Clyde listened to the gentle rain as he stared out the window. The rain patted the glass window and zigzagged down it in many crooked paths. The sun hadn't shone through the sky all morning and Clyde was beginning to think it wouldn't at all. The TV was on, but he didn't know what was on or who was talking. He kept his eyes fixed on the growing puddle of water that was forming on the road.
"What's wrong, Clyde?" asked his brother Shale as he entered the living room.
Clyde shrugged. "Lots of things lately," he said nonchalantly.
Shale looked at him and frowned. With a sigh he sat on the chair opposite of the couch and looked at the steady rainfall. "It's about Mom, isn't it?"
Clyde kept his gaze on the rain before he gave a slow nod.
"I miss her, too..."
Clyde turned to face him. "It just sucks. Today's the day to really celebrate your mother and embrace all of the love and care she gave you while raising you, and thank her and tell her she's the greatest and most beautiful mother you could ever ask for, but we don't have the luxury of even saying it to her face." He wiped his eyes before they got too watery and he looked at the ground. "It's not fair. Mom and Dad didn't have to go that soon."
Shale dropped his head to the ground as well. "I know how you feel," he said with a voice full of sorrow, "but we can still celebrate Mother's Day. You know she's watching us right now."
Clyde looked up and saw his brother's smile. He knew Shale was right. He gave him a nod and slightly smiled. "What do you want to do to celebrate?"
"How about we reminisce on family memories?" suggested Shale, "it might be sad, but we could at least show her we will always love her."
Clyde nodded. "I'm in."
"Fantastic." Shale looked up at the ceiling for a moment. Clyde could tell by his facial expression that he was trying to think hard of one certain memory. Shale was older than Clyde by seven years, and he knew Shale probably could remember a lot more memories with their parents than he ever could. "I'll start off by saying, I'm sorry for picking on Clyde over here when we were little, Mom.” He gave a smirk and looked over at Clyde. “You know I love you Clyde, as you are my only sibling and my little brother, but I was jealous you were getting more attention than me since you were a baby."
"Really?" asked Clyde surprised. "You were jealous? I never pictured you as that type."
Shale laughed. "I grew out of it eventually, but until we had that one fight where I shoved you down on the driveway and you cried all night because I scraped up your knee, I hated how you were getting more attention than me. I was the first son, so I thought I deserved all the gifts and love. Not you. I felt ignored at times."
Clyde shook his head before chuckling. "That sounds like Rarity when she was younger. She told me she acted almost exactly like that to Sweetie Belle."
Shale laughed. "Yeah, but I know you forgive me now, but I'm sorry for being that asshole brother to you. When I hurt you, I really felt bad and I remember Mom coming to talk to me as Dad was cleaning up the cut on your knee." Shale leaned back in his chair and smiled. Clyde noticed his brother's eyes were growing with tears and he was feeling emotional just hearing about family tales. "She told me she wasn't upset at me for hurting you, which I feared she would be. I don't think I ever saw Mom get mad at any of us to be honest from what I remember. Anyway, she wanted me to pretend I was the baby and you were me."
Clyde scratched his head. "Why? Did she want you to imagine if you were the one to get cut up instead?"
Shale nodded. "I told her of course I didn’t want to get hurt. That's when she smiled at me and told me no one likes being hurt, so I shouldn't try and hurt anyone. She even said how she would do anything to protect Dad and the two of us, just so we wouldn't get hurt as we were the most special people in the world to her." Clyde saw a tear roll down his brother's cheek and he looked away before a tear fell from his own eyes. "Those words really stuck with me through the years as I promised I would protect her, Dad, and you, if possible. Since it's just the two of us now Clyde, I won't let her down and I will protect you and help protect this country, too." Shale laughed away some tears before giving his brother a nod.
Clyde rubbed his arm against his eyes and nodded at his brother. He knew this day was always emotional every year since their parents' death, but by finally being able to talk it out with his brother, Clyde felt a sense of closure and joy. Nothing would ever bring back his parents, but he could always remember them through pictures, memories, and speech.
"What about you, Clyde?"
"Huh?" said Clyde as he blinked back to reality.
Shale shook his head slowly with a smirk. "Do you have any personal moments with Mom? I never told you or Dad about that conversation we had that night I just talked about."
"Oh, yeah, I do." Clyde adjusted himself on the couch and rested his hands behind his head. "She noticed I was sad one day after coming home from school and she asked me what was wrong. I–"
"What was the problem?" interrupted Shale, "were you bullied? Why didn't you tell me!"
"I wasn't bullied!" spoke Clyde loudly and annoyed at being interrupted. "Let me tell my story! I let you tell yours."
Shale laughed and rubbed his head. "Sorry. My guardian instinct kicked in."
"It's fine," replied Clyde with a laugh. He coughed to clear his throat even though his throat was perfectly fine. "Anyway, I was six years old at time time just to give you a better picture. After a week of school went by, none of the kids in my class wanted to hang out with me during lunch or when we played outside. I was always that loner kid in class with none of my classmates talking to me." Clyde's vision was getting cloudy and he kept his stare at the ceiling.
"Oh man... I never knew this. Why didn't they like you?"
"I don't know. I never knew. I guess because I wasn't playing sports, didn't have the cool new games, or had the 'cooties' disease that was super popular that year. I tried really hard to make friends, but my classmates just didn't care. I spent pretty much everyday at school working by myself, which made me learn rather quickly compared to other kids, but I still wanted a friend. Naturally, Mom always knew when I was upset, so she stopped me at the front door and made me tell her what was wrong."
Shale smiled. "Sounds like her alright."
"I told her I was sad that I was going to be a loner all my life," continued Clyde, "and that I would never have friends. She instantly told me that was a 'bunch of boloney' and I will find my true friends eventually. Just because some students didn't talk to me didn't me all of them in the school would. She finished saying that true friends would always show up and help you in any situation."
"You did make a friend too, didn't you?" questioned Shale with a grin.
Clyde beamed a huge smile. "Yup! A few days after that conversation, I met Mosaic. We were playing a kickball game outside and we both ran into each other after trying to catch a fly ball that was coming down. I do miss that guy though, he was my first friend..."
"Didn't he move away in the fifth grade?"
"Yeah," said Clyde sadly. "We did everything together; from playing in the woods behind his house to playing those racing games on that cubular game console." Clyde gave a sigh. "I was so upset all day long after he moved away. I thought being alone was always going to be my thing in life, but Mom talked to me again saying to never, ever think that. She told me every single night that I would never be alone. She, Dad, you, and everyone else who was important to me would always be with me somehow. I believed her, I truly did, but after Mom and Dad left us unexpectedly and then you left me to join the Guard, I soon found my way back to the normal pit of loneliness and emptiness from before. Sure I had some new friends like Tyrone, but I couldn't help but think like that again."
Shale frowned and looked at the ground. "I'm sorry, Clyde... I never realized how much being alone means to you. I never should have done that to you..."
Clyde frowned sadly with him, but still, he soon found himself smiling. "Even though I was depressed and alone in this empty house by myself, hope still managed to save me. One girl changed my life for the better. She cleansed all the thoughts of being alone from ever taking over my body again."
Shale quickly looked up at him and smiled. "Rarity, huh?"
Clyde's smile grew as he heard her name. "Rarity will always be important to me in ways no one except me or her could ever know. I know I joke about fate was the reason we met, but I honestly believe Mom guided me to her. When Rarity came over that one Christmas Eve and told me nearly the same mantra Mom would always tell me about how I would never be alone again, I knew Rarity was an angel sent my way. I never even told Rarity about that struggle in my life until after we began dating, but I couldn't ever ask for a better girlfriend, let alone, the greatest friend I've ever had." Clyde sat up from the couch and stood tall. He closed his eyes and smiled. "Mom, I know you can hear me and I just wanted to say I will always love you and I hope I never disappoint you. I wish I could fall into your many hugs you would give us when we both were younger, but sadly that’s not the case. I'll be sure to make you and Dad proud and remember all of the things you both taught me as I grew up.”
Shale gave a huge grin and stood up. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll be sure to keep our little Clyde safe for you. I love and miss you, too. Happy Mother’s Day.”
Clyde and Shale looked at each other and smiled. They didn’t smile only because they felt better and proud to be brothers with a loving mother. They smiled for their Mom because they knew she loved seeing them happy and their large smiles that would brighten her day no matter what was happening.
After a few seconds, Shale looked over Clyde’s shoulder and pointed out the window. “I guess there’s no reason for rain today after all.”
Clyde spun around and saw for himself that the rain was no more and the cloudy sky from before was a bright blue. The sun was at a certain angle in the sky that it shone directly into Clyde’s face. He lifted his arm to shield the sun and laughed. “I bet she cleared the sky up for us. She always loved sunny days.”
Shale nodded. “Good. Let’s go to the park then. We aren’t wasting this perfect day.” He took a few steps towards the door and stopped. “Hey, Mom. I’m sorry, but I have to beat up Clyde today... in a game of basketball.” Shale looked behind him and smirked at his younger brother.
“Yeah, right,” laughed Clyde. “Bring it on.”