Down by the dock (a short story)

Down by the dock

The dock, with its pale white washed wood and its years upon years of being worn down. The lake, that separates this small island apart from the rest of the world, looks deeply dark and disturbing, reflecting the dark gray and white storm clouds above. It will start raining soon of this I have no doubt. This place where I am headed in this early hour of the day. Maybe the rain will help me to connect with him again, my younger brother. A long overdue boat slowly chugs into the bay. Four of the sailors automatically jump onto the deck and start reeling the boat into its “parking place”. As the  wave of tourists threatens to wash me away I suddenly spot him. He is standing at the edge of the dock staring out into the depths of the water. He looks ghostly thin and ungodly pale, of course that could be caused by the dark hue of his clothing. His light blonde hair ,which I used to be so jealous of, was dyed to become the darkest color of black he could probably find. He bent down to pick up one of the smooth painted rocks that littered the deck, throwing it into the water, he watched it skip for several beats before splashing to the depths. Coming out of my study I call out my grieving little brother's name “Tanner !” he turns around and I see what I had missed from behind. His face which used to look so much like my father's, no longer did. I guess the combination of grief and despair had wiped away most of the resemblance. As he walked slowly towards me along the uneven and worn deck his face held no emotion. It was devoid of life. This face was not my brother's, the boy who used to run up to me whenever he even heard the slightest hint of my voice. As he slowly came closer I saw the army of leftover scars from the accident...he had been driving that night. Two months ago on what seemed like would be an ordinary night, Tanner was driving my dads dark red convertible. It was his favorite car that he had ever owned. But it couldn't protect him that night. While they were stopped at a red light, a driver came racing towards them out of control. Tanner  tried to get out of the way but apparently because it was cold out there was some black ice and they spun out of control. There was nothing that he could have done but he still blames himself for our father's death. And apparently the grief and shame was killing my precious brother. He finally reached the spot that I was  standing at. As I pulled my morose kid brother into a tight hug his arms hung limply at his sides. After a moment he brought his arms up and pressed them around the small of my back and laid his head on my shoulder  acting as if I was the one who needed comfort. Maybe I was a little bit, but he was more important. As he let go I stared into his face searching for any sign of life in his black and brown soulless eyes. However all that I could see was his pain and my saddened reflection in his eyes. His hand reached up and brushed a wet tear off of my face. “Mercy?” he calmly whispered and swept me into another hug. Of its own accord the weak sun has swept from the sky. The heavens  broke open and wept great sobbing tears. With each great drop the deck of the dock became more of a musical instrument than a place to unload ships. With the habit of doing so in the past, my brother lifted his crestfallen face to be wept upon by the clouds. His smile burst forth from the sadness that had overcome him until now. This place just had a simple dock and a pure crystal lake and had been the place of occurrence that my dear brother, my kid brother  had found hope again and began to fight his darkness within. With this new hope that we had found I started to lead him towards my car and we left behind the dock that had shared a part in this great occurrence. Later that night in the comfort of my home we found out that the old and worn out dock had washed away. My brother and I were the last ones who managed to be helped by that old magical dock. But thankfully the magic will live on in my brother. The next morning I walked down to where the dock once was. There was an old lump of the dock laying on the ground. I picked up the desecrated piece of wood and started to carve it into a heart. The plan is to carve “ Mercy and Tanner, thanks to you, the dock, my brother got his soul back.” This way my brother and I will never forget this place and it will live on with us. The sun shined down on the water casting a glow to all things as I walked back up to my house to take care of Tanner. As I handed him the carved out heart he smiled once more and it gave me new hope.