It was Sunday night on September 9, 2007. The sky was black, and the rain came out of the clouds so hard it was able to puncture holes into cars. It seemed as though the sun would never shine again. Every face in Brooksville matched the weather, except for one. Lisa Ryan was her name, and she had a very special reason for being the only one in the entire town of Brooksville to be smiling.
On Saturday, September 8th, Megan Ryan was sitting on her well made bed, smiling as she got ready for another Saturday in Brooksville. Megan brushed her pin-straight hair and looked in the mirror. There was no need for makeup on her beautiful porcelain doll face. She walked out of the room and went downstairs, careful not to wake anyone. She did not know that her sister, Lisa, was watching her through the covers of her bed. With a scowl on her face, Lisa watched Megan and her beautiful straight hair neatly combed and set in place, and her face that needed absolutely no work. She thought about her own hair that she had to struggle with everyday -attacking it with a straightener for an hour- and it still managed to look only half as good as Megan’s, if even that much. She thought about her own face that had to be covered with medications and then with makeup as an attempt to make her acne disappear, but the best she ever managed was to make it look like a small breakout rather than a chronic condition. She scowled as she remembered when they were younger and in high school; Megan was always the prettiest and got all the guys, and good grades. Lisa had just followed behind her hoping to someday be like her little sister.
Megan had just graduated from college and was already very successful in life: She was staying with her family for a week, so her apartment could be painted. Megan rented the apartment with her very own money, not money borrowed from her parents or money from a loan. Lisa had never gotten into college, and she knew her parents were still upset about it. To top it all off, the day Megan told her parents about a steady, high paying job Lisa had just lost hers. It was only minimum wage, but now Lisa had no money at all. She had to rely on her parents for everything.
Lisa stayed in bed for another two hours, then lazily went to take a shower, leaving her bed looking like a tornado just hit it. She noticed that Megan had cleaned up everything in the bathroom. Although it looked neater, Lisa couldn’t find anything. She overheard her mother talking to Megan downstairs.
“Thank you so much, dear! That was really a wonderful surprise, breakfast in bed for my birthday!”
“It’s no problem Mom. It’s your birthday, just sit back and relax. And open this present.”
“Oh my goodness Megan, this is really too much.” Megan had got their mother a beautiful gold necklace with three diamond hearts on it.
“Mom, it’s the least I could do. You paid for my entire college education, and now I have a great job because of it.”
“Thank you so much Megan, I love it. I really do.” Their mother was close to tears as she hugged Megan.
‘Great!’ Lisa thought, she hadn’t even remembered her mom’s birthday! Lisa looked around her room to see if she could wrap something up quickly and give it to her mom. She couldn’t find anything, so she just walked downstairs thinking of an excuse to tell her.
“Mom, I meant to get you a present but…”

“That’s ok, Lisa. Go eat breakfast; Megan planned the whole day out to celebrate my birthday.” Lisa looked at her sister in disgust. Why did she have to give her mom such a great present, when Lisa had nothing to give?
Megan, Lisa and their mother set out for a day at the spa. Lisa was reluctant to go because she hated doing ‘girly’ stuff. She knew that Megan knew that Lisa wouldn’t want to go. But Lisa was determined to make her sister miserable, and she knew that if she went with them, Megan would have no fun.
While at the spa, Lisa did everything that she could to make her sister unhappy. But everything she did backfired. Like when she asked for more expensive things, because Megan was paying, she ended up paying for it herself because Megan was busy in a different room, and they needed the money up front. When they got home, Megan baked a cake and made dinner for the family. Lisa had told Megan that she would help bake the cake, but Megan had made it without her.
Everyday had been like this, Megan out did everything Lisa did. Their parents praised Megan for everything little thing she did; it was as if Megan was a two-year old that obeyed the rules or washed her hands. Lisa knew it was childish of her, but she wanted attention from her parents. She wanted to be loved like Megan was. Lisa was three when Megan was born, and since then Megan was the favorite child. Lisa knew this, and no matter how hard she tried, Megan was always one step ahead of her. She was twenty-seven years old, and she was still living with her parents. Her little sister Megan had left for college five years ago and was now very prosperous.

It was Sunday morning, the last day Megan was staying with the family. Her apartment was painted and furnished. Megan bought both of her parents an expensive gift, but when she went to Lisa’s room she only had a newspaper in her hand. She gave Lisa the newspaper and told her to find a job. Megan told Lisa that she could be almost as successful as herself, if she tried. She bragged about her new job and apartment. Megan was an angel around her parents, but around Lisa all she did was put her down, or brag about herself. Lisa had thought this side of Megan had gone since college, but she was wrong. Megan was just as nasty as before.

Lisa was fed up. Enough was enough; Lisa could not take Megan anymore. She wanted to hurt Megan. She wanted to kick her, punch her, or push her down the stairs. Lisa wanted to do something horrible to Megan. Lisa was going mad with anger. She wanted to cause pain to Megan. She wanted Megan to regret being born.

Lisa darted to the kitchen, she frantically thought about ways to get Megan hurt or in trouble. She could put alcohol in her drink; maybe Megan would be pulled over for DWI. Or she could put the strawberry lemonade powder that Megan was allergic to into the cup, but her parents would know it was Lisa who put it in the cup. Lisa ran around the kitchen thrusting open every cabinet door looking for something. She decided to put the strawberry powder in it.

“I’ll make iced tea for everyone before you go Meg.” Lisa spilt iced tea on the table and when she got paper towels to clean it, she saw a small box of powder under the sink. ‘This is so much better than strawberry powder!’ Lisa was going delusional. She laughed in a very high pitch. ‘It won’t even be traced back to me!’
“Say good-bye to your precious child.” Lisa whispered as she poured the box of rat poison into the cup. She put the cup at Megan’s place at the table and waited anxiously for Megan take a sip.

“The iced tea is ok. I guess. I’m sure I could do better.” Megan was criticizing her sister once again.

“Personally, I think it’s to die for.” Lisa looked at her sister and smiled.