Page 15 of Creed

“I know, Bug. But in his defense, he got a call and someone found his music to be so good that he couldn’t wait another minute to put his songs on the radio.”

“Really?” I look up at my brother, excitement fluttering in my chest for Creed. He swipes the tears on my cheeks with his thumb before using the hem of his t-shirt to swipe at the wetness gathered under my nose.

“Really. Isn’t that awesome news for him? I spoke to him on the phone, and he told me he really wanted to be here, but he just didn’t have the chance. But he wanted you to have a gift, so maybe you’ll have something to send us once in a while when we’re far apart.”

I glance at the presents before Asher sets me down beside him and nudges me softly with his elbow. “Go on, open ‘em.”

A goofy grin spreads across my face as I tear into them. The first box is stacked full of fun, colorful printed pieces of paper, equally colorful pens and envelopes, and a stack of stamps with red lightning bolts on them. They look just like David Bowie’s from his Ziggy Stardust album.

I smile but look at Asher in confusion. He pulls a slip of paper that was tucked into an envelope and hands it to me. “Here, this is mine and Creed’s new addresses. We want you to use the stationary to write us letters to tell us about all the new things you learn, the fun things you do, and how you are in general. Think you can do that for us?”

My grin gets wider as I nod eagerly. He hands me the second box. “This one’s from Creed.”

He chuckles when I feel my cheeks grow hot and flush at what I’m sure is a bright pink. I tear the paper off and pull the lid from the square box. I just stare into it for a moment, confused at what I’m looking at. Asher’s chuckle breaks out into a full laugh as he reaches in and pulls out this big, clunky plastic…thing.

“Do you know what this is, Collins?” he asks, holding up the contraption.

I shake my head, still staring at it.

He hits a button on the front and a piece of the plastic flies up, startling me and making me jump at the sudden noise it makes in the quiet room.

Then I see what looks like a lens on the front. “Is it…is it some kind of camera?”

“Yeah,” Asher laughs, “It’s an old camera called a polaroid. These things are neat.”

“Why—” I ask right as a flash goes off. The bulky camera starts making an odd whirring noise and a second later a little white square begins to feed out from the bottom.

Asher plucks the little square and starts shaking it before handing it to me. I stare at it and for a moment it looks blank, but slowly an image starts to appear. It’s a little picture of me. My eyes whip to Asher’s and he grins back at me. “You don’t need to take the camera anywhere to have the pictures printed, because they print them right then and there as you take them. Pretty cool, huh?”

“Yes!” I squeak, my voice breaking at the high pitch. I glance in the box again and see that it’s full of more little boxes of what looks like more picture blanks for the camera. But at the very bottom is something that nearly has my heart fluttering right out of my chest.

I pick up the tiny pictures and stare at them. One is an image of Creed and Asher together, my brother’s arm slung around Creed’s neck as they both smile big at the camera. They look like such opposites with Creed’s pale skin, tattoos, and dark hair, and Asher’s tanned skin and bleach blonde hair from being out in the sun. The other picture is of Creed and his guitar.

My little heart is beating a million miles a second but I try to push away the feeling as I throw my arms around Asher’s neck and give him a huge hug.

“Thank you, Asher. This is the best gift ever! I’ll write you two letters all the time!”

He just squeezes me back and says “I look forward to it, Bug. Just stay strong for me. Okay?” his face turns serious when I pull away to look at him. “Mom and Mark, they have trouble sometimes, but don’t ever let them dim your light, Bug. I wish I could take you with me, but right now, you’ve got to stay here. Stay strong, sweet girl.”

I feel nervousness creep into my bones at the thought of being alone when momma and daddy have a fight and Asher not being here to protect me. But my big brother needs this, and he deserves to be happy without having to worry about me, so I put on my brave face for him.

“I promise, Ash. I’ll be strong.” But I don’t know how.

“I’ll come home as much as I can, okay? You’re never alone, Bug. Creed and I will always be here, even if we’re far away.”

It was a promise that I had clung to for a long time. A promise that he broke.

Letters & Polaroids

Chapter 6

Collins

(AGE 9)

Dear Asher,

You’ve been gone for one week and I already miss you so much!

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