“Baby Sister”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: “Are you coming?”

“Are you coming?” I call.

The only response I get is Katie’s heavy breathing as she clutches at the rocks. Her knuckles are white and her face is covered in sweat as she peers up at me.

“Help,” she gasps. “I can’t hold on for much longer.”

“Don’t be a baby,” I sigh. “You’re fine.”

“I’m slipping!” she squeaks. “Please, help me!”

“You’re fine,” I repeat. “Just pull yourself up.”

“I can’t!”

“Sure you can.”

“I CAN’T!”

I wince at the shrillness of her voice and look around anxiously. Luckily I don’t recognize anyone here. Narrowly dodged a bullet with that one; I can already imagine the teasing I’d get at school for having to babysit my baby of a little sister.

“JOSH!”

“What?” I snap. “Just use your muscles. You’re fine.”

“I’M GOING TO FALL! DO SOMETHING!”

With a sigh, I reach down and pull her up. She’s so light that I can get her all the way up with just one arm.

As soon as she’s back on her own feet, she grins triumphantly and rings the bell.

“Mom! Mom! Did you see?” she yells. “I climbed to the top all by myself!”

Mom glances up from her phone to give Katie a thumbs up before returning to her work.

“Okay, now it’s time to go down,” I tell Katie with a smirk. “Meet you down there.”

As I begin repelling down the rock wall, Katie’s voice echoes from above me, “JOOOOOSH!”

Final Comments: I had fun with this one, but I wish I’d included more imagery.

Overall Rating: 🙂