It was a perfect Sunday. At least that’s what I thought till I got the bad news.

It all started when my mother told me that she had to go to my grandma’s house, who was sick. By telling this, she nearly gave me a heart attack! You might be thinking what’s the big deal with mum going for the day? Well, it was certainly going to be a big deal when you have to spend that ‘one whole day’ with three little brats ... brothers, I mean of course. Those of

you who have brothers will certainly be able to understand my despair.

Still in bed, I started imagining all the worse things which could happen to me. And the thought of it made me shudder.

I got up and braced myself to face anything and everything that could happen without mum. When I went downstairs to have my breakfast, I saw my brothers in the kitchen, sitting on the dining table. I looked at them and they smirked at me. I gulped as I could already see a lot of mischief in their eyes.

Mum kissed us goodbye and I saw her walk out of the main door. The day would sure feel like a whole week to me. I took a deep breath and cleaned the leftovers from the table and kitchen. By the time I was done, to my relief, I didn’t see them around. I didn’t bother to check them in their room and this was a mistake and I did pay for it later.

I was in my room fully engrossed in a novel when my brother Taha, the eldest of the three, came marching in my room. I didn’t notice him until he shoved me hard and then I realised he was calling my name again and again.

Irritated, I asked, “What is wrong with you?”

“Nothing, really, I just came to tell you that a man downstairs is calling you.”

“What man?” I glared at him.

“Come with me,” he said simply.

I sighed and went with him. He took me to the balcony. There awaited me the most embarrassing moment of my life.

Taha pointed down to a man standing on the street with wet clothes. I realised what had gone wrong.

“Who are you?” the man asked, I saw his eyes burning.

“I’m their sister. Is everything alright?”

“Ask your parents to teach these brats some manners,” he yelled.

I looked down at my brothers and gave them a stern look. He told me that my brothers were firing water from their water guns at the people who were passing by. That grumpy man scolded me a lot. It was so embarrassing. When the man was finished, I glared at my brothers angrily and stomped to my room.

After an hour or two, Zain came in my room.

“Now what?”

“Grace is here. She is asking for more washing powder,” he informed me.

Grace was our maid. I went to her when suddenly I remembered I had left my dirty scarf in my room. I asked Zain to fetch my scarf and he returned with a heap of my clean clothes on his arms and smirked. I knew of course, he did it on purpose, just to tease me.

I shouted, “Zain!” but he threw the clothes on the sofa and ran away. I tried my best to control my anger although I so much wanted to wipe that smirk off his face.

I took a deep breath and realised I was thirsty. As I entered the kitchen, the sight made me lose my temper. Three cooking pots filled with water were kept on the stove one spilling water over the counter and the floor. Spoons, forks, plates were there on the floor which was all white with flour. All the cabinets were wide open and everything which was supposed to be inside them was out.

I called my brothers but no one appeared. I found them in their room, jumping over the bed so when I tried to get hold of any of them, they would run and hop all around the room like monkeys in their cage. Exhausted, I returned to the kitchen. Tears came rolling down my eyes at the thought of cleaning this mess. It took me more than two hours to tidy up the kitchen. I was so tired by then that I decided to have some rest and not leave my room until mum returned home.

But after an hour I saw Taha standing at the side of my bed. I groaned.

“We’re sorry,” he said.

“What?” I thought I heard something wrong.

“Here, take this. I made it for you,” Zain came in with a glass of juice.

“Are you going to eat me?” he asked. It made me smile and I took the glass from him. After that I decided to spend the rest of the day with them. That day, I realised that there is something very strange about the sibling relationship. It is full of naughtiness, love, care and of course a lot of fights, but we cherish the moments throughout our lives.

Published in Dawn, Young World, February 18th, 2017