Danny

A boy named Peter had a little brother named Danny. He loved his little brother so, and he respected Danny. Danny also treated Peter with respect. They both would help each other in need and would cheer each other up.

Danny was often scared at night, always saying he saw a man in his closet and heard whispers that he cannot understand. Danny always woke up from nightmares and went to his brother’s room. But to Peter, that wasn’t a problem.

Peter waved goodbye to his parents before they left to a party. Danny followed beside him and also waved. Their parents waved back as they entered the car, holding hands with each other. To Peter, it was kind of nice. They had been married for eighteen years and they still did that.

Danny ran back inside. “So, what do you want to do?” he asked when he bounced onto the couch. Danny leaned his head on his arm, staring at the television even though it was not on.

Peter walked up and sat down on the armchair next to the couch. “I don’t know,” he said, “Wait, I know! I’ll ask you what to do. That’s something you can do.” Danny giggled. He laughs mostly at whatever Peter says.

“How about we go for a walk?” said Danny. He jumped up from the couch and plopped back down laying on his stomach. He hung his hand off the couch and let it swing back and forth.

Peter didn’t think that was a god idea because first of all, it was getting late. Peter looked at the clock in the kitchen and managed to make out the clock hands pointing to five ‘o clock. And second of all, he didn’t want to be given a hard time with those three ‘verbal yet physical bullies’ he calls them, named Robert, Pat and Nigel. They always hung out at the park. But his brother had a big passion for the park. He loved running in the park and playing, but for Peter, it was disaster. To Peter, it was like those kids were always there, waiting to give him a hard time, while his brother watched in shock. Peter thought about it for a moment and then came up with a solution.

“Alright, but since it’s getting late, we’ll only be there for a little bit,” he said.

Danny jumped from the couch. “Hooray!” he shouted as he shot his arms up in the air. He ran to the door. Peter followed behind. They were allowed to go to the park alone because it was very close by; a short three blocks.

Peter already was thinking about the kids when he first walked out of the house. What will they do if they’re there? He thought. Will they beat me up? Will they take my hat away? Or worse, will they hurt Danny?

As Peter thought, He noticed that he was at the end of the first block. They had to cross the street now.

Peter nearly dozed off in his thinking, when he noticed that Danny was trying to pull his hand. Peter immediately woke up. “Oh, sorry,” he said. Danny didn’t answer. They crossed the street without seeing any cars pass by.

* * *

Peter slowly walked up to the park. Peter saw them. They were under one of the play houses. Just talking.

Danny sped up to one of the houses and climbed on. Okay, thought Peter. Just be cool.

He decided to just wait for his brother near the parking lot. Peter kept watching Robert, Pat and Nigel. Peter couldn’t stop thinking about them. His mother always told him to drop the subject and have fun, but he could not.

He froze. Peter thought Nigel had seen him. And just as he thought, he started to think that he hadn’t seen him, Nigel pointed at Peter. Pat and Robert looked at Peter and smiled. They started walking towards him. Oh shoot, Peter thought. As they got nearer, Peter felt worse and worse. He didn’t want any trouble.

“Hey, Peter!” shouted Pat. “What are you doing here?”

Peter didn’t answer. He just waited until they finally got to him.

“Hey dip face, nice hat,” said Robert. “Mind if I have it?”

Peter stayed put, staring at the three.

Nigel immediately snatched it from Peter’s head. He held it up higher than Peter could reach. “Give it back!” said Peter. He jumped up, trying to get his hat back.

“Awe, isn’t that too bad?” said Pat, putting on a sad face. Nigel and Robert smiled.

“Give me a break!” shouted Peter.

“We’ll give you a break!” shouted Nigel. He walked up to Peter and punched him in the stomach, really hard. Peter bent forward tucking his stomach. Nigel had knocked the air out of him.

Peter looked up at the play area where Danny was. He hoped that he wasn’t watching. Peter always kept the bullying thing a secret from his brother Danny because it would make him feel bad. But Danny was watching. Peter saw his horrified face staring back at him. Peter’s heart sank.

Nigel pushed him to a nearby fence and held him up. “Awe, what’s the matter?” asked Robert. Nigel threw the hat he had taken from Peter on the grass.

Nigel held Peter against the fence and lifted up his fist. He punched Peter in the stomach again. A pain of nausea swept over his body. He couldn’t breath.

He heard general giggles from Pat and Robert. Nigel didn’t say anything. He punched Peter three more times in his stomach holding him up. Danny covered his eyes. He couldn’t bear to watch.

Nigel pulled him away from the fence. He punched Peter in the stomach which caused him to fall on his knees. So much punching, Peter thought. Nigel punched him in the eye then. Then he felt it again at another place. Then another.

They were hitting him now. That went on for about two minutes and it finally stopped. They started walking away. Peter saw Pat step on his hat and smush it to the ground with his shoe. That was the most brutal moment, thought Peter. They aren’t like this. Not this brutal.

Danny cried and cried as they walked down the first block. Peter could not help him that much since most of his body was sore. “I never want to go to the park again!” shouted Danny. Tears went down his cheeks and his face was red. He made loud crying sounds like sirens you would hear from fire trucks that pass by your neighborhood. He covered his eyes with his hands and tucked his chin down to his chest. He was in complete agony.

They reached the end of the block. They had to cross the street. “Stop, Danny,” instructed Peter. But Danny did not listen. He kept going onto the middle of the street. “Danny!” Peter shouted as loud as he could, but not as loud due to the stomach injuries.

Danny opened his eyes and saw a truck coming. “Danny!” Peter shouted. But Danny ignored him once more. He turned facing the truck as he got nearer. Danny’s eyes were blank. He just stayed put.

“No!” shouted Peter. He started running as fast as he could, but the truck was too close. Peter stopped and fell back, and then saw his brother get run over.

It was a windy day. There were slight cold breezes that passed by and stopped, and were expected to blow again. Trees were bending in the distance. It was a beautiful day. It was just right; not to hot. The heat was cooled by the wind. On days like this, Peter and Danny would go to the park or run in the backyard. But now, he was an only child.

“How could he?” said mother crying, standing next to his burial place at the funeral. Peter too, was crying. His father had a very sad expression on his face. Peter was too scared to talk to his family right now. Whatever he might say will get them into frustration because of it not having to do with his little brother.

The preacher spoke. Relatives surrounded the funeral. Many of the women were crying like mother, too. Everything else was silent, except for the preacher preaching and the people crying.

They lowered the coffin in the hole.

* * *

Mother cried for hours after they got home. She couldn’t get her mind out of it. Peter remembered her telling him to forget the bullying thing. Maybe I should tell her to try and forget about it, he thought. But he’s my little brother, who got hit by a truck, and since he’s gone, he pretty much changed my life. Now I’m an only child.

An only child… Peter walked up to his mother. But he stopped for a moment. Should I tell her to forget about him? All that he’s been through? All the memories? He thought. Peter backed away from the room and headed upstairs, to his brother’s room.

Once Peter got to Danny’s room, he started walking around. What do I do with his stuff? He thought. I shouldn’t keep it, I shouldn’t sell it. But then Peter remembered something else. Danny’s highest possession: his pocket knife. Peter remembered how he got the knife at that age. On Christmas Eve, when Peter was two years younger, at age nine, his father bought him a knife for camping trips. Peter always hated camping trips, and thought that for Christmas day, he would make that as a gift for Danny, since Peter hadn’t bought anything for him yet. So Peter got to work on wrapping. After the gift was opened, Danny got so excited. He even named it Holly. Peter’s father felt bad for a couple of days due to Peter not liking it, but then he thought maybe Peter did the right thing, giving it to Danny. He thought maybe Danny needed to be more responsible.

Peter went through his nightstand where the knife was at and grabbed it. He went downstairs. “I’m going out really quick –”

“No you’re not,” shouted his father strictly across the house. “Not after what just happened.”

“It’ll only be a second,” said Peter. “Besides, why would I get run over by a truck? I tried to save Danny. I jumped for him and I called his name. It seemed he did it on purpose.”

He heard his mother cry harder in the living room. His father turned and looked at her, then looked back at Peter. They paused for a while and then his father said, “No.” He shook his head, looking at the floor. His expression turned back into sadness.

Peter did not know what to do. He decided to put the knife back in Danny’s room. “Fine.” He walked back upstairs and looked around in Danny’s room.

Somehow, Peter felt a strange energy. He looked around. He felt it becoming stronger. Peter soon felt fear. He did not know what was happening. He then felt it strike his heart and then fell to the ground. He started rolling around on the floor, thinking he was having a heart attack. Peter grabbed the floor and shut his eyes. He let out a faint cry of pain. Then he heard a voice, calling him from the bathroom. It sounded like a child. Then he heard laughter.

He opened his eyes and looked at the bathroom door. Right then, faster than a blink of an eye, the pain stopped. He smiled a little and let out a sigh of relief, but was still in fear. He got up slowly. His heart started pumping harder as he slowly walked to the bathroom door. Once he got there, he paused. He then heard whispers. Whispers he could not make out or understand.

Once he gripped the knob, he started feeling dizzy. He let go and backed away. His head leaned to one side, then the other. His body somehow automatically fell onto the floor without knowing it. He noticed that he began to feel sleepy, then even more tired. His eyes rolled upward and then shut. He fell into a painful, deep, dreamless slumber.

He had a dream. His dream was much unexpected. He was floating in space, but with no color, no feeling. If he were to describe it, he wouldn’t even be able to tell how he could feel, if he even remembered. He had no feeling at all, whatsoever. There was no color on his surroundings. Everything was just as if you were closing your eyes.

He stayed put for a moment, then saw Danny. He was laughing and running like he always does. Then Peter himself appeared in the image. In his dream, Peter saw that he and Danny were playing a game that Danny made up. It was called Bear. The ‘Bear’ was supposed to tag the one who was ‘it’ before they could get to their destination. Normally, their destination would always be from the backyard to the front, where they would normally put a doll or some toy they had to tag and automatically Danny would be chased by the ‘Bear.’

Soon, other images appeared. The ones that were most remembered: The time Peter and Danny had an Easter egg hunt, the time they had Christmas together, etc. Then the most emotional one of all: the time Danny got hit by the truck. Worst of all, it was a hit and run. Peter did not see who was driving it; he only saw a shadow.

Then he saw his brother, staring back at him. He said something, but it echoed through the darkness. Peter could not hear him, nor see him as well. But it all stopped as soon as he felt water leak onto his head with great pressure.

Peter immediately shot up and found his parents sitting around him. They were both staring at him in shock. Peter rubbed his head. “What happened?” he asked, then coughed.

“You fainted,” said his father in a firm, serious voice. He tightened his lips and looked hard at Peter’s face. “What were you doing in here?”

“Well, I was returning the knife -”

“Danny’s pocket knife?” asked his mother.

His father looked at Peter harder with his eyes squinting. “He loves that knife. Don’t mess with it and don’t come back to his room.”

“But -”

“No buts,” said his mother. “His belongings aren’t yours. You should know better.”

Peter sighed. He wiped the water from his face and got up. “Fine. I just wanted to go to his grave and put the knife there. I thought it would show some respect.”

His mother looked at his father. His father looked at her, too. They both thought for a moment. “We’ll visit the cemetery next weekend,” said mother.

“Yes!” shouted Peter. He ran out of the room, leaving his parents, the pocket knife and the bucket in the room.

Danny had truly changed Peter’s personal life. He now had a different personality. He was more mature and serious in a way, but he was also been noticing something. He hadn’t seen Nigel, Pat or Robert at school. He wondered where they were most of the time.

Right now, Peter walked up to Danny’s grave. He looked at it, having an emotional moment. All the times they had together and how much fun. But now, his parents were bugging only him.

Peter pulled out the knife and flicked it open. He stuck it deep down near Danny’s name. But next too Danny’s name, he noticed something very strange. At the corner of his eye, he thought he had seen Nigel’s name on one of the tablets. Peter looked back and read. Nigel’s dead? He thought in a sudden fear. How did he die? What happened? When?

But his fierce thoughts were interrupted by another site. Next to Nigel’s gravestone was Pat and Robert’s grave. Peter’s heart chilled in deep emotion. Once he saw their graves, he feared his little brother’s presence. 

GUESS WHO WROTE THIS? THATS RIGHT, ALEXI, HAHA