Athena

“Sorry for your loss.”

That's what they all say. But do people really mean it? Or is it just something that we've been told we had to do enough that it has become expected? Is it for them, to make themselves feel better, or them just trying to look like they care?

I received the call somewhere around three in the morning, telling me to turn on my television to the news. I sat there in horror watching the place where she had been camped being consumed by fire. I knew that she was gone, I didn't need them calling back giving me false hopes about being able to find her alive. At that moment the only thing that I could think of was that she'd never be forgotten, that she'd live forever in the hearts of those that she died helping make their lives a little more comfortable.

The sudden death of my sister hit me hard. I had just talked to her earlier that night. Things were quiet on her end, despite being close to an active war-zone. When I asked her when she would be heading back home, back to safety she always gave me the same response.

“The work I do is important, you know that. You also know that I'm going to live forever, just like Doris and Raul in 'Fame.'”

Blame, for me, wasn't on the people that attacked the village. At first, I blamed her for going or her for not leaving when she had planned, but mostly I blamed myself for not being able to convince her not to go or to go along with her like she had wanted. More impatiently I blamed the people that couldn't protect her.

People came and went saying how the world would be just a little darker without her here. Most of them didn't even know her, not really. I was her only family and now I'm all that's left. That's what got to me the most, knowing that I didn't have anybody left that I could always count on. She was there for me without question, even when she was out on a job she always had time for me.

“They have another job coming up, come with me?”

“Why don't you stay here? Can't you stay here this once?”

She laughed.

“You have no idea what you're missing. It'd be perfect for your photography.” She leaned back on the couch. “You could really show people what it is we're doing over there.”

“I can't... I have projects to finish here.”

Sure enough, the call came at five-thirty in the morning, it was her boss.

“It was her, wasn't it? She didn't make it out in time?”

“Phoebe would have wanted you to come collect her things, but if you'd rather I could send it to you.”

My phone slipped from my hands before I realized that it was gone. Even though I knew that she was gone, hearing somebody confirm it just made real. I scrambled to grab the phone from the floor.

“I'm sorry, I just don't... I don't know.”

“The next flight over here won't be for another few days, I'll call back tomorrow to see if you have an answer... Athena, we'll keep everything safe for you.”

“Yeah... I'll talk to you tomorrow.”

The phone fell from my hand once more before I fell back onto the couch, crying into my hands. I knew what I had to do. It was her last wish and I had to do it, for her at least.

The wait was what drove me crazy. I second-guessed my decision to go more than once, just while packing my bags. If she could only see me now, she'd be laughing at how long it took me to pack. She would have said that paint could have dried faster.

We were close, “two peas in a pod” like my mom called us, but she was her own person. She wanted to help those that didn't have the ability to help themselves. I didn't understand what drove her to do the things that she did. She tried to make the world a better place even if it was only one village at a time. She was the one person that made me want to be better than I was, better than I am, whereas I was the rebel with green hair.

Our parents would never have believed it. That I would be the one that was going to be flying across the planet to go finish what Phoebe had started. But here I am about to embark on this journey to a place I never imagined that I'd go. I've always wanted to explore the world, but never quite like this. Phoebe knew that I'd go, that I couldn't deny her of the last request from her.

The flight was long, I couldn't believe how long it felt. The feeling of dread soon became unbearable while on the flight. The feeling didn't let up till the plane was on the ground and I was on my way out onto the tarmac. I wasn't even sure of the name of the person was that I was meeting, but I somehow knew that meeting her would make everything final.

“Athena, I'm Alice. Your sister told us so much about you.”

She was tall with long strawberry blond hair, she looked more like my sister than I ever did in that way. I felt jealous of this woman, even though I exchanged emails with Phoebe daily, she knew and understood things about her that I never could. But just maybe being in this place seeing how she lived and who she surrounded herself with would give me more of an understanding. That was something that I felt that I desperately needed.

“I know, she told me about you and your work as well.”

Alice smiled.

“This work was important to her, but I'm sure that you know that.”

She grabbed one of my bags.

“I think that you'll like it here.”

The reality of what had happened finally hit me as I walked into her room. This would be the only thing that I had left of her. I admired her for everything that she stood for, everything that she believed in, and everything that she did to help those less fortunate than herself.