by M. N. Arzu
Chris froze beside him. “What did you just say?” he asked, worried.
“We’re brothers, aren’t we? Adrian and I? It’s only natural to wonder about it.”
Chris placed a firm hand on his shoulder, bringing both of them to stand straight. He’d never seen his brother so serious before in his life. “You were never meant to be like Adrian Thorne. And it has nothing to do with the last name you have now. I can tell you, with all the certainty in the world, that Matthew Thorne was always headed for greatness because you’ve always had an astonishingly brilliant soul.”
“Chris…”
“No. You need to hear this. Maybe you couldn’t see it then, and maybe you can’t see it now, but your path has always led to the stars. I just wish he hadn’t dragged you so low that you couldn’t see your light anymore. That you can’t see what being your brother means to me.”
So let me show you, Chris mentally said, and a moment later, his mind opened up to Matt’s, replaying a thousand moments shared as brothers. But the astounding thing was that Chris didn’t just go for the cheesy, feel-good moments. No, his brother showed him doors being slammed mixed with hours playing tag on remote and deserted lakes. Moody nights interlaced with playing videogames. Shouting matches with Julian overlapped with quiet afternoons doing homework. And rainy nights waiting outside for thirteen-year-old Matt to escape their home again, because he couldn’t deal with being with people who actually cared about him.
Chris could love him, but he could also be annoyed at him, and scared, and impatient, and excited, and all the emotions in between. Because being brothers was not about being the same or being happy all the time. Being brothers meant caring for each other, even in the middle of an argument, or in the middle of doing something stupid. Caring in the quiet times as well as in the loud ones. Caring because they knew each other through shared experiences, where blood had no relevance at all.
“I don’t care who shares your blood or where you came from, Matt, because I’ve always known you are my brother. And I’ll be damned if I lose you.”
Chris hugged him, fierce and protective, because it was Chris who needed him now. Needed him to believe in their bond—to believe in himself and the inherent goodness of his soul.
It wasn’t only what Matt needed to hear, to feel, but it was also the best gift Matt had ever received. Through his brother’s eyes—through his true brother’s eyes—Matt finally found himself.
“Happy birthday, Matt.”
And all of a sudden, this was the best birthday ever.
End of Book 3
About the Author
M.N. Arzú (1982) was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and fell in love with books at age nine, when her oldest sister translated The Chronicles of Narnia for her. Those books would set her on a journey of literature and other languages that continues till this day.
She graduated as a Graphic Designer, and she now feeds her creative world with equal measures of fantasy and science fiction, always seeking adventures in other realms.
Find more about her upcoming projects by visiting her website.
www.mnarzuauthor.com
Other Works by M.N. Arzú
The Librarian – A First Contact Story
Despite the rumors, the US Government has been able to deny First Contact with an alien race for decades, but with good reason: it hasn't happened yet.
When a strange signal comes from an isolated area in the forests outside of Seattle, they find that First Contact is not going to happen with big ships and grand world-wide messages. Aliens, it turns out, like to keep their existence quiet.
Breaking a great number of rules, Seattle's resident alien has come back from a quick trip to his home planet to tell his human wife the truth about himself. Even if he has to do it behind a glass wall and with the military between them.
The Librarian is a contemporary novel set in America and dealing with first contact with an alien species unlike anything else in modern science fiction.
www.mnarzuauthor.com