Annie was packing her bag for a holiday trip. “Annie! Come out quickly, we are getting late!”

“Sorry mum,” said the thrilled and excited Annie while coming down the stairs.

She gave her luggage to her dad who placed it inside the car while she, her mother and her brother proceeded to sit in the car. After travelling for a couple of hours, they reached Murree, which had recently had some snowfall so it looked so stunning with snow covering the houses, mountains and almost everything.

Annie was very excited to see the snow. There were cheering people everywhere, who, like them, had also come to see the snow-covered mountains. On the way to their guest house, where Annie’s father had already booked rooms for them, she saw various shops of local and traditional crafts and accessories.

After reaching the guest house, Annie’s family freshened up, had some quick snacks and decided to go out in spite of the freezing cold, after all, they were there to enjoy this chilly weather.

They strolled on Mall Road, like all tourists do, and kept looking at the stuff the locals were selling. Just then Annie’s eyes rested on a piece of traditional artefact hanging outside one of the shops. She grabbed Jimin’s (her brother’s) hand and dragged him towards the shop while her mother and father were in another shop.

Annie picked up the beautiful mirror with a golden frame that had artificial gems pasted on it in a traditional design. She asked Jimin to buy her that mirror. Annie’s eyes were fixed on the mirror when her brother had an idea to play a prank on her. He crept out from the shop, leaving Annie there. Jimin hid behind a pile of traditional clothes nearby from where he could easily see Annie.

Annie was so engrossed that she couldn’t even notice that her brother was not with her. When she turned to see if Jimin had paid the shopkeeper, she didn’t find her brother anywhere in the shop. She was shocked to find herself alone.

In a matter of seconds, she had all kinds of thoughts running in her mind. The idea of being left alone in a place she didn’t know anything about terrified her. Scared out of her wits, Annie came out from the shop and looked everywhere. But Jimin was nowhere to be seen, her eyes were now filled with tears.

She asked the people around if they had seen her brother by describing him and telling them the colour of the dress he was wearing. When Jimin saw her doing this, he felt bad for his sister, so he immediately ran towards her.

He apologised and tried to hug her, but Annie was distressed to know that Jimin had done it deliberately so she refused to accept the apology. Annie was hurt and didn’t speak to him throughout their trip in Murree and even reaching back home.

Her mother and father tried to resolve the matter between the siblings but Annie remained cross and kept quiet on the topic.

A few days later, it was Annie’s birthday, which was celebrated very nicely and she received many gifts. When the guests were gone, she unwrapped all her presents. Just then she saw one more gift at the corner of her study table. She picked it up to see who had given it, but found no tag. So she unwrapped the present and was surprised to see the same mirror she wanted to buy in Murree.

Her eyes filled with tears as she remembered what happened that day. She slowly walked up to Jimin’s room. When she opened the door, she found Jimin reading a book.

She went and apologised to him for how wrong she had been to remain angry at him for so long. Jimin quickly forgave his little sister as he was genuinely sorry for hurting her.

But before leaving, she turned and said to him, “Bro, be alert, as I won’t spare you for the trouble you gave me that day!”

Published in Dawn, Young World, February 23rd, 2019