It was finally finished. After nearly a year of workshops and meetings and filming, Mea’s first movie was finished.

I can’t believe it, she thought, taking another drag of her cigarette. My movie is ready for people everywhere to see. She smiled up at the clear night sky, happiness bubbling inside her like boiling water.

She didn’t realize that she would be this happy when it was done. Of course she knew she would be happy, just not this happy. Happy almost didn’t seem like a good enough word for it. Ecstatic, joyful, cheerful, exuberant, elated, none of those words did justice to how happy she felt. Only one thing in the world could make her happier now. Victoria.

God how I miss you, Mea thought. She dropped into one of the lounge chairs that sat in a haphazard circle around her. She had many happy memories of the time Vicky had spent with her here on the movie set. Her little sister seemed to ooze energy and Vicky always made everything seem a hundred times more wonderful.

It had been nearly three months since Mea had seen her. School had started again and Vicky had to leave. Mea had been lonely without her. Vicky had become as constant as the moon on the set. She’d been with them for the entire summer on location in Italy. She’d helped with everything and Mea had come to rely on her advice and impute.

Leaning back, Mea let memories wash over her. A cake fight from a few weeks after Vicky had arrived popped into Mea’s mind. It had been Daniel’s birthday and they’d had a huge party for him. In the course of the festivities, Vicky had tossed a piece of cake at Dan who, of course, threw one back. Before she knew it, Mea was caught up in the biggest cake fight she’d ever seen. After it was over, they were all head-to-foot icing and crumbs and laugh fit to burst. It had been a sad day despite the party. Dan’s grandfather had died the week before and Dan was still lost in his grief, but Vicky had made him forget, if only for a few minutes, and he had been happy.

Mea could remember countless other times when Vicky had helped. There had been many nights where Mea had sat up long after everyone else had gone to sleep, smoking cigarette after cigarette, her mind running over any of a million things. She and Vicky had spent almost every night sitting out under the stars smoking, talking, or just lying there side-by-side listening to music. It had been sheer bliss to have her little sister around again. Mea didn’t realize how much she missed her until Vicky wasn’t around to pester her.

It was really Vicky who was to thank for the movie, Mea realized as she stabbed out the cherry of her cigarette and tossed the butt into the bushed. Vicky had been the one constant thing through all the years of writing the script and going through film school and planning how and where to shoot the film. Without her, none of this would have happened.

Mea smiled fondly as she thought of her sister’s face. Vicky would be so shocked when she saw what Mea had done. In a few months, after everyone was seated and the movie started, sitting in a dark theatre surrounded by important people, Vicky would realize just how much she meant to Mea.

For, before even the credits for the studio and the producers started rolling, there would be something; a gift that Vicky would always know was just for her. A simple dedication, only a few small words from one sister to another. “For Vicky: This Story is Forever Yours.”

Thinking back to their last conversation, Mea couldn’t help but laugh. Just as her sister had started to walk into the hideously long line for airport security, Mea had grabbed her.

Hugging her close, she’d whispered: “I only have words and images to give to others in this world, and only my love to give to you. But in my love I can give you something else, I can give you a story that no one will ever forget.”

With only a simple, “Good-bye, I love you,” Mea had walked away. Now that cryptic conversation would make sense to Vicky. In a room filled with hundreds, she would feel as if she was the only person in the world. Vicky would sit and stare at the screen with a new feeling inside. Instead of just pride for a sister who had accomplished so much, Vicky would watch with the world as a story was given to her, a story that would be all hers even after many years had passed.

Mea lit another cigarette and walked to the edge of the lot where a large cliff dropped off so that a view of the town below was unobstructed. She took a long pull and looked down at the spider web of twinkling lights.

Little sis, she thought, holding the smoke in her lungs. I dedicate this puff to you.

And save me some fucking cigarettes you little brat.

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