A young girl is seated in the somber back seat
of the car as she consumes her pain and wishes
for her father not to drive off that dreadful exit 94
that she knows has to soon come.
Taking deep breaths, she understands that not
even the most upbeat rhythm blaring through
her headphones can eliminate her sorrows.
She stares out the gloomy window as the
warm, sweltering sun dries her tears yet
only making room for fresh ones to reappear.

I am the young girl. It’s a problem
being sixteen and having your heart torn
into a million pieces all at once. Soon the car
will veer off the highway and appear in front of a college dorm
as it is destroys my life along with taking my sister away from me.

It will crush me, leaving nothing but misery and sadness.
Of course, she will visit and I will visit her,
but, in my heart, I know it will never be the same again.

I will feel fearful of my life without her.

Something’s going to happen that I did not
see coming for a long time: I have to allow her to grow up and leave me.
Tears streaming down my red cheeks-
I unpack the car and lay her stuff in the empty room that
awaits to be decorated with all of her things that remind me of her.

Everything is a disaster in my body, not knowing what to do like
one of those tornadoes you hear about on the news that randomly
hit and destroy everything in its making-
unaware of whose life it’s tearing apart.

I am fearful.  

As many people face pain in their lives,
I’ve never felt so much unhappiness all at once.
So weak, so helpless, leaving me unable to even wave goodbye.
Something’s happened that I did not see coming
for a long time: the meaning of sisterhood
through this difficult milestone in our lives.
I can only help but comprehend that my sister is my best friend
and without her, I am alone.
This did not break us apart like I had feared,
yet it brought us closer and made us stronger than
we have ever been before.
A young girl faces so much unhappiness all at once.
So incapable, so powerless, leaving her behind her locked bedroom door
dwelling on the absence of her sister.
I learned that a girl without her sister is like a bird without wings,
insufficient and incomplete, and that is one thing I now know in my heart,
that I will never have to worry about.