Lone trees passed by swiftly against the yellow horizon as Henry drives down south, even though he had just toggled the A/C, he wipes the sweat off his brows, the humid heat showing him no mercy.
The winding roads were slightly hypnotic, triggering memories of his sister - the main reason for this journey. Although Henry is the younger one, he still bears some responsibility toward his sister who had a reputation of being the black sheep.
Henry has always been the one always rushing to the rescue, even when they were younger but this time he's not rushing to save his sister but a 2-year-old girl, Lisa, her daughter, who is about to be tossed into the foster-care system if he doesn't get to her on time.
The tires crunch against the gravel as Henry abruptly stops the car in front of a courthouse building, he steps down from the car, welcomed by a choir of chirping cicadas in the hot summer.
"Hello miss... I'm here in regards to my little niece, Lisa Burton, um... I filled a petition for guardianship, last week" Henry spoke calmly to the official at the counter.
"Uh... okay, fill up the paper forms, and I'll get back to you sir" The woman replied in monotone.
After long hours of paperwork and procedures, The woman approached him with some documents.
"You can pick her up at this address, just show them your paperwork... have a nice day sir" The official smiled as she handed him a card.
Soon afterward, Henry approached the building at the address, his heartstrings tugged when he caught sight of Lisa, the freckles on her cheeks and her large hazel eye reminded him of his sister when they were little.
A slight frown suddenly crept at the corner of his mouth as he was reminded of his sister, He had to give her a piece of his mind before leaving but first, he had to find her, whatever hole she had crept in.
After some hours of asking directions from sketchy figures and driving down abandoned buildings, he came across a trailer van where his sister was suspected to be.
Walking up to the door, He squeezed his nose at the stench he perceived, his leather boots slightly sinking into the wet unpaved path, after a series of knocks, a scrawny-looking figure steps out, Henry was barely able to recognize his sister who looked like a shadow of what she once was.
"Oh wow, you really are something huh Clara... you know I didn't really believe it until I saw it for myself, to say I'm disappointed would be an understatement, I mean... really!?" Henry spoke brashly in an effort to speak some sense at her.
There was an awkward pause in the air, it seemed Clara was still zoned out.
"Do you even know who's standing before you... Hello?" Henry snapped his fingers at her ears while holding Lisa in his other arm.
"Oh.. h-hey Henry, you got Lisa back" Clara lifted her droopy eyes slowly with an absent-minded smile.
She tried stretching towards Lisa with her slightly jittery hands before Henry pushed back her hands.
"You don't get it, do you? you are done, you've fked up one last time..." Henry retorted and turned away from Clara.
He realized talking to her was like speaking to a brick wall. Their relationship had taken a final dent and this was it. An unexpected responsibility dropped on his shoulder but still, he held Lisa's fragile figure gently with warmth in his heart.
As he drove back home on that long journey, he looked back at Lisa sleeping peacefully in the back seat, the reflection of the sun kissing her blonde hair ignited a warm smile on his face.
* * * * *
The years passed and Henry got accustomed to being a Father in Lisa's life, he was absolutely shocked at how much she talked and acted like his sister as she grew up.
Somehow, he personified his sister within Lisa and felt this was a second chance at making things right, He was gonna make sure she didn't end up like her mother.
Some months after Lisa's fourth birthday, Henry heard a knock at the door, He opened it and was shocked to see his sister but she looked healthier than when he last saw her.
"Oh hey, Henry" Clara spoke with an unsteady voice.
She couldn't even maintain a gaze with Henry, she looked down in shame and regret.
Henry slowly welcomed her in and they both had a long discussion, He found out that she went to rehab and was two years clean, she now has a stable job and an apartment down south.
As the discussion aged, Clara hinted that she was ready to be a mother and have Lisa back in her life but Henry was very hesitant about that idea because he had already filed final adoption papers for Lisa, He wasn't about to let Lisa go, she had already left a deep footprint in his heart.
