Week 4 Storytelling: Brothers

Minister: "We are gathered here today to pay our respects to our friend, our brother, Blake. Blake was a bright young man, taken from us too soon. He is survived by his brother, Adam."

Adam: "I never thought I would be attending my younger brother's funeral. He was so young. He had so much life to live."

Sam: "I know cousin, it's not right. Who would've thought the youngest of eight cousins would be the first to pass on."

Adam: "There were so many things I needed to say. The last time we talked I accused him of something terrible and told him I never wanted to see him again. How can I move on knowing the last thing I said to him was that I hated him and I never wanted to see him again."

Sam: "I'm sure he knew you didn't mean what you said. We all get angry and say things just to spite. Your brother knew how much you care about him."

Adam: "Normally I would agree Sam, but this time was different."

Sam: "What do you mean?"

Adam: "I accused him of something so awful. I can't believe it ever crossed my mind that he would do something like that, I know better."

Sam: "Well, what did you claim he did?"

Adam: "It all started when I came home from work one night and I found Jillian laying in the kitchen floor unconscious. Her clothes were ripped and torn, and she was covered in bruises and blood. It looked like a pack of wolves had trampled her. I immediately began shaking her, trying to wake her up. When she finally came to she told me that Blake, my baby brother, had raped her and beat her. She begged me not to say anything to him. She said he promised that if she spoke a word he would come back, and next time she wouldn't live to tell the tale. I was enraged! Of course I was going to say something, I was going to kill him for doing such a terrible thing to my wife. All I could see was red, and all I could think about were all of the ways I was going to abuse him. The more I pondered the events that had taken place, the more irate I became. I couldn't believe that my own flesh and blood, that I had so graciously accepted into my home would do something so atrocious. He was still living with us at the time because he was in between jobs and couldn't afford a place of his own. I waited until he got home and then I lit into him. We argued, threw punches and I even threatened to kill him. No matter what I said though, he wouldn't admit to what he had done. I finally told him I never wanted to see him again and if I did he'd wish I hadn't. It wasn't until a few years later that I caught Jillian with another man, and finally learned the web of lies she had spun. She admitted to fabricating the story about Blake raping and beating her. She said that she tempted him, but he rejected her. That angered her so she self inflicted her injuries and blamed them on Blake so that I would get rid of him."

Sam: "I cannot believe someone that claims to love you would do something so low."

Adam: "At that point my feelings towards her were numb. All I could think about was how terrible I was to my baby brother, and by now he would probably never forgive me. I tried looking for him, but he had fallen of the map. I never imagined the next time I would see him would be in a casket."

Sam: "I know it's hard, but you have to forgive yourself and trust that he knows you love him. We aren't promised tomorrow. That's why you have to live everyday like its your last. You have to say and do the things you want while you still can. Life's too short to sweat the small stuff, and it's all small stuff!"

(Brothers)

Author's Note: This week I read about Ancient Egypt. One of the stories I read was about two brothers. In the story the younger brother lives with his older brother and his older brother's wife. One day she comes on to him, but he rejects her. She then fabricates a story claiming that the younger brother raped and beat her. The older brother tries to kill the younger brother until her learns the truth. I switched up the ending and made it where the younger brother died before the older brother could make amends. I also made the story more modern, made the setting his funeral, and ended the story with a life lesson. I chose the picture not because it was apart of the original story, but because I thought it was a good representation of brotherly love. When I first started writing my story for this week, I didn't know where I was going to go with it. When I got to the end of my story I decided to give some advice that I think we all need to hear every now and then. Sometimes the best stories are the ones that you don't have a plan for, you can let your imagination write the story. 

Bibliography: This story is based on readings from Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907).