The Unbreakable Bond

"Tring tring!", the alarm bell rang and I woke with a start. It was five thirty on a Sunday morning and the sun was just rising from beneath the earth bathed in red water and was spraying orange light all over the sky. "Looks like the sun slept for a little longer today. But I can't sleep for more time. It's math exam tomorrow and I have to finish studying.", I said. I started working out the problems. The first question brought back a memory...one which was both life changing and that reminds me how my thoughts were...very narrow and never willing to explore outside my teensy-weensy house encased between four walls. It reminded me of the day at the mall.

I was nine and was standing in front of a mirror looking at a younger me wearing a red frock with yellow flowers all over it and yellow buttons to match them. It was a simple frock but it's simplicity carried a grace which made me love it even more. "Mom can I please buy this frock? I love it", I asked. "Ok you can have it Riya", came the much expected answer. Later I went to the kids section just to see the cute dresses. They all had quotes like "Mom rocks" and "Daddy's my superhero". "Perfect", said. "Really? That's what you think? These T shirts are missing out on the biggest chunk of life.", said a girl standing next to me. "What do you mean?", I asked. But she didn't answer, she just walked away. Precisely two years and eleven months later I was waiting outside the Operation Theatre with my dad. After an hour the nurse came out and said, "Congratulations! It's a baby boy!".

I was neither happy nor sad the same feeling I had felt when nine months ago my mom had told me that I would be an elder sister soon. But as I took the subtle and the most beautiful person on earth in my arms I felt a feeling I had never felt before...not when I scored full marks in my exams...not when I won a basketball tournament. I felt a bond that couldn't be harmed even with Zeus's lightning bolt. I started smiling. The smile that spread from my cheeks to my eyes started at 1:02 pm on 4th September 2018 hasn't stopped till today. It lies within me beneath all my fury, melancholy and stress. It is what always gives me comfort in the most difficult times. Now I know that the girl was right, those T-shirts really were missing out on one of the biggest chunks of our life...OUR SIBLINGS...