Arjun felt restive as he lied to her sister Ananya. It was a simple thing, and yet he lied.
They came back from school and went to meet with Amma in her room. She was sitting alone. Arjun and Ananya hugged her and started reciting all that has happened at school. “Bring me a glass of water Ananya beta.”, said Amma to Ananya. She rushed to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. Amma glanced at the door as she dashed away. She smirked at Arjun and took out a big bar of chocolate. “Go and eat it. Do not show it to Didi, else she will take a big part of it.”, said Amma. Overjoyed, Arjun hugged her and hurried towards their room. He glanced around the room to find a suitable spot to hide the chocolate. “Aha!”, he said with a grin as he found the perfect spot. He emptied his toy box, took out the cars one by one and hid the chocolate under it. This is one place Ananya will not touch because girls do not like cars. “What are you doing? Playing already?”, Ananya enquired as she saw Arjun taking out the cars. “No! I am trying to find my football.”, said startled Arjun. Ananya smiled at him and left.
Pleased with his achievement, Arjun walked towards the door and said, “Didi are you coming out to play? I am going to the park.” “Not today Arjun, I have a class test tomorrow and need to prepare, you go.”, lamented Ananya. “Maaaaa I am going to the park, will be back in an hour.”, said Arjun as he closed the door behind him.
The park was full of his friends. Rajan, was there with his brother. They played football and rode the slides and the monkey bar. But he missed Ananya today. She loves to ride on the swing and both of them keep swinging together when they are tired. Arjun skipped the swing today. His watch beeped and it was time for him to return home.
He strode alone towards home, thinking about the chocolate and Ananya. Dismayed at himself for the lie. He knew himself how much Ananya matters to him, still he hid it from her. Ma and Papa always get stuff for both of them, equally, so why not Amma? Why Amma always gifts secretly to him. He felt bitter now and ran towards home.
He burst open the door of his room and emptied his toy box. He picked up the bar and ran towards Amma’s room. “Amma, I do not need this chocolate. Please give this to Ananya.”, said Arjun. “Why?”, Ammar looked baffled. “I will take this when you can love both of us equally. It does not matter if you have one chocolate, we could have shared. But now please give it to Ananya. I know she will share it with me. She knows, you still don’t.” resented Arjun as he turned away.
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Photo By: Nicholas Ukrman
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This is an entry for #TheLie #Five00-8, a room8 writing event –in 500 words.
Check out the event guidelines here: https://writers.artoonsinn.com/room8/thelie
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