A Brother's Love

Word Count: 300
Written for the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge on 5/27/06. Prompt: Must use this sentence in the story: All right. I’m giving you ten seconds. Then I swear I’ll kick the door in.


Max frowned when Jamie wasn’t where he had expected her to be, at the kitchen table doing her homework. It was only a little past three and Jamie never stayed after at school. He liked to tease her because she was such a nerd that as soon as she got home, she always hit the books. He’d usually fix her a snack. He didn’t like this sudden glitch in their routine.

He had always been grateful that Jamie was such an easy kid to take care of. Since their mother usually worked until seven, Max had to look out for Jamie, but he couldn’t do that if he didn’t know where she was.

He dumped his backpack on the kitchen table and headed down the hall to Jamie’s room. “Jamie? Are you home yet?”

He paused outside her door and knocked, feeling foolish. She probably just got held up at school, he figured. He shook his head and tried the knob. It wouldn’t turn. She had locked him out? That wasn’t like her at all.

“Jamie?” Max called again. “Are you in there?” He knocked again and then paused, thinking he had heard something from behind the locked door.

“All right. I’m giving you ten seconds. Then I swear I’ll kick the door in.”

Max knew that Jamie had been suffering from depression lately. She didn’t fit in well at school and he knew that some kids picked on her. He hoped his worst fears weren’t about to be realized.

Frustrated, he tried the knob again, but it wouldn’t budge. Feeling a sense of panic, he rammed his shoulder into the door until it gave way.

“I’m sorry, Max,” Jamie said just before she pulled the trigger.