Cain and Abel and Lonely Me

I know it's natural for siblings to have intense rivalries, filled with "I told you so"s and "I'm going to kill you"s.  However, I didn't realize that some siblings took these things quite so far.
Cain and Abel are the two sons of Adam and Eve.  They both have two different jobs:  Abel keeps flocks, and Cain works the soil.  In time, Cain brings the Lord some of his fruits, and Abel brings the Lord fat portions from his flock.  Now, which do you think the Lord liked better?  Of course, he favors the nice fat portions over the fruit, which makes Cain pretty angry at Abel.  So, Cain takes Abel out into the fields and kills him.  When God finds out about the killing, he punishes Cain by making him a restless wanderer of the earth.  Cain, however, tells God that he is worried about being killed, so God swears that anyone who kills Cain will suffer seven times more vengeance.  Cain then leaves to the land of Nod, where he starts his own family.

I--unlike Cain and Abel and, well, most of the world--do not have a sibling.  I am alone.  Now, I'm sure most of you will say, "Anna, you're so lucky!  You don't have to put up with such-and-such, and blah blah blah."  Believe, me, I've been hearing that same line since I was four.  I happen to think of it differently, though.  Despite not having to put up with a distant older sibling or an annoying younger sibling, I really think I would have rather had one.  I'm pretty sure if I'd had another sibling, they would have been just as nerdy as I am, which would have been FANTASTIC.  I could really use someone to share my nerdiness with around the house, instead of having to explain a Doctor Who plot to my mom.  Sure, my dad understands how cool calculus is (Shut up, people. Calculus is beautiful.), but I don't think he gets why Lupin and Tonks are my OTP or why I cry about Percabeth falling into Tartarus.  My parents aren't fandom nerdy.  And I really would have loved to have that.  Sure, if I had grown up with a sibling, we would have argued, but I think I'm a reasonable person (right?); we would have had more fun times than crappy times.

Also, if I had had a sibling, I wouldn't be under quite so much pressure.  I get that if you're an older child, you have to set an example for your younger siblings, or if you're a younger child, you have to live up to whatever your other sibling did before you.  But me, I'm it.  I'm all my parents have.  Every single one of their hopes and dreams is with me.  I have to be as perfect as I can for them since I'm all they're ever going to get.  It's pretty tough to do that since I'm not the smartest, most amazing person at school, and therefore might not get into some of the amazing schools my parents and I want me to go to.  I know they'll be proud of me wherever I go to school, but there's this one school that's above them all, and if I don't get in, then we'll all be extremely disappointed.  I bet I'm putting too much pressure on myself, but that's what being an only child feels like.

So, the closest thing I've ever had to a sibling is my wonderful puppy, Georgia!  I don't care if she's almost five years old; she's still my puppy.  If you're wondering, yes, my dog and I have gotten into arguments, mostly regarding her barking while I'm trying to do homework.