Michael’s sister, Judith, was his only friend during his early childhood. After Michael was born, Judith doted on him and helped her parents care for him more than willingly until he reached the age of five. This was when his antisocial behaviour with other children in kindergarten was starting to become a noticeable pattern. Judith in particular was confused by a teacher’s concern because, while at home, Michael was particularly insistent to spend as much time as possible with her and play games (hide and seek being ever popular). At first, she thought the way he followed her around was cute, but as her own adolescence started to divert her attention away from her little brother and instead to wanting to go out with her friends, studying to graduate, vying for independence etc. his consistent lost-puppy presence was becoming more of an annoyance. Especially once she got a boyfriend. Judith complained to their mother about how Michael’s presence was growing increasingly creepy. Due to her declining involvement in his life, his efforts to invade upon hers became a staple in their home. When she went into her room and shut the door, he would wait outside until she reemerged. If she was on the phone with Danny, he would listen on the line from a different handset. Michael’s insecurity amplified when Danny once teased him that he wasn’t Judith’s ‘favorite guy’ anymore. He even cried in response to the teasing but his fear was alleviated by Judith reprimanding her boyfriend for being mean, spending the rest of the evening watching a movie with Michael instead. At first, he blamed Judith’s boyfriend for ‘taking her away from him’ but when Michael’s mother sat him down and explained that his older sister wouldn’t have as much time for him anymore because of the age she was and the necessary phase of her life that entailed, Michael’s insecurity manifested into a possessive resentment. He interpreted the given fact that Judith’s separation was an inevitability as an inevitability he could never hope to intercede upon. This resentment culminated to its peak on the night of Halloween when Judith was supposed to take Michael out trick-or-treating but ignored babysitting him in favour of being with her boyfriend. He oversaw the couple watching Psycho, specifically the shower scene, before being shooed out of the room by his sister, then told by Danny to go trick-or-treating alone. Despite Judith’s protests that it was unsafe to leave Michael unattended, Danny assured her that ‘nothing ever happened in Haddonfield’ and she had ‘nothing to worry about.’ Bonus headcanon: I envision Judith to look something like this!
