Illusion

Mary sat in a chair, waiting for her brother to finish his breakfast. After he finished, she soaked the plates and utensils in the sink. Mary felt a presence on her left.

She quickly turned to her left and saw Jack taking a wooden stool and putting it next to her. Mary looked at her brother and said in a gentle voice, "What are you doing? Go get your school bag."After a long pause of silence, Jack stood up on the wooden stool, "I want to help you with the dishes", he said in a happy tone.

"You know that you don't have to, right? I can do it myself, go get your school bag and change into your school uniform.", she said. Jack looked at her with a sad expression and said in a low tone, "Okay", and left.

After washing the dishes, Mary went to the living room and waited for her brother but this time she just sat there, waiting. She was scared to look at her phone.

What if it showed me the same thing, she thought while biting her nails.

She was deep in thought until she heard someone running down the stairs. Jack dashed towards Mary and stood there, his right hand on his forehead (like a soldier saluting). She let out a little chuckle and said, "I'm not your boss or anything. What are you doing that for?"

Jack put his hand down and said in a sad voice, "I wanted to show my respect to you...for all the things you did for me."Mary blushed, using her hands to cover half of her face in surprise.

She shook her head and saluted Jack too, "Then... Thank you for being the best little brother!", she said in an embarrassed and happy tone.

Jack looked at her, his eyes widened and his face immediately turned into a bright smile and said, "Thank you, sister. Even though I didn't do much for you but hearing you say that is really...", he stopped and thought for a long time and said, "I don't know how to explain."

"You can think in the car. Let's go!", Mary stood up and walked to her car while Jack followed behind.

They entered the car and drove off. After they reached a stoplight, Mary stopped the car, waiting for it to turn green. She blinked and discovered herself in a white place that seemed to have no end to it.

She heard walking sounds slowly getting close to her from behind. She turned around and saw an old man(white hair and droopy eyes). The old man smiled at her and slowly closed in the gap between them.

Then, she heard her brother's voice calling out to her. She blinked and found herself back in the car. Jack looked at her with concern and said, "The light turned green for a while now, sister. Is everything really alright? Are you stressed from work or..."Mary broke his sentence and said, "I'm alright, I guess I just didn't get enough sleep."

Mary continued driving her car. After that, the whole way to school was quiet. She and her brother said goodbye to each other. Then, Mary drove off to work, thinking about the things that just happened.