Counting Down...

Two more weeks until the actual flight... The wind has not started blowing yet...

I flapped my wings and ruffled the feathers on my back. My heart is restless, waiting impatiently for the time to come.

I want to fly, I want to fly! To feel the air in my face, the wind beneath my wings. The thrill joy of being one step closer to the sky!

Just two more weeks...

Prologue

Something good is going to happen. I can feel it. Everybody looks so happy that I couldn't help smiling myself. Somebody dear is coming back for dinner. Somebody I missed a lot.

The door opened, and a tall handsome figure walked in. I sqealed in delight and ran into his arms. My eldest brother has been away for a long time, and now he is back. Finally. Matt is everybody's favourite. He is cool, caring and thoughtful. Nothing is the same without him around, it's so great to have him back. Mom cried tears of joy while she hugged him. Dad clapped him on the back. Another brother of mine, Aaron just grinned at him, but you can see that he is happy, very happy.

Aaron is 3 years younger than Matt, and they have been very good friends ever since. After all, they have been through a lot before I was born. Although I know they loved me and looked after me well, but I still envy the way they share something common. The two boys would compare their projects and discoveries. Sometimes I feel a bit left out. Maybe it is because I am a girl. Or maybe they have already formed a bond in the 6 years they shared without me.

During dinner, we all talked a lot. Even Dad joked and laughed while dinner lasted despite what he taught us about not talking with our mouths full.

"Is there something on my face?" Matt tapped me lightly on the head when he caught me staring at him. I just grinned. He left when I was still very young. I haven't seen him for such a long time that I feel like just looking at him and imprint his image into my memory again. I think I seem to have forgotten what he looked like. To me, he is a brother that I hardly knew, because we hardly spent time together. But we loved each other a lot. I wish he is back for good now, so that I could get to know him better.

After dinner, Matt said that he was going out to meet his friends. I didn't know what came over me, but I began to cry. I suddenly have this feeling that if he leaves now, I will never see him again. Everybody was telling me that he will come back but I know that I will never see him again. Matt patted me on the head and smiled, "I promise I'll be back, ok?" Then he walked out of the door.

The next thing I knew, I was sitting up in my bed with tears streaming down my cheeks. I cried even harder, because I really won't see Matt again. He passed away when I was very young. The brother I hardly knew, but whom I missed so much. In the dream, everything happened so naturally, that I could really believe that it was true. But a dream was just a dream.

I washed away the tears and looked at myself in the mirror. Dad sometimes say I looked like Matt. Really? I didn't know. I didn't remember what he looked like, just scenes of the little time we had together. Things that still touches me when I think of it. I wish... I had more time to know my brother more. No matter where or what he is now, I hope he is happy.