Revelation

Was it the smell that disturbed her or her sister in all her glory.Miryam was strikingly unsimilar to Zainab.Yet,they resembled each other .

   The apartment was old.its roof and of wood and curtains maroon coloured.Lit with yellowing lamps the room looked cozy. On a side a table was tucked upon which various art equipments were dumped,there was an almirah which showcased it's glorious collection of paint through its open windows.There and here canvases on stands had paintings,some complete and some incomplete Near an open window with sunlight pouring in, stood her sister painting ,her concentration preventing to acknowledge the presence of Zainab in the room.

   Miryam,Chocolate colored skin,brown almost black hair that's slightly wavy and her face sun-kissed with freckles. A light breeze letting a loose strand of her low ponytail astray,she tucked it behind her ear. Her face and eyes all in a delicate expression and a smudge of blue paint on a cheek.Zainab four years younger was found to be more beautiful by standards. She was fair,curvy and her skin spotless. Yet,she lacked the earthly grace and delicateness Miryam possessed.

  Where Miryam had brown eyes of bewitching delicateness Zainab had eyes of crushing blue,alit with fire.

   She had a fierce demeanour and her head never lowered.

  Paint brushes were tucked in the belt of Miryam's white sundress. Zainab muttered "white dress and painting"

Then sighing"she is crazy"..

Outside travellers and street vendors bustled.

 "You've gained weight".

Miryam flinched on her deep unforgiving voice.."It's been a while since you came on your own.Help yourself,I have to finish this painting".

    Zainab strode straight into her bedroom plopped herself on Miryam's bed.As she was about to go on full hibernation mode a voice tang out warning."ZAIN","mm" came the reply.

  Zainab obligingly took off her shoes.

   It did not take her long for the thoughts to come back.

  She had long been jealous.

Miryam was that art and sensitivity that she lacked. Miryam was everything she lacked. The fleeting world complimented for her qualities that Miryam never had. In their eyes Zainab was the finest. As for Zainab,she took those as empty comments raised from standards,like they were all pulled by an invisible thread in the same direction.

   When did it start?That day at the reading nook.

The reading nook was a small library in their grandmother's bungalow. Zainab was reading a fairytale. Miryam was in front of her a few feet away adorning the walls with vines and castles. It struck her like lightning.

Miryam was everything she admired. The one who stole the hearts of warriors,who drifted through gardens of enchanting flowers like the wind too loved her. 

   Zainab was ten.She grew up but some things never changed.That included this jealousy,envy and admiration.She was ambitious and strong. She fought her battles and moved on but never did she acknowledge those sour thoughts.

  In fact,she detested herself for it. She hated the jealousy that tinged her when she saw Miryam. She hated how the house seemed more peaceful and in order when Miryam left,like the lighting fixtures had been changed. Those days were of a different colour in her memory.

    A sister was not supposed to have these feels,that too a sister who imposed no harm to her and loved her whole heartedly.

   One day going through reels she came across a song .It surprised her how perfectly those lyrics summed up her feelings that even she could not put together. 

"But how could I hate her she is such an angel,but then kinda again wish she were dead" gray sang.

Heather,her sister was a heather. Genuine,kind and an angel.

Nowadays,we are well aware of our want of values and qualities. Zainab being a journalist have a very good acquaintance with the effects of lack of values .

We wish for them and understand their necessity for our survival. But that does not make us any better.Even when we come across such people the envy and jealousy,which are so opposite of the cause of such attractions,never lose their grip. Some cruel humane instincts raging inside.

    Never did Zainab knew that she was not bad a she thought herself be. The protective nature of hers towards Miryam surely went unnoticed by her self reproaching eyes. Maybe that would have been enough for her to understand the love inside her stone walls.

   They both did not love the same. One was everything light and warm while the other was fierce and fire. Love was common but expressed differently. 

   Zainab's heart was not rotten as she deemed it to be. It was like her exterior gave out. Fierce and beautiful,vicious if messed with.

  Their grandmother had surely succeeded in bringing out the charms inside them for display,so that no one misunderstood. The two sisters were drastically different in their tastes,personality and heart as their appearances make you guess. But nevertheless They were sisters and resembled each other just as their essence too came from the same soul. Formed of the same soul,from the same womb.

   They had the same small pouty lips and sharp nose.

  That fateful night everything was solved.

  Some fraud had cheated her.As she layed in her bed desolate.

 "I wish I were like you Zain"

   Nothing was ever so wrong for Zainab. She proceeded to deny it.

"No Mir" she was cut short."I have always admired you Zainab,your character." Some unsaid emotions were projected across her eyes making it shine.

This stupefied her.

"You are like those warrior Princesses in fairy tales. Bold and beautiful. Never in need of knights in shining armour ."

Zainab had nothing to say.

"Now that I think back,You have always been my knight in shining armour" a small smile adorned her sweet,tear stained face. Like sunshine after a long night of storm.

  That was the fateful night which brought peace to Zainab. Jealousy and envy still made Zainab uneasy,Miryam still found her want of boldness intact. But they were beautiful and worthy in their own way and as long as they knew that everything was fine.

   Zainab never knew how she shined in front of her sister. Miryam was quite awestruck watching her little sister read in the nook of the library. Her little face glowed with the amusement and curiosity the book produced. Yet,the fire inside her never dimmed.

  Miryam never knew how the ethereal fairies in her sister's mind had her face ,like Zainab was unaware of the fact that her sister imagined the female warriors to look like her.

   They snuggled closer unaware of inner turmoils and the world just became brighter like it had another reason to smile.