Olivia and the World's Most Annoying Little Brother
There were many annoying little brothers in the world, but Olivia was absolutely certain that Benji was the worst. He borrowed things without asking. He made sound effects during homework time. He followed Olivia everywhere like a small, noisy shadow.
"MOM! Benji is breathing near my stuff again!" This was a daily occurrence. Mom would sigh, separate them, and the cycle would repeat within twenty minutes.
Then Benji got sick. Not regular sick — hospital sick. He lay in a white bed with tubes in his arm, looking smaller and quieter than Olivia had ever seen him. No sound effects. No following. No breathing near anyone's stuff.
And Olivia discovered something awful: the silence was worse. So much worse.
Olivia brought Benji his favorite stuffed dinosaur, a drawing of their backyard (with Benji prominently featured as king of the sandbox), and a list titled "47 Reasons You're Actually an Okay Brother." Number 12: "You laugh at my jokes even when nobody else does." Number 23: "You share your Halloween candy even though you don't have to." Number 47: "The house is too quiet without your sound effects."
Benji read the list, looked up at Olivia with enormous eyes, and said, "You think I'm okay?" Olivia swallowed hard. "Better than okay. You're my brother. And I need you to get better so you can come home and annoy me again."
Benji got better. He came home. Within an hour, he was making laser sounds while Olivia tried to read. And Olivia smiled — because sometimes the most annoying sound in the world is actually the most beautiful one, if you almost lost the person making it.