20th April, a beautiful spring day.
Adam was lying on the grass reading a book while her elder sister, Cisi was painting a picture of the beautiful scene in front of them. His parents were chit-chatting while the birds were chirping and the leaves of the trees were rustling. Whilst the flowers were blooming, the family was blooming with love.
5 years later
20th July, a sunny, hot, dry day. Adam was returning from his workplace carrying a big briefcase, wearing the most expensive suit, looking and acting like a true businessman. His parents had died five years back in a car accident and since then he had grown apart from his sister. Cisi grew up to be a small artist, living in a small house, in a dirty and abandoned alley. It was like Adam and Cisi were at the two ends of the world.
10 years later
20th October, a pleasant autumn morning, Cisi was green about the gills when her phone rang. It was Adam, whom she hadn’t talked to in almost 15 years. Adam was getting married to the richest girl in America. Cisi’s happiness for her little brother knew no bounds. She sold all her stuff to buy Adam’s wife a gold watch. She attended the wedding in her mother’s old tattered gown, looking at how prosperous her brother had become. Adam’s rich friends were joking about Cisi’s appearance but Adam, who never stopped loving his sister, no matter how long it had been since they had last met, hugged her sister in front of everyone and with her blessings, got married. Cisi was proud of her brother but she thought she didn’t make the cut so she left as soon as the ceremony ended. Adam, who could once immediately find our when his sister was lying, now couldn’t notice how unwell his sister had become, nor could he make out the sadness and pain in her eyes.
20 years later
20th December, a cold winter night Adam and his wife, Ania had a child. Since their marriage, Adam had been confused as to where his sister went and had been set on finding his sister’s whereabouts. He knew that he had to tell her sister first about his child and only she had the right to name their little girl. He ordered all his employees to locate his sister and after 10 days, they found the address of that little house in that dirty alleyway. As soon as Adam got to know, he left all his work and ran towards the house. He reached that little house, panting in his expensive appearance. He knocked on the door and a young boy answered. He asked, “Isn’t this Cisi’s house?”. The boy was quiet for a while, unsure of what to say. He finally said “Cisi died a year ago. She had lung cancer and didn’t have the money to pair for her treatment. She tried her best to earn money but it was never enough. She was very proud of you, she always said. She saw me on the street and decided to take me in because I reminded her of you.” It was the first time in 35 years that Adam cried. It then hit him how badly he and Cisi had grown apart, how much he might have hurt her if she was too embarrassed to take money from him. He took the little boy with him to his car and while he was returning, it came upon him that with the changing years, with the changing seasons, how much they had changed.
~Dalaisha Aggarwal, class 10, Amity International School Noida
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