Since then, Maria didn’t even say a word that was related to Brian. Although she didn’t say, she still missed him very much. When she was sleeping, she dreamt about Brian and her meeting. She saw a boy wear a red T-shirt, blue jeans and a pair of yellow sneakers who was standing near the McDonald’s. She cried out “Brian!” and when the boy turned his head, Maria realized that he was not Brian. Then, she woke up. She looked at the stars and made a wish.
Maria said, “I wish I could meet my brother. Can you make my wish come true please?”
One day, when the teacher was reading aloud a passage, he said, “Brian was a teenager who went away from home because he didn’t like his parents…”, Maria thought it was talking about her brother. She cried out loud and rushed out of the classroom. The teacher phoned Maria’s parents and discussed about the strange behaviour of Maria. When Maria came back home, her parents scolded her.
As time flied, Toby was already a 12-year-old. He was good at using computer. Maria knew that she had to forget the exist of Brian as she thought that it was a truth that Brian would never find her anymore.
On one day, when Toby was doing a homework about family, he remembered something. He remembered he still had a brother who was Brian. He was curious of Brian.
Toby asked Maria, “Where is Brian now? I remembered that when I was small, you kept saying that you missed brother so much, right?
As Maria didn’t want to talk about Brian anymore, she said, “No…no, we don’t have a…. a brother. You are my only brother in this world.”
Toby knew that she lied, “Why do you tell lies to me? Why don’t Mom and Dad talk about Brian?”
Maria didn’t want to reply.
Toby shouted, “Hey, talk to me! Talk to me please! Why don’t you give any responses? I am asking you a question!”
“Enough! Don’t talk about him anymore,” Maria said angrily.
“Mom and Dad don’t let us talk about Brian. When you were still in Mom’s tummy, they said that Brian had been a bad influence. Therefore, they didn’t let me say even a word about Brian. To be honest, I really miss him and I want to meet him. However, it seems impossible, right?” Maria sighed.
“No, we can’t give up! We can find Brian on one day.” said Toby.
“We? I thought I was the only one who would like to find Brian. Thanks, Toby.” Maria said.
“I would find Brian on the internet. I would ask all my friends whether they have any news of Brian.” Toby said excitedly.
“Thanks again, my lovely brother.” Maria said happily.
They searched on the internet day after day.
After a few weeks, when Toby was searching, he screamed.
“What happened?” Maria asked curiously.
“Brother… brother…brother! It’s Brian! He’s working at McDonald’s. Someone mentioned him in one of the comments. Let’s go there right now!” Toby yelled.
“Brian, we are coming!” Maria proclaimed.
Maria and Toby ran to the McDonald’s hurriedly. Their heart was beating very fast. They kept brushing tears away from their eyes. And giggling. This made Maria thought about the past. When they arrived, they looked around in the McDonald’s, searching for their brother. They searched the first floor, but they found nothing. Then, they went to the second level. There, in the corner of the second level, next to the window where people could see down into the parking lot, they saw a man serve a customer. The man had a dragon tattoo and he was wearing yellow sneakers.
“Brian?” Maria spoke weakly.
The man turned his head.
“Maria?”