Over the years I had enjoyed being the center of everyone’s attention. Yet every time I heard stories from my friends of their sibling I felt a little alone. After playing in the evening, when we went our separate ways, I would often look at the siblings walking home together as I walked back home alone. I couldn’t understand why I didn’t have one.
This time around we had moved back to Chennai, India. Though the city was familiar the people were new. I soon became friends with the kids in the neighborhood, a pair of siblings each from the two households. The pair of sisters lived across the hall from my house while the pair of brother and sister lived on the floor above. I would often go to their houses and play. Sometimes I even had sleepovers and that’s when I felt it the most, the absence of a sibling. The desire of having a sibling had been growing for a few years and now it was getting stronger by the passing days.
I began having a conversation with my parents. I don’t think I completely understood what they told me but one thing was certain, I wanted a sibling. When the conversation wasn’t going anywhere I took the matter in my own hands and did something that would get everyone’s attention to what I wanted. I started begging my parents for a sibling every time guests would come home. Be it the neighbors or old friends, I would sit on the floor and beg for them to give me a sibling. The guests were my well-wishers and would push on the topic. My mind was too innocent to understand what I was making my parents go through at that point.
Maybe my parents thought this shall pass. They considered this as one of those things I just want for a while and when I get bored I leave it behind and move on. They can’t possibly let me do that to a newborn baby. I remained persistent with my efforts and eventually, my parents had to give in. It was a long wait and finally, I was going to be an elder sister.
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