A Gift for My Brother's Eighteenth Birthday
After surviving a kidnapping and being diagnosed with severe PTSD, I became the family's top priority.
Every sharp object and glass item in the house was removed. The furniture was wrapped in thick foam padding, until not a single hard edge remained.
My parents canceled all business trips. News broadcasts and violent movies were banned from the house.
To help me feel safe, they even forced my younger brother, who had just earned a full scholarship to a top university, to stay home and keep me company around the clock.
Everything changed on the night of my brother's lavish eighteenth-birthday celebration.
When fireworks erupted across the sky without warning, I hallucinated instantly and grab