"Josie"

Josie will do anything to prove himself to his older brother...even if it costs him his life.

“Josie”

By John Smith

 

1

            I remember the evening like it was yesterday. The evening my little brother Josie was taken away from me. It was in the summer of 1973 when I was just entering the fifth grade at 10 years old. Josie was five years younger than I was. I was an average ten-year-old boy. I loved to eat pizza and play video games, but I really hated hanging out with my little brother.

I loved to play dodge ball back in grade school. We would play all the time with my annoying little brother on the opposing team. We would always aim for his head and laugh as he hit the floor.

I know I was wrong to do what I did, and the truth is I will regret it for the rest of my life.

 

2

            It was on a warm August after noon in 1973. It just finished pouring down the rain and the sun came back out making it hot as hell. I walked into the kitchen wearing my long yellow rain coat and yellow rain boots, or “fireman boots” as Josie called them.

            “Where do you think you are going?” My mom asked me

            “Outside to play.” I said with excitement. My mom looked down at Josie and ran her hand through his dirty blonde hair.

            “Okay, but if you go, you have to take your little brother.” She said nodding her head at Josie. My jaw dropped open.

            “Mom, do I have to?” I asked complaining and stomping my feet on the ground. Josie looked at me with this annoying smile.

            ‘Yes you have to.” My mom told me in a mocking tone. I took in a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. My mom knelt down next to Josie.

            “Josie, do you want to go out and play with your big brother?” Mom asked him. Josie nodded and excitedly ran over to the coat hanger and grabbed his matching yellow rain coat and put on his yellow “fireman boots.”

            “But mom…” I began to complain.

            “No buts Billy. You should be nicer to your little brother. He looks up to you and thanks of you as a role model. You are lucky to have a brother.” My mom raved. I didn’t realize at the time how right she was. I sighed heavily and walked over to the front door. I opened it and motioned for Josie to go out the door. He smiled and skipped out the door onto the front porch. I looked back at my mom and rolled my eyes while sighing again.

 

3

            We both jumped off of the front porch onto the sidewalk in front of it. I began to walk at a faster pace in hopes that Josie wouldn’t be able to keep up.

            “Wait Bill! Wait!” I heard him cry out. I stopped and waited for him to catch back up. After catching back up with me we continued down the sidewalk. The entire time I was walking down the street, I couldn’t help but feel anger. We had that typical kind of relationship one would have with a younger brother or even a younger sister. I loved him…but I hated him at the same time. I never understood why he always wanted to hang around me. Even more so now considering how awful I treated him. After about a mile walk down the sidewalk we came to a red dirt road trail leading through the forest. The forest was dark and had really tall trees. Our friends liked to call it The Lost Forest because whoever went in there after dark would get lost.

            “Hey Josie, do you want to go down this trail?” I asked him. He looked into the dark woods. I could see the fear in his eyes. To my surprise, he swallowed bravely nodded his head. My mouth dropped open, as I didn’t know what to say. I expected him to say no and was dead wrong. At the time, I didn’t understand why he said yes. I kicked my self for years wondering this question. Now that I’m older I realize why he said yes to do something he was clearly afraid of.

            All Josie wanted to do was hang out with his big brother. I was to stupid to realize how precious that was.

            The entire time I knew this would go two ways. Number 1, I thought he would say no and I could make fun of him over it. Or the second option was for him to say yes and I scare the daylights out of him in the woods. Unfortunately that was the one I decided to do.

            I gave him a half smile and motioned for him to come on. He bravely followed me into the dark woods. The tall trees covered the already gloomy sky making in extremely dark. I began to walk faster and faster intending to leave behind my struggling little brother. I can still remember him crying out to me.

            “Big brother wait! Big brother wait!” He cried out. I ignored him and picked up my speed. Josie continued to cry out. “Big brother wait! Big brother wait!” I still remember his cries throughout the woods. Laughing inside I began to sprint out of the forest.

            After reaching outside the forest, I sat down on a dark brown wooden swing. Breathing heavy, I put my hands on my knees and leaned looking around the corner waiting for him to come running out.

            Something was different though. I could no longer hear him crying out for me.

            “Man, I must have left him far behind.” I leaned back to the back of the swing and propped my left leg on my knee and got comfortable. I didn’t begin to get worried until I have been waiting for about twenty minutes and he never came out. I stood up from the swing and began walking back into the woods.

            “He probably stopped to study a butterfly that happened to fly by.” I remember thinking to myself. I began walking the same trail this time in reverse in hopes of finding my little brother.

            “Josie.” I began calling out hoping and praying for an answer. But nobody ever did answer but the echo of my voice. I remember thinking, “man if I lost him mom is going to kill me.” After walking about halfway around the trail, I come upon a tree that had fallen that wasn’t there before. As I got closer I noticed that it had fallen on something…or someone. The closer I got the more I had become to realize that lying under it was my little brother Josie.

            “Oh my God, Josie, are you okay?” I asked…no answer. There under the rotting branch was the lifeless body of my dear sweet little brother.

            That night was one of the worst thunderstorms in history. I remember it pouring down the rain as I ran home to get my mother. When I reached the front door I was soaked and wet and tears were running down my face. I was breathing so hard I thought that I would have a heat attack.

            “Mom, Dad, Josie’s dead! We need help!” I said still breathing heavy.

            “What?” My mom asked as if it was some kind of sick joke I was pulling.

            “No really! A tree branch fell on top of him! Come on we need help.” I said. My mother burst into tears and my dad dropped his plate to reach over to call the paramedics. The paramedics came, but it was too late. Josie was pronounced dead at the scene.

 

4.

            The one thing that I remember most of all about that entire week was the funeral. My mother was sobbing, even my dad was crying. That was a shock to me because I never saw that man cry one day of his life and probably never will again.

            As I walked by the casket and glared down at Josie’s lifeless body, my mom leaned over to me.

            “It’s not your fault honey! Accidents happen.” She whispered in my ear. I that moment I began sobbing. It was something nice to say, but I know the truth. My brother’s death is my entire fault. Now I am a father of two and they treat each other like typical brothers do. They argue and fight, but at the end of the day you love him. It makes that old saying “You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone” all too true.

 

Copyright 2013 by John Smith

Courtesy of The Enchanted Press

A division of TTP Entertainment

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Author's Note

Keep in mind that this is fiction! Please leave me comments and tell me what you think.

Reviews

[Astro]

This is a nice morality tale, but could be expanded to make the guilt factor more pronounced and give a clearer understanding of the loss and hence the lesson taken in more readily. One small thing at the beginning that struck me as something that might seem odd to some. The idea that kids played video games in 73'. More likely, it was sports and perhaps pinball machines but video not so likely. A redraft could make this a stronger piece, but as it stands still a fine piece of writing.

[Jack Buckner]

Thanks Astro!

[Astro]

You're quite welcome fellow scribe.

[Jade Mayhew]

A truly amazing story; thank you for submitting this to my contest. However, as much as I enjoyed reading it, I enjoyed reading it when I was 14 years old as well. Only then it was called The Scarlet Ibis and it was written by James Hurst. I'm sure if you, or anyone else, looks up the story, you would be astounded by the parallels between the two. Thank you.

[Jack Buckner]

Thanks for reading Jade. I'm not aware of The Scarlet Ibis. I'll give it a look.

[Pam]

I didn't expect to be crying, but you clearly accomplished that. It hit me hard. I LOVE it though. So realistically written. :')

[Jack Buckner]

Thank you! It took a few tries to write! I would start and have to stop because I would get too emotional!

Thanks again! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[TL Boehm]

I am truly glad this is fiction. This would be such a torment to live with. Well penned though

[Jack Buckner]

Thank you for taking the time to read it!

[ThoughtsofShyann]

Oh this was so emotional I mean it started off so emotional I guess thats what drew me in I loved it!

[Jack Buckner]

Thank you so much!

[Brian Angeles]

This was a beautiful story. Truly good work.

[Jack Buckner]

Thank you so much for the review!

[Split Voices]

Nice story. Some thoughts. First thing, about editing, just read through the piece out loud and you'll be able to spot all of the small typos.
Second thing, I like story, and I feel like you know what sort of moral and lesson you want to say, but it could be said without repeating it over and over again.
Third thing, relating to the second, I think that breaking up the piece into four parts as you have makes sense IF you let each part stand alone. Let part one be the introduction to 'I let this bad thing happen..."(reflecting). maybe part two is "signs that my brother loved me that I didn't notice"(past, or even repeating thing), part three is "what happened"(the cold, harsh, descriptive past), Part four is "my burden"(the present). And for all of those parts, just choose a tense and stick with it, as oppose to interrupting the story you are trying to tell with "i remember..."
I know I said a lot, but overall, good story and don't feel disheartened.

[Jack Buckner]

Thank you for taking the time to read it!

[B-poet]

Very well written with an intriguing plot filled with memorable character's. Great work. :)

[Jack Buckner]

Thank you so much for reading it!

[Douglas White]

With two exceptions, I think that this story is good, telling a story of lifelong guilt over an accident.

The first exception: Video games didn't really reach the mass markets until 1978 and beyond. As someone who grew up through the 70's, as well as being a video game enthusiast since the late 70's, that error was a glaring one. The easiest way to correct that is to remove the reference to the year, since there is nothing else in the story that depends on it. This story could have happened at any time.

The second exception: the younger brother yelling "Big brother wait!" This rings entirely false. Realistically, the younger brother would be yelling the narrator's name as he ran. Dialog should feel as natural as possible so it doesn't detract from the story.

Other than that, the story itself is pretty timeless.

[Jack Buckner]

Thank you for taking the time to read it!

[Barbara Walker]

I was happy to read your author notes that this was fiction. I was near tears! This was written in a very personable tone, giving it much realism. One of your better stories, that I have read. Kudos!

[Jack Buckner]

Thank you so much for your kindness.