what's your first chapter like?

My first memory of all time was when they took Anthony, my brother, home. I guess I was around four years old then, all curious eyes and chocolate-tipped hands. I remember that I was standing near the stairway and I saw my thin mother cradling a bundle of something in her hands.

Here's a secret, which is really not a secret because I've already told my brother about it: I don't remember Mommy ever getting pregnant. I mean, I don't remember seeing her walking around the house with a big tummy. But then again, I don't really remember anything that happened before the day they came home with Anthony so my un-memory can't really hold that much weight, right? It's strange, though, how I know that I haven't seen her pregnant. That's why since that year and until I was probably 8 years old, I walked the earth with the assumption that all babies could be purchased in a place which was mysteriously given a very itch-inducing name: Makati.

I repeat, there's nothing that I remember before this incident and all my other memories took place after it. I consider that day my first real day as a human being. That's why my brother has a special significance in my life and I know that I can never completely let him go.

If my life were a book, it would've started there. How about you, where would your book start?