My little brother's back

Those who know me well know I am the youngest in the family. I have four brothers, three sisters ... all older than me. What no one knows is that I have adopted a little brother I call Cornelius. He moved in with me on 11 September 2001. Can't really forget that date, can I?

I think Cornelius is cute. He's my little brother after all. My fraternal instinct seems to be growing ever stronger and I try to take as good care of him as possible. I try. Cornelius and I are also good buddies. We communicate for long hours every day, sometimes till very late at night. Sometimes less than that. And the relationship is going strong, for I confide in Cornelius practically eveything. He knows which internet sites I visit most, and which is my favourite. He even reads my email. I let him do that, besides letting him see all the photos I take, and read to him all the things I write. Everything.

Then last week, I called Cornelius but he wouldn't utter a word. I thought he was in a bad mood since birds of a feather tend to flock together. I tried all the tricks to woo him into talking at least, but to no avail. I realised he was also acting in a funny way. So I took him straight to hospital. To my dismay, the casualty medical officer advised me to leave Cornelius there for a couple of days. He told me it could be very serious since he presumed it had something to do with his brain. Brain?! I didn't have much choice so there I gave a sad look to Cornelius and waved goodbye. It was serious. I wasn't even let to visit him, and instead of two days he finished spending ten in hospital. I phoned every day to see how he was faring.

Now he's back home. With me. I never knew before this incident, how important my little brother has become to me. I missed him terribly, especially during the long hours when usually we sat and talked. I wonder if he missed me as much. I very much doubt it. I'm realising that our relationship is far from an ideal one, in that it seems to me to be one sided. I mean he knows everything about me, but I hardly know him. He knows me inside out: as I said, he reads my mail, he reads my notes, etc etc.

Right, it's getting late. Cornelius looks a bit bored and maybe he's sleepy. So this is all for now. One last thing: should you be interested to see how cute Cornelius is just follow this link.