Five Brothers

by Penelope Douglas

The world is full of things that want to hurt us because they can. Because we make it easy.

All I ever wanted was to love waking up. To be counted on to make someone’s life better. And I want a man who breathes me. Who craves me and needs me.

“Not me,” he says, letting me go. “But…you will be a Jaeger someday.” I look at him. “You feel it, don’t you, Krisjen?” His eyes light up. “You belong in that house.”

Because beauty is in the small things and character is in the flaws, and learning that fact can’t be taught or told.

“I guess I’ll forget the things I love, too.” I go back to sanding. “Life takes you over like that. You lose yourself. Who you were when you were five was the real you. Before everything started to kill you.”

“Life isn’t about what happens to us, Dallas, because things are going to happen. Rich, poor, good parents, bad parents, no matter what, we can’t predict other people. If I can’t change it or prevent it, then I don’t think about it. Just adapt when it happens, and remember how lucky I am to breathe at all.”

“If this ever happens again, I’m going to make an assumption about who was responsible and deal with it, you understand?”

“The hyperawareness we have around each other. You knew the moment it happened that you didn’t want it to be anyone else.”

“You don’t realize how badly you wanted something,” he tells me, “until you find out that it’s no longer an option.”