My Sister from Another Dimension

My sister is from

Another dimension

One day I woke up

And there she was

She was seven-years-old

But I had no memory

Of her being born

Or any of the seven years

She had (allegedly) been on the planet

I thought some girl

Who looked sort of like my mom and dad

Had wandered into our house

And I thought about locking her

In the bathroom

Until someone could come get her

‘What are you talking about,’ my parents asked me,

As the strange little girl was banging

On the bathroom door

‘That’s your sister!’

She was not my sister

I had no sister

Did my parents really think

I was so forgetful

I could have a sibling

And not even know it?

It wasn’t long before I figured out

That this person calling herself my sister

Was really just an alien

From another dimension

Aliens are known to zap out

The memories of adults

And put in new memories

Which is why parents

Didn’t remember not having

A daughter

Because they loved only having a son

And would never want to test their luck

By having any other children

I was forced to have breakfast

Across from my new alien sister

And even her behavior gave away

Her otherworldly origins

She poured orange juice

On her cereal
And when my mother asked her

How she likes her eggs

She said that she doesn’t like eggs

DOESN’T LIKE EGGS!!!

I searched the eyes of my parents

To see if they were alarmed

By this startling confession

But no, they shrugged it off

And continued getting ready

For the day

When my alien sister and I

Boarded the bus

I was sure some of my friends
Would remember

That just that previous Friday

I had no sister

But they greeted her

The same way they did with me

One even asked her

About a television show

It seems the two of them

Both enjoy

And this was almost too much for me

I considered hopping off the bus

Running to the nearest rocket launchpad

And sending myself into space

To find the happy alien home of my sister

So I could ruin her breakfast

And ride the bus with her friends

The school day passed without incident

But when I got home

My mother had made

What she believed to be

My sister’s ‘favorite meal’

Since she had won the spelling bee that day

Unbeknownst to me

I refused to eat anything

That an alien would enjoy

And so I was sent to bed early

With only a rutabaga to gnosh on

While I considered my actions

As the night wore on

And my parents knocked on my door

To let me know it was lights out

I burrowed under my blankets

To begin plotting

How I was going to send my sister

Back to her dimension

When I heard my bedroom door open

A second later

There was a scuffling

And there she was

Under the blankets with me

Before I could tell her

That I don’t allow aliens

In my scheming fort

She waved her hands in a circle

And soon my blankets

Were high in the air

Floating above me

With lights shining

All around

There was music

And visions of space

And planets I’d never seen before

The blankets flew around the room

For a minute or two

And then settled back down again

Over my sister and me

I took the show to mean

That my sister would like to stay

And despite my earlier objections

I remembered that we did have that spare room

Where my father kept his smelly gym shoes

And I did like having someone

To walk to the bus with

And the dinner my mother made that night

Did look rather delicious

And so I decided

To let my alien sister

From another dimension

Stay here in this dimension

That night, the world’s newest resident

Stayed in my room with me

Demonstrating how alien powers

Could be used to finish undone homework

And make ice cream appear

Out of thin air

Once I had my two scoops

Of vanilla-strawberry

I told my little sister

It was far past her bedtime

And she needed to go to sleep

It turns out

I’m a pretty great

Big brother