Although not specifically stated, all persons portrayed in this short story are 18 years of age and older.
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The black and vastly empty mind I have, leaves me very little manoeuvring for my imagination to roam wildly. My dreams are always pretty uneventful and when I do recall them, it's rare that they'd be there the following morning. However, tonight, I'm plagued with the horror that is sleeping in a crampy, narrow bed with my younger sister.
The hotel room we're currently in is one of the last available and we're lucky to even have it. The room feels cold and uncomfortable and the ominous light coming from the hallway outside the door doesn't help much. It's dark enough in this part of the world but there's no moonlight to be seen through the sheer curtains in front of the windows, leaving only illuminated by a light on Georgia's side. I continually shift uncomfortably in the bed.
Trying to find a suitable position, I've been lying here for about an hour and a half--I think--and I still have not been able to fall asleep successfully. The faint noises coming from behind me, I'd mistaken for Georgia snoring, or rather sleeping peacefully like an angel. But strangely, the movements in the bed became more apparent. Louder and louder, the noises travelled into my ears, slightly vibrated whatever's inside and began to awaken whatever slumber I was even in.
The noise came from the left, from my sister. With grungy eyes, I tilt my head back over my shoulder towards her, noticing a large silver tablet blasting brightly onto her face. The sounds turned into groans; wet and loud. But the next groan which was high, sensual and orgasmic, shook me upwards unintentionally.
I now stare at her quizzically. "What are you doing?"
Her face turns to mine, briefly unaware of the situation, before her eyes widen in terror, sheepfully. "Liam! I thought you were asleep!" she stuttered quickly.
I didn't respond immediately, rather my eyes moved to the clock on the far wall, trying to make sense of the time. As I do this, my sister is fumbling the device in her fingers clumsily, attempting to lower the volume, turn the screen off, cover it with the duvet and hide it under herself, all simultaneously.
"It's two in the morning? Why are you still up?" I continue, my vision still extremely blurry.
She avoids looking at me as she tries to figure out what to do with the tablet. She seems hesitant, unsure whether she should admit why she is awake and why she couldn't sleep. I wait for the silence, until it finally becomes unbearable from the booms of the wedding afterparty going on downstairs at the ground floor. And then she finally speaks.
"I couldn't sleep," she replies, still with no direct eye contact.
"Well, being on that thing this late won't help," I advised. "What are you even doing?"
Her face flushes pink, even in the blackened room. There are a few seconds of pause again, before she answers. "I was just watching some videos..."
My brows furrowed together confusedly. "Videos?"
"Yeah..." she quietly murmured, avoiding my questioning gaze.
There's another long pause, which eventually causes me to grow tired. "Well, why don't you just try going to sleep? Okay?" I ask. The question makes her look at me and I can feel the tension in the air. She glances at me as if she wants to protest my suggestion and counter with something, but she doesn't. For once, she is speechless. I'm tempted to add another line to the brief conversation, but instead I remain quiet too as I watch her fumble around the bed, finding the right position. She settles down, finally and looks back at me waiting for something. She heaves heavily, her expression saddening momentarily.
"Goodnight, Liam," she whispered.
I nod, not trusting myself to speak, to jinx myself. The last thing I wanted to do was to ruin my own chance at getting some sleep. I attempt to simply close my eyes and drift away from reality. I lay back down in my original position, my back facing Georgia, trying to go to sleep, though my mind wouldn't let me. Instead, images from the day before flashed through my brain--my parents arguing loudly over the smallest mundane inconveniences, my cousins and nephews playing games on my laptop and then the wedding itself. At first the event had brought me happiness, but after the reception, all I could remember was how lonely I felt. I didn't understand then how lonely my life had become because I was happy and had no problems. The fact that my Mom had cheated on Dad, and is now remarrying, left our family completely ruined, ruined in a multitude of broken shards. And yet somehow, despite my disappointment, my disgust and hatred, I stayed strong and kept smiling, for the sake of Georgia. Now, I wonder, who would have stayed strong throughout everything if not me?
After spending so many nights worrying about nothing in particular, I couldn't handle another sleepless night. So without thinking twice, I spread my arms across my half of the mattress and within seconds, I fell fast asleep alast, dreaming of the wedding, the guests, my friends and family, and of course, that stupid tablet Georgia been constantly fixated on. I didn't, however, get to sleep like I thought I would--instead my dreams consisted of endless scenarios involving Georgia throughout the day.
In some, I was sitting on a patio, staring out into the darkness with an icy drink in my hand, listening to the soft sounds of laughter and voices, the sound of raindrops against the irregular stone slabs. Some scenes involved me walking around the city streets, watching people passing by while I held my phone in my hand. Sometimes, Georgia would sit beside me, her head resting on my shoulder with a smile on her lips. Other times, the two of us were making love amidst the chaos of the wedding preparations, with my arm draped protectively around her slender body and her mouth--
I shook back up in the bed again, sweating profusely. But, to the corner of my left eye, that familiar ray from Georgia's tablet was once again causing the room to turn a light blue. And again, the noises returned, albeit this time slightly lower.
My little sister's eyes were shut closed, not asleep, but with her teeth bitten into her lower lip and her left arm under the covers shaking violently. Several small gasps mix within the air around her.
My heart sinks at the sight and I reposture myself, with my fingers squeezing the bridge of my nose. But additionally, as soon as my movement undergoes, the disturbance appears to her and she jolts out of her trance to face me and the tablet quickly clutches tightly in under her right armpit, still on.
Before I can assess the event, she jumps up and hides herself under the duvet, whining carelessly. "Liam..." she says rather disappointingly.
"Georgia? Are you watching porn?" I ask.
She doesn't reply--just burrows further underneath the blanket. After a short moment, I am sure I heard a muffled whimper come out of her--almost like a tiny gasp--but when I pull back the duvet a little, she sits, legs crossed in an abnormal angle, her head leant down into her palms, her legs weirdly more bare than normal. Her hair cascades across the pillowcase, covering her entire body almost entirely; her hands tucked between her thighs, trying to avoid me, her hair blocking most of her view.
I frown, unsure, staring intensely at her, before sighing. "Georgia--"
"I'm... I'm sorry," she rushed to reply.
"Don't apologise," I said nonchalantly, wondering where those words came from exactly. I looked at her face; it was distorted with embarrassment. "Go back to sleep, please," I groaned, tiredly, reaching my hand over and running my fingers along her shoulder.
"You're not angry at me..." she breathed slowly. She looked vulnerable and scared.
"Of course not, why would you think that?" I asked, perplexed.
She sniffled a couple of times as her bottom lips now trembles. "I thought..." Her body is incapable of completing the sentence, instead, she buries the pillow into her face frustrated. "Oh God," she breathes irritably, under the duvet.
"Georgia," I intervened, "It's fine. Really. But you could've gone to the bathroom to do... you know."
Finally, she lifts her head from out of the pillow. "But I can't!" Her voice echoes the room, bouncing off the cheap and paper-thin walls.
"What do you mean you can't?"
