Sisters

The last time we played together was during a talent show during my senior year in high school. We wore matching pink kimonos and she received all the good compliments. We played a folk song about sisters, but nobody knew the words, only we did. After that, I went away to college, and I spent less and less time with her. Maybe it was my fault for not being there and when I graduated and came back, she didn't comb my hair like how she used to and her shamisen was under a pile of clothes in the closet. We never played a song since, at that time, she was fourteen and "too cool" to play with me.

            The trained stopped and I took a taxi to the hospital. She looked like a shriveled daikon since her body was thinner than when she was still living with Dad and me. After Dad slapped her that one time and she locked herself in her bedroom; she came out and left.  Dad told me that a tall man came and picked her up. She packed her clothes, makeup, shoes, and the money she saved from her part time job at Wendy's. She left behind the shamisen, Dad, and me. Now, here I am next to her and holding her hands while praying.

            It was late in the evening when I finally met the white ghost. He was a tall man just like my husband.

            "Hi, I'm Chris." He extended his right hand out at me while he held a bouquet of flowers in the other.

            "Hello, I'm Kaiya's sister, Keiko."

            "So, you're Keiko!" He set the flowers on the small night table next to her. We chatted and he told me about the car accident. He told me her career as a hairdresser and his as a freelance photographer. He then showed me their engagement rings by lifting her left hand for me to see.

            "I love Kaiya a lot." He brushed her hair to get the tangles out. "She talks about you sometimes and I could see that she misses you a lot."

            It wasn't long until she woke up with me beside her. The first thing I showed her was the Sakuma Drops and she slowly opened her mouth to eat one. I ate one, too, and the candy tasted sweeter than ever. She still couldn't talk due to the neck brace, but I could tell she wanted to apologize to Dad and me.  I didn't have to stuff her into a suitcase and drag her back home. After about a week, Chris drove us home.