"Gulp... Gulp... Gulp... Ugh, this is so bitter!" Alice, her head wrapped in bandages, was currently drinking a liquid medication.
"Of course, it's bitter, that's what medicine is," Joe Walker replied, sitting in a chair and observing Alice.
"H-how are you feeling, Alice?" Maria asked nervously.
"Hmm," Alice waited for a few seconds until she realized that the strange pressure causing her headache had disappeared. She then said, "It seems like the medicine worked, the pain is gone. But it still doesn't feel completely gone."
"Don't worry, the medicine takes time to work, so it won't heal immediately," Joe Walker explained.
"Alright... But what about our situation now? Is it okay for us to rest here for a while?" Alice inquired.
"It's fine, what we should be concerned about now is you, Alice."
"I told you I'm fine! I've been fine from the start! It's just a regular headache from a minor accident."
"That was not a minor accident! Remember, Alice, a person can die even from a simple slip!"
"No, I think that's exaggerated, isn't it?"
"You're wrong, what if your head was hit in a fatal area, damaging your brain nerves? That could lead to death! Especially since your body is weak..."
"I told you it's not because my body is weak or small! I got hit by a falling coconut on my head, you know what a coconut is, right? It's very hard! Do you think you wouldn't pass out if a coconut fell on your head from a height of tens of meters?"
"Hmm," Joe Walker appeared to be deep in thought, "I don't know, I've never experienced something like that."
Alice muttered, "you don't need to experience it, just by seeing it, you would understand!"
Suddenly, Alice remembered Maria sitting next to Joe Walker at that moment. Maria was sitting with her head down, feeling guilty.
Alice understood what Maria was feeling at that moment. Although Maria always annoyed her, she didn't understand why she felt more upset than usual. It wasn't because she was angry at Maria, but she was frustrated with Maria's current behavior. Suddenly, Alice murmured, "this is not like you, Maria..."
Joe Walker noticed that Alice was observing Maria. He smiled and said, "Maria, why don't you say something to your little sister who just woke up from her sleep?"
Alice, hearing this, felt a bit annoyed, "hearing that is making me a bit irritated..."
"But, you are truly her little sister, right?"
"Ugh, I have to admit that it's true."
Alice looked back at Maria and became even more annoyed when Maria didn't respond at all.
"S-sorry... Alice...," Maria said, still with her head down.
"Sorry?" Alice was getting more confused. She understood why Maria was apologizing, but she felt strange hearing it, "sorry? Why are you apologizing now?"
"Uh, um... I'm sorry about that."
Alice became more irritated, it wasn't the word 'sorry' she wanted to hear at that moment. All memories of their conversations and arguments were playing back in Alice's mind like a tape. She couldn't understand why she felt nostalgic for all the silliness.
Alice erupted in anger and shouted, "why are you apologizing!"
Maria was startled but tried to explain, "I apologize because I made a mistake! For being foolish before..."
"Yes, you are foolish! You are foolish! Foolish! Foolish! Foolish! Foolish! I don't need your apologize!" After saying that, Alice immediately looked for a way out of the tent.
Alice was momentarily confused, looking for a way out, which almost made Joe Walker, who was feeling tense, almost laugh.
S-sorry, it's a serious moment. But Alice looks so lost, like a lost little girl. Pffttt...
"I will follow her, I will signal when something is about to happen to Alice," Violet, a ghost, said.
"Thank you," Joe replied telepathically.
Joe Walker looked at Maria, who was still bowing her head.
In Maria's deepest heart, she felt that Alice already hated her. Thinking about it made her feel uncomfortable.
There was an uncomfortable feeling in Joe Walker's heart as well. But he understood that all of this was just a misunderstanding.
Alice and Maria were good girls. They were not evil, they were family. They knew each other better than anyone else. I believe that in the depths of my heart.
Suddenly, Maria asked, "Joe, do you think Alice hates me?"
Without hesitation, Joe Walker smiled and replied, "no, that's the most impossible thing in the world. Alice loves you more than both of you realize. As an outsider who sees you both, I am very sure of that."
"Why are you so sure?"
"If Alice hated you, she would have left you a long time ago."
"Isn't she not leaving me because I'm her family?"
"No, you're wrong. In fact, she loves you because you are her family."
"But she called me stupid."
"Hasn't she always called you that all this time?"
Doubt began to creep into Alice's mind. But she asked again, "but, she doesn't care and doesn't need my apology. Doesn't that mean she doesn't care about me because she hates me?"
"Hmm," Joe Walker pondered on the matter for a moment before saying, "I don't think it's like that. Perhaps she doesn't want your apology because that's not what she wants to hear from you?"
"Huh?"
"I don't know, but you and alice are family, you should know. Think carefully, if you were in Alice's position right now, what do you most you want to hear from Alice?"
"The most I want to hear? The most i want heard when I'm in Alice's position. The most Alice wants to hear from me right now besides an apology... The most Alice wants to hear... The most...," Maria thought hard until she found her answer, "the most Alice wants to hear from me!?"
"How about it? Do you understand?"
Maria suddenly burst into tears, "sob... sob... Joe, what should I do, it seems like I've messed it up..."
"Don't cry! Now go to Alice and tell her!" Joe Walker said, patting Maria's blonde hair, as she wasn't wearing a head covering at that moment. "You don't need to worry, trust in Alice, trust in your family. It's never too late, doing it now is better than not doing it at all. Now, smile, Alice must miss your beautiful smile."
"But Alice called my smile is a stupid smile."
"Yes, Alice and I do like that stupid smile."
"What's that? Ahaha... sniff," Maria started to chuckle softly.
"Now run to where Alice is with that sweet stupid smile of yours."
Maria stood up and began to run out of the tent. But before she opened the tent flap, she turned back for a moment and shouted, "Joooooe!"
"Yes, what's wrong?"
"Thank yooooou!" After that, Maria continued to run to find Alice while laughing.
Joe Walker was slightly surprised at first. He glanced at the two head coverings lying on the table, which were used to mix medicines. The two head coverings belonged to Alice and Maria.
Oh, why did you two leave them here?
He picked up both head coverings, then smiled and said, "yes, I also thank you both for making me able to feel what life is."