Rain was pouring heavily, and the misty sky was painted dark blue with shades of grey. I closed the window, not wanting to let the chilling, torrential rain enter.

I turned to face my troublemaking, yet innocent-looking, sister. My parents had left me to babysit her. They phoned me and informed me that they would be two hours late. Upon hearing that, shivers ran down my spine. I loathed babysitting my sister. She may look like an adorable toddler, but in reality, she’s a devil in disguise, determined to turn something as simple as babysitting into a torturous challenge for me.

My sister returned my glare with a grin, in which I could momentarily see a hint of mischief. I asked her if she wanted something to eat. She nodded, so I headed towards the kitchen to prepare something for her, but I made sure to take her with me, as leaving her alone would only be asking for trouble.

While I was preparing the food, I had to grab something from outside the kitchen. I stepped out for just a heartbeat, but when I returned, my sister was nowhere to be seen.

Frozen with fear and livid with rage, I sprinted to every room of the house, anticipating to find her in one room or another, I shouted her name a couple of times but got no reply.

Questions started racing in my mind, “What will I tell mother?” “Where could I search for her?”

I sat on the couch and tried to calm down. I had faced many burdensome and arduous challenges while babysitting my sister, but this time it was too much.

Petrified with horror, sitting on the couch planning my next move, I suddenly heard a giggle. I could’ve fainted out of fear at that moment, but I realised it could be my sister. Full of hope, yet anxious, I stood up and started searching for her. With expectations higher than Mount Everest, I checked under and behind every furniture in the house.

Being pretty sure of her presence and that I had heard her giggle, I continued my search. I dragged myself to the kitchen to look for her. Suddenly I heard the bell ring. Just then my room door flew open and there she stood, my sister with the same mischievous grin.

I didn’t know whether to hug her or rebuke her, but before I could take any actions, she ran towards the door.

Chasing her, I ran outside. She was safely in the arms of my mother, being adored as the sweetest baby in the world. As we settled down inside, my parents handed me a shopping bag which had a gift for me, for what they described ‘for always tolerantly taking care of my sister’.

Being over the moon, I glanced at my sister and a smirk appeared on my face seeing disappointment on her face.

Published in Dawn, Young World, September 28th, 2024