It was winter at that time.. Upon the rise of the sun the forest is so snow-white. It has a prestine aura that begs the soul to stop for a moment and let the sight enter your soul. Giant trees who’s roots hug the earth.. They were covered with thick snow that fall with every fresh wind that blows.

The river that once was flowing at it’s full speed curving gently through the forest,burbling is now frozen with it’s clear surface that reflects the moon which is giving it crystal-like shape .

A house was located there ... away from the city , the noises , the crowds and most importantly away from people.

The house was small rusted with age , it seems like many generations already passed on it , but that did not prevent it from granting warmth and safety.

There lived two people ... two pure souls that fate played with and took away their parents leaving them alone in this nasty world.

A little boy was in the kitchen .. he was busy preparing breakfast as he was humming .. he would stand on his toes to reach the high shelves since his short height wasn’t helping.

After finally finishing and organizing the table , he slowly went to a room, he opened the door and peaked on the masculine man that was laying on the bed ... he was sleeping peacefully as yesterday was a tiring day for him.

The young boy walked towards the bed , climbed and sat on top of the man

“ brother “ said while shaking him. His brother responded by trying to turn into the other side but stopped when he felt something heavy on his stomach . That made him open his eyes to see the person who was making his stomach a comfortable seat for him .

“ Andrew ... come on wake up” “if you sleep more you’re gonna be late !!” Said

while placing his hands on the hard chest of his brother and shaking him continuously

“Hmmm y.. yeah five more minutes “ replied Andrew with his eyes still closed.

“But the breakfast is ready it will become cold if you don’t wake up” Aubrey responded whiningly. “ WAKE UP WAKE UP “ starts shouting.

“ alright alright am up “ Andrew said that with a frown he the raised his upper body and leaned it on the wall. “Why are you shouting” andrew added with a sigh.

“Because it takes forever to wake you up”.. “and if I didn’t shout it’ll probably take hours for you to open those eyes.. then you’ll be late for your work” Aubrey replied with a pout.

Andrew smiled at Aubrey.. waking up to the sound of is brother was indeed the best part of his day.

Aubrey was still sitting on his stomach then he said “ come on I prepared your favorite breakfast“

“ am coming... but before you know what you should do to wake me up fully right?” Andrew spoke while smirking which made the younger realize what his brother was talking about.

So he leaned and gave him a peck on his cheek. A blunt smile was drawn immediately on Andrew’s face ... he picked Aubrey up and went to the kitchen.

Andrew was holding Aubrey on his shoulder like a little baby.. Aubrey’s legs were swinging in the air and was giggling cutely.

They reached the living Andrew finally put the younger down and the cold air hit him immediately... “woah it’s so cold here” Andrew said while rubbing his arms on his body to warm himself.

“ i know am frozen to the bone” said Aubrey “if you just let me light the bonfire” said with pout.

“Baby you we talked about this before you might burn yourself and not taking any risk” replied andrew while squeezing Aubrey’s cheeks.

“Brother am 15 years old i know how to light a bonfire” said with a frown

“now come on let’s eat” saying this Andrew grabbed Aubrey’s hand and dragged him to the kitchen.. they sat on the table that was placed in the middle of the kitchen.Andrew start eating while Aubrey was staring at him

when Andrew finally chewed his food he asked “is it good?” Aubrey asked excitedly with shiny eyes

Aubrey always cooks the food but he always want to make sure that his brother is pleased by his food and for Andrew even though he hears this question almost at every meal but he never get bored and he’d always complement the younger so he can see his heavenly smile.

“ delicious as always” said Andrew with a sweet smile. After he made sure the food is good Aubrey started eating. They chatted a little while they were eating aubrey was chuckling cutely every now and then.

After finishing their food Andrew walked toward the door with his little brother following him, he then reached to the hanger that was near the door, he took Andrew’s coat and helped him wear it.

“Thanks sweetheart “ andrew smiled warmly at aubrey.. he really likes when aubrey takes care of him even of those things are little but andrew makes sure to appreciate whatever his little angel does.

Andrew turned to Aubrey “ am going to work now.. you know the rules right?”

Aubrey looked at Andrew with innocent eyes and replied “ don’t do anything dangerous, don’t get near any fire , and don’t go out or open the door to anyone”

“Good boy” Andrew ruffled the younger’s hair he pecked his forehead and left.

Aubrey start looking around the house wondering what will he do today, it’ll be a long day as always and since he can’t go out and he has no friends so he spend his time cleaning the house and doing some chores. That’s the only thing he could do to distract himself until his elder brother comes back from work

Suddenly he remembered something “ughh I forgot to ask him what he wants to eat at dinner” Aubrey sighed

“Maybe i can do his favorite food he works very hard everday it’s nice if he came and found his favorite dish ready on the table” aubrey was talking to himself and he was getting excited over his own thoughts.

Whatever makes andrew happy is more than enough for aubrey to make him electrified.

With those thoughts aubrey went to andrew’s room to clean it.

Aubrey’s pov

I first went to andrew’s room.. that’s the first i do in the morning , making sure his room and everything that belongs to him is clean and organized..am always happy doing such things for him..

Why?

Because he works all day to provide for me ... i know he works so hard everyday to make ends meet for me.. and i on the other hand can’t do anything.. I sometimes feel like am a burden to him and i hate it so the least i can do is making everything clean and comfy for him.

I always wanted to work so i can help him but he always refused .. he doesn’t even let me step out of the house let alone let me work.. i gave up on that idea long time ago

I finally finished his room.. as i look at it am satisfied.. i went on and continued doing my chores which includes cleaning the house , cooking, and many other things

Am trying to finish quickly so i can work on the scarf am sewing for him.. it’s so cold outside it’ll keep him warm

After few hours I finished my work.. i made my self a hot cup if tea and sat on the couch that was placed beside the window.. i can see the white ground from there and the chilling air that’s coming from the slightly opened window refreshes my soul.. At least inhaling it makes me feel like am outside.

I sat and put the cup near me and start working on the scarf.

Andrew always took care of me.. since i was a kid he always protected me even from my parents.. whenever they got mad at me or scolded me he’d stand in front of me and shouts at them for making me cry.. he’d always end up getting grounded but that didn’t stop him not even for once

I remember one day i was playing with the kids in the neighborhood.. when i took out my toys they start laughing at me because they were obviously used and dirty.. my parents were poor that’s the only thing they could afford but me and andrew never complained.

That day i ran back home crying.. when andrew saw me he lost his mind to the point that he gathered all the toys that the kids owned and burned them in front of them.. i can still remember how much they cried that day and then he said “ that’s what you get for making my little angel cry”.. since then they never dared to make fun of me.

As i was working on the scarf i start dozing off on the couch.. but a loud knock on the door woke me up..

i walked slowly to the door.. I didn’t open the door since andrew told me not to..

“Is there anyone inside?” A girly voice came from outside

“Please me and my brother got lost in the forest and he’s injured” she added

I can tell from her tone.. she seems scared and worried.. I didn’t know what to do will andrew be mad if opened the door?

“Please if there’s someone inside help us”

I couldn’t help but open the door.. i know how it feels to see your brother hurting.. and if ibwas in her shoes i’d beg anyone to help me.

When I opened the door i saw the girl.. she was around my age .. her brother was few years younger than me.. his leg was bleeding and she was supporting him to stand

“Please come in” i said gently

“Sister it hurts” the little boy was crying

“ don’t worry brother it’ll be fine” she said that and kissed his forehead.

“Am sorry for bothering you but we got lost and we saw your house “

“It’s fine please come in i will treat his wound” i said

I hope andrew won’t get mad at me .. i will explain to him later.. he should understand the situation right?