Credits : Sandhya Lakshmi

My sister, an epitome of beauty. I admire every bit of her. I love the way she dress, the way she styles her hair and more than all others, the colours she uses to colour her nails. I always wanted to try them on my nails. But was scared to ask her. How can I ask her? She had always been strict with me. I fear her more than my parents. But still I love her. Though she never openly showed, I know she too loves me. Mmm, let me come to the point. Nail colour. Yes. It was a Saturday evening.

I came back from my friends house and casually walked towards my room, for which I had to pass the door to her room. While passing I saw something that never had happened before. The door was ajar. She never leaves it ajar, whether she is in or out. I slowly peeped in, she was not there. I saw the bottles of nail colour on her dressing table. It is my lucky day? Yes or not, I didn’t want to miss the chance . I walked in and sat on the stool in front of the dressing table. Took a bottle in my hand. Turned it around. “Dark Maroon” the label read. Opened it.

Took the brush close to my left thumb nail, and stopped. How can I hide it or remove it once I am done? There is no time to keep thinking. It’s time to paint. I painted the thumb nail. Gorgeous. I moved on to the index finger. I was immersed in the process that I never took my eyes from my fingers until I had finished painting all the fingers of my left hand and took the bottle again and closed it. Finally when I raised my head up, I was greeted by the reflection of my sister in the mirror. Shocked. I turned my head around. Yes. It was not my imagination.

She was there. I stood up at once, and while doing that dropped the bottle that I was holding in my right hand. She was fast, she caught it at once. Is it my unlucky day? Her face showed no emotions. Either positive or negative. Instead she gently knocked on my forehead with the glass bottom of the bottle and said. “Be careful” I was surprised. She kept the bottle on the table and walked towards the bed. Sat and started fiddling on her phone. I simply kept staring at her, only to find that she too had coloured her fingers in the same colour. At last we both are similar in some way.

The end….