Like Brothers Should Be

To the brave Anonymous who set me straight…

A Little Insanity

A Spin-Off

~Like Brothers Should Be~

*Warning! The Characters May Be Completely Different!*

“Fang! Fang! Wake up! You promised you’d take me fishing! Come on!” a voice pushed its way through his dream, “Please, Fang?”

Fang opened his eyes, slowly at first. His back was to his younger brother’s bed. He felt his brother’s hands pushing against his back, trying to wake him. The sun hadn’t even crested the horizon. There was only the pre-sunrise glow that entered the room through the single window in their room. Fang stayed still a little while longer hoping his brother, Shadow, would end up leaving him alone.

“Fang?” Shadow climbed on top of the bed and leaned over Fang’s body to get a better look at him.

Shadow sighed and sat down on his ankles. Fang could sense his brother’s disappointment. He opened his eyes and pulled his pillow over his head.

“I’m up,” he groaned, “Just give me a few minutes, will ya?”

Shadow smiled again and jumped down from the bed, “Mom made us a special breakfast so don’t take forever, okay?”

Shadow’s foot falls receded out of the room. The door slammed shut and Shadow made his way down the stairs. Fang waited a moment before rolling over in bed. He looked around their room. There were two beds, one on either side of the room, splitting their room, in essence, in half. On Shadow’s side of the room there were toys scattered on the floor. The bed was a mess and the thumb tacks that pinned up hand drawn drawings were in disarray and held the pieces of paper every which way. There was a shelf over the bed. On it was a stuffed teddy bear with only one eye left and a box. The box read ‘Treasure Chest: Keep Out!’ all over it in crayon. There was a picture of a sepia photo of Fang and Shadow. A six year old Shadow took up most of the picture showing off the two gaps in his smile. Fang, ten years old, stood in the background with a piece of string in his hand. One end of the string held the pair of teeth and the other end was tied to their bedroom door.

With effort, a fourteen year old Fang rolled out of bed. He made his bed. Unlike his brother’s side of the room, his was neat and organized. Everything had a place. Any pictures on his wall were in a homemade frame that he built in their father’s shed and were hung with a single nail. All of his toys were organized in their designated boxes under his bed. There was a shelf over his bed as well. It carried a special toy rabbit. It was in perfect condition. He too had a box. It contained only the most perfect things that he found around the farm like leaves that hadn’t been eaten into, or acorns that had the perfect sized top, or even a smooth pebble. There also was a picture of Fang’s shelf. It was a sepia photo of their family picture where everyone was neat and clean and smiling. Fang admitted that he was a bit of a perfectionist for being 14 years old. He also knew that Shadow, his 10 year old brother, was the complete opposite.

“Fang! Hurry up!” Shadow called from the kitchen.

“The fish aren’t going anywhere!” Fang shouted back.

Fang made his way down stairs. There was a small four person table in the center of the kitchen. Their mother wasn’t currently in the kitchen. It was safe to assume that she was out in the garden. There were two bowls of oatmeal. Shadow’s had pieces of fruit in them while Fang’s was simple with a drizzling of brown sugar in it. Fang first took a sip of his water while Shadow nearly downed his class or fresh orange juice. The brothers sat across from each other. They were opposites, it was pain to see. Fang had neat short hair while Shadow’s could house a family of birds quite nicely. Fang’s clothes were simple, a t-shirt and shorts, but they were without holes. Shadow’s clothes had so many holes and stitches that there were holes on top of stitches. Fang ate his breakfast quietly while Shadow was face deep in his oatmeal.

When they were finished, Fang and Shadow walked up stairs to brush their teeth. As Fang brushed, he stared at the broken mirror in front of him. It was something he found incredibly annoying. His eyes followed the crack as it cut across his face from the lower left end to the upper right corner. He looked at his brother’s reflection to distract him from the imperfection. He moved his toothbrush from the right side of his mouth to his left. Shadow looked up at him briefly and copied him, brushing on the left side of his mouth. After that, Fang brushed his front teeth. Shadow followed suit. When Fang was finished, he opened his mouth and brushed the tops of his teeth. Shadow did everything exactly as Fang did. It was amusing, a nice distraction from the crack in the mirror. After rinsing their mouths, Fang exited the bathroom with Shadow close behind.

They walked outside, making sure to put on their tattered shoes on the way out. That was the one thing that Fang couldn’t seem to keep in perfect condition, especially with all the chores he had to do. Two metal lunch boxes sat on the front step.

Close to the farm house was the enormous barn. Behind the barn was their father’s shed. They waved as they saw their father on his tractor in a distant field. They knew he couldn’t see them but it was just something they did.

Fang opened the little shed. It was used for many things like wood working, father’s tools, mother’s gardening utensils, and most importantly their fishing equipment. Shadow ran past his brother and collected their fishing poles that were made of the longest sticks they could find. Fang had just off any sprouting branches and sanded them until they were without bark and smooth. Their mother gave them some of her strongest string to use as line and their father took time at the end of his day to make them hooks and small weights. Shadow looked at Fang with a huge smile on his face. Fang grabbed their tackle box and fishing net. He set all the items in a deep-seated wheelbarrow. Together they wheeled the barrow out of the shed. Shadow went back in and grabbed a few empty cans and a small bucket.

Being the oldest, Fang took the responsibility of wheeling the barrow to where it needed to be. Shadow walked by his side, rambling on how much fun they would have. Their father had been very merciful in letting them off their chores for the day, saying how kids should be allowed to be kids. They walked down the gravel path that went into the woods by their house. There was a bridge and a small creak where the two boys stopped. Shadow grabbed the empty cans, took off his shoes, and ran down to the moist soil by the water’s edge.

Fang went down beside his brother. He squatted as he fingered as the moist dirt. Shadow was on his hands and knees digging in the soil. Fang found a worm and asked Shadow for a can. When he received it he placed the worm inside then placed some dirt over it so it wouldn’t dry out.

Shadow’s head jerked up. He smiled as he saw a large cricket in a nearby piece of grass. He dove for it, cupping his hands over the insect. Fang waited for the result. Shadow looked back at his older brother and smiled victoriously. He held up the tiny creature by its wings.

“Look!” Shadow exclaimed.

“I see,” Fang said as he started digging in the dirt again.

Shadow looked at his catch then at the open can, “Where should we put it?”

“In a can,” Fang stated, “Just break its legs so it can’t jump. You’ve already ruined its wings. It shouldn’t be able to get away.”

Shadow nodded and did what Fang recommended then placed the cricket in a can. He watched it for a moment at the bottom of the can, “What other bugs are good for fishing?”

“I don’t know,” Fang shrugged, pulling a nightcrawler from the ground, “I’m pretty sure that a hungry fish will eat anything smaller than itself. This one’s a long one.”

Shadow’s eyes widened with interest as Fang showed him the long thick worm, “That’s bigger than the ones we usually get!”

“It’s a nightcrawler. They usually come out after it rains when the dew in on the grass but it’s really wet here and it must have gotten lost or something.”

“Cool!” Shadow said, though he didn’t really understand a word of it.

They dug in the dirt and caught bugs up until noon. When the sun was at its highest, they took a break. Fortunately, Fang remembered to bring the lunches that their mother had made for them. The two boys sat on the bridge, their legs dangling over the edge and at their lunches. They talked about childish boy things like who the best super hero was and how annoying girls were (Except their own mother of course. She seemed to be the only sane girl in the world).

After making sure that they had enough water in their canteens they set out toward the river. The creek that they were currently sitting fed into a larger slower river. It was perfect for fish and perfect for those catching fish.

Fang pushed the wheelbarrow along the path. Eventually they reached the river. Fang showed his younger brother where the best fishing spot was. It was under a large tree. There was an old dock that wasn’t used much anymore. There was plenty of shade and room on the dock for fishing. After they situated everything Fang helped Shadow put a worm on his hook.

“I want a nightcrawler!” Shadow complained.

“You’re not getting one,” Fang stated.

“Why?”

“Because I say so.”

When Fang was ready, he threw his line in to the water. The weight their father made helped the line sail far. Fang sat on the edge of the dock. Shadow had watched him closely and copied everything Fang did before sitting beside his brother. When Fang took a drink, Shadow took a drink. When a fish made off with Fang’s bait, Shadow feigned disappointment and pulled his line in even if he didn’t have to.

“You still have your bait,” Fang said as he re-baited his hook.

“I thought I lost it,” Shadow answered, his eyes watching carefully as Fang used one of their prized insects.

Over all it was a very uneventful day. There caught a few small fishes but they threw them back. That way the small fishes could grow into big fishes and they could catch them later. But other than that, there was nothing to write home about. Fang was a little disappointed. He looked over at his brother expecting to see him upset about the day’s events but to his surprise Shadow had the biggest smile on his face. There was dirt and sweat all over Shadow’s face. His fingernails were filthy from digging in the dirt. There were scrapes and cuts up and down his arms and legs. Fang could almost swear that he saw something move in his brother’s hair and yet Shadow looked like the happiest boy on the face of the planet.

“What are you so happy about?” Fang asked.

Shadow looked confused, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, we haven’t caught anything good all day. Why are you smiling?”

Shadow smiled again, “Because I didn’t really want to go fishing,” Fang glared at him a moment, “I wanted to go fishing with you. Hey! I think I caught something!”

Fang looked, “No, it’s just another little one.”

He looked at his brother again. All Shadow had really wanted was to spend time with his brother. It didn’t matter that they were doing just as long as they were together. Even though they were complete opposites and Fang could spot every one of Shadow’s imperfections, they were brothers and that was how it was going to be.

“Hey, Fang?” Shadow asked.

“Yeah?”

“After we’re done, do you think you could cut off the hook on my fishing pole?”

“Why would you want me to do that?”

“So I could put it in my treasure box.”

“Why would you want to put a used fish hook in your treasure box?”

“So I can remember this day for the rest of my life. Forever and ever and ever. Would you, Fang? Pretty please?”

Fang paused a moment, “Fine. But the next time you want to go fishing you can’t wake me up until six in the morning. Got it?”

“Okay!”

As the sun started to set and the boys were growing hungry they packed up their fishing supplies and headed home.

“Can we do this again tomorrow?” Shadow asked.

“We have chores tomorrow.”

“The next day?”

“More chores.”

“The day after that?”

“Chores.”

“How about the day after the day after that?”

“Shadow…”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s ask dad, alright.”

“Okay!” Shadow smiled, “Fang?”

Fang sighed, “Yeah?”

“You’re the best big brother I’ve ever had. The bestest ever!”

Fang smiled, “You too, Shadow.”