Unseen Passage for Class 4 - Passage 08

My sister and I were not exactly what you would call close. I was three years younger and I thought she was perfect and I wanted to be just like her when I grew up. If she wore her hair in twin braids with a pink clip one day, the next day I wore mine exactly the same way. I used to follow her and her friends around, begging to be included but there was no room in a thirteen year old's life for a pesky ten-year-old sister. As a result, over time, we drifted apart. We were strangers living in the same house, eating together but never communicating.

When she sat me down last year and told me she would be going to Israel to further her studies for ten months, the only thing that came to my mind was that I would get to wear the clothes she left behind and use her MP3 player. That was the only way I thought her leaving would benefit me.

That first night she left, I sat in my room and tried to do homework. I could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. The house was quiet. Tova's voice giggling on the phone with her friends could not be heard. Sitting there, I realised just how different it was without her in the house. Even though we did not speak, I had felt safe just knowing she was near.

I cried that night. I cried over all the years we had wasted trying to live our own lives and ignoring each other. I cried over the fact that I could not even give her a hug before she boarded her plane. As the night passed, my tears changed to tears of calm, tears of new beginnings.

I picked up the phone and called her. I waited for her to pick up, my doubts growing with every second.

"Hello?" Tova answered, sounding as though it came from somewhere nearby and not Israel.

"Hey Tova. It's me, Sara. I called to tell you I love you." I said in a rush, knowing that if I stopped in the middle, I would not have the courage to continue. "I know we are not as close as other siblings but that does not mean that I am not missing you a ton."

For a long time there was only silence on the other end. Finally, Tova spoke, "I've been sitting here, all alone, thinking about you guys back home," she said. "Your voice makes me feel as though I am right here with you." Before she hung up, she said very quickly just as I had, "I love you, too."

I am looking forward to the day my sister returns home so that I can give her the hug I never gave her when she left and say, "I am so glad to have you home!"