On that day, when school was over and I came home, my parents were not there.
While preparing for my daily gaming routine, my sister, who seemed to have returned home before me, came to my room.
She acted casual, but something was up, so I didn’t put the face-mounted display on and instead waited for my sister to speak.
She came to my room because she had something to do. I understood that much.
“Hey, did someone at your school collapse?” she said, standing at the door.
“No, not that I know of.”
I was lying at that moment.
“Where did you hear that?”
“At school. My teacher said to not play a game called The World, because some students in the neighborhood collapsed while playing.“
“What a terrible teacher. To say something that get students worked up like that.”
“Hmph,” my sister replied with a lack of feeling in her voice.
But my sister hadn’t left the room yet. There seemed to be something else she really wanted to say.
With my FMD in hand, I waited for my sister to open her mouth.
Soon my sister spoke.
“Hey, have you heard anything about moving?”
“Moving?”
“We may move again next year…”
It was the first I heard of it.
“It’s my first time hearing this. Is it true?”
“Maybe. I heard dad tell mom.”
I was silent.
As far as I could recall, we had never moved to a new place less than a year after moving everything.
I put the FMD on the desk. My palms were sweating, because I held my equipment for such a long time.
“I don’t want to move anymore,” my sister said. She was crying.
“I don’t want to move. Even if I can make new friends, I always…”
I got up from my chair, took my sister’s hand and took her to the living room.
I sat on the couch next to my sister and waited for her to finish crying.
My sister wiped her nose and pulled close a box of tissues that had been placed on the table.
She grabbed one and blew her nose.
I was surprised by my sister’s sudden outburst of emotion.
My sister had never said anything before to criticize or show or remorse around moving, which could be called the fate of siblings. So she just thought she would adapt to and negotiate these things better than I did.
Eventually my sister’s sobs became quiet.
I decided this was a good time to speak.
“But we weren’t told directly that we would be moving.”
“True, I just overheard it.”
“Then, maybe you misunderstood them, because I haven’t heard anything about this,” I said.
“Give it some time and I’ll ask dad. You don’t have to worry about anything.”
My sister did not reply.
I knew that this was a fallacy of distraction.
She said she no longer wanted to move.
But that was something I had no control over.
On that day, when school was over and I came home, my parents were not there.
While preparing for my daily gaming routine, my sister, who seemed to have returned home before me, came to my room.
She acted casual, but something was up, so I didn’t put the face-mounted display on and instead waited for my sister to speak.
She came to my room because she had something to do. I understood that much.
“Hey, did someone at your school collapse?” she said, standing at the door.
“No, not that I know of.”
I was lying at that moment.
“Where did you hear that?”
“At school. My teacher said to not play a game called The World, because some students in the neighborhood collapsed while playing.“
“What a terrible teacher. To say something that get students worked up like that.”
“Hmph,” my sister replied with a lack of feeling in her voice.
But my sister hadn’t left the room yet. There seemed to be something else she really wanted to say.
With my FMD in hand, I waited for my sister to open her mouth.
Soon my sister spoke.
“Hey, have you heard anything about moving?”
“Moving?”
“We may move again next year…”
It was the first I heard of it.
“It’s my first time hearing this. Is it true?”
“Maybe. I heard dad tell mom.”
I was silent.
As far as I could recall, we had never moved to a new place less than a year after moving everything.
I put the FMD on the desk. My palms were sweating, because I held my equipment for such a long time.
“I don’t want to move anymore,” my sister said. She was crying.
“I don’t want to move. Even if I can make new friends, I always…”
I got up from my chair, took my sister’s hand and took her to the living room.
I sat on the couch next to my sister and waited for her to finish crying.
My sister wiped her nose and pulled close a box of tissues that had been placed on the table.
She grabbed one and blew her nose.
I was surprised by my sister’s sudden outburst of emotion.
My sister had never said anything before to criticize or show or remorse around moving, which could be called the fate of siblings. So she just thought she would adapt to and negotiate these things better than I did.
Eventually my sister’s sobs became quiet.
I decided this was a good time to speak.
“But we weren’t told directly that we would be moving.”
“True, I just overheard it.”
“Then, maybe you misunderstood them, because I haven’t heard anything about this,” I said.
“Give it some time and I’ll ask dad. You don’t have to worry about anything.”
My sister did not reply.
I knew that this was a fallacy of distraction.
She said she no longer wanted to move.
But that was something I had no control over.
