messily sewn sheet, illuminated with a single flashlight.

He missed going to class and joining in on the incessant chatter of his classmates.

He missed playing with the rust-colored cat down the street as he walked home.

He missed the Sundae Sunday discounts the ice cream man gave them in the ice cream shop.

He missed bickering and fighting with his friends. 

But most of all, he missed his older sister.

But now, here she was.

Right in front of him, happy and healthy and whole.

He decided, that if it was a dream, he didn’t ever want to wake up. 

___

He looked so much older.

It was almost unnerving to see.

Her little brother's face filled out, baby fat disappearing with age, looking more mature.

He was skinnier than she would have liked, tall and lean.

But no matter how much he had grown on the outside, on the inside, he was still the same awkward youth she had practically raised, and just knew he was biting his tongue in his haste to begin talking.

So was she.

Yet, both siblings did not say a word, just examined each other, basking in the comfortable silence.

It was hard to know where to start, she supposed.

They hadn't talked, much less seen a glimpse of one another in years, so it was complicated to begin. 

They both had new lives, new beginnings, new ends. 

Both of them had gone through so much, gotten so little. 

Where to begin? 

She contemplated for a while. 

She wanted to know everything that happened, from the first moment they got separated all the way until now and was never one to wait.

So she broke the calm first. 

"What did you do? When we got separated?" 

It was the question that had been plaguing her mind for the whole time, and now she would finally get an answer.

Finally. 

___

It trickled down to insignificant things.

"What did you eat this morning?"

"I haven't, yet."

"Unacceptable!"

"Have you made friends?"

"Of course, many more than you could," The sister answered, sticking her tongue out.

"Nuh-uh. I bet... I bet I could make twice the friends you could!"

"I'd like to see you try."

"Do you still like pancakes?"

"Of course, who do you think I am?"

"Well, there's this stunning pancake place that makes the most delicious chocolate chip pancakes, we'll have to go there sometimes."

Such trivial matters.

They both knew that everything wasn't perfect, but it was okay. 

He was okay. 

She was okay.

 They would be okay.

And everything was alright, again. 

___

"Wait," The boy blurted, originally too high in his ecstasy to notice his surroundings, "where is this place?"

"I thought you'd never ask," She answered, eyes ablaze.

She let go of his hand and stepped forward.

There, stood a towering silver structure, high as a building and slightly intimidating.

"I must've been blind as to not have noticed," the wonderstruck boy mumbled to himself.

She lightly knocked twice on the bars, and to his astoundment, they creaked open, revealing a place he hadn't seen in so long.

A place that looked like home.

"Welcome, to paradise."

_____

Hi there, I'm A. Thanks for reading my story!

This is my first Reedsy prompt, and all I can say is woo~

I'm just so glad I got it out, no matter how cringé or boring it may be. I have an issue with procrastination, and it's a miracle I even have 1k for this story.

Disclaimer: I have no idea how to tag. I tried my best. :(