Playing Hockey with my little Brother

      It was early spring when I was strolling down the street when I stopped and noticed my father holding a picture of my little brother playing hockey, the picture was very valuable to our family. I remember playing hockey with my brother that day as if it were yesterday. I remember It was early morning in February, I recall rising as the sun did, grabbing a quick bowl of cereal when I heard my little brother tiptoe up the hall behind me, I gave him a smirk and he knew right then what the plan was, this is what we done every Saturday morning. As he quickly grabbed all his hockey gear, a quick snack he headed to the bench where I helped him get ready.

      My little brother was 5 years old back then and I recollect looking into his sleepy but excited big blue eyes, messing up his short blonde hair as I swiftly laced up his tiny skates, grabbed our sticks, a puck and headed out to the rink we walked to every Saturday morning. The rink was only a few houses down from us so we didn’t mind the walk at all it was actually rather quite peaceful.

      As we turned the corner I heard him squeal as we realized we had the rink all to ourselves. The fresh crisp air was cool as we stepped on and glided up and down the ice. With our sharp blades cutting into the smooth delicate ice, our sticks slashing the puck back and forth, we roared with laughter when one messed up. That February morning the cool air was wheezing through our lungs and coming back out into clouds of fog, we started to pant as sweat begins to form from concentrating, competing and waiting for one to mess up. It was always the scenery and feeling of excitement that made things special.

      From that day I can recall the whir of the camera as I took pictures of him with his stick and puck, I remember taking in the scenery that day, the large buildings surrounding the rink, snow crystals forming on the trees from a chilly February night, the ground covered in sparkling snow as it glistened in the sun, the excitement and laughter coming from my little brother and the broad smile that remained on his face all morning. Everything seemed perfect, the setting, the smells, the scenery, who would have thought anything could go wrong?

      It was on our way home, we had stayed at the rink all morning, we were running down the road headed for home fighting the strong winds and freezing rain that had started an hour before leaving when a car out of nowhere appeared around the corner, they were driving really fast as if in a hurry to get somewhere when they lost control of the car and ran into my little brother with a loud thud, I tried to grab him but I wasn’t fast enough and he laid there still, breathless and motionless with blood gushing out from his tiny head. I knew there was no hope but I called for help anyways and later that day the doctors announced his death to my family. To this day he is still remembered as if he were just here and the pictures from that day keep coming back to haunt me, if only we had stayed home that day.