Sisterly Love

“How the hell did I land up in this weird situation!!I wish I had never taken that decision. …Damn! Why can’t everything turn back to the way it was!!”

*********

7:00 a.m.- A bright sunny morning. All were busy in their own set of chores. People washing their cars, Mopping and cleaning away all the debris the last night storm had left back…The wild wind had swayed down a huge tree to the middle of the road. People were trying to remove it. Kids were arguing to play outdoors.

“Birds chirping, Green grass, tall trees, honking of cars, chattering of people, tinkling of the chimes, smell of fresh air … Oh yes life is beautiful!” said Cherry while having tea with her mom in her verandah. “Mama, can you pass the newspaper kept on the table?”

“Yes dear, here you go”.

“Nice long weekend. Why don’t we go for a short trip, Mom? I have three days to spare. Maybe, we could go to Aunt Christine’s place. She has been calling us in for quite some time now.”

“Let’s ask your papa first…”.

Just then the phone rang. Cherry picked up the phone and was surprised. “Hi Aunt Christine! How are you? I was just talking to mom about you.”

“That’s so kind of you to ask dear. I am absolutely fine. How have you been doing?”

“Hale and hearty Aunt, had a long weekend and was trying to see how I could make the best of it”

“Why don’t you come over to my place? I had actually called you'll for this purpose only. I bought a new house recently and I was throwing a House Warming Party this weekend and wanted to invite you. Chelsea would also be there.”

“Aunt that sounds great. Let me ask mom and tell you.”

“Tell Aunt that we will be coming. Dad heard everything and has agreed to go there. It will be like a short get together.”

“Well Aunt, I guess you heard it. We will soon be coming to your place. Please share the address of the new house.”

"Oh sure dear, will ask Chelsea to send it to you. Your favourite cinnamon cookies will also be waiting for you…”

“Aunt, you are the most wonderful person on earth. Thank you !”

*********

They packed their bags, secured the locks at home and were on the roads in less than 2 hours. Aunt’s place was about 5 hours away from Cherry’s house. “Chauffeur at your service sir and madam.” chuckled Cherry. “We should be at Aunt’s place before the sun sets.”

The journey was very pleasant. The roads looked like meandering rivers guiding towards heaven. Trees flanked on both sides of the road, formed arcades of palatial mansions. The sweet scent of blooming flowers made the entire aura very pious.

They reached their destination in time. Aunt was waiting on the door with open arms and a big smile on her face which went from ear to ear. She gave Cherry, her mom and dad a big hug.

“Hope you all had a safe and lovely journey.”

“Yes Aunt, it was great. Where is Chelsea? I Want to meet her.”

“She will be with us by tomorrow morning. She has a friend accompanying her as well.”

“Who is this friend Aunt?”

“Well, I don’t know. Let’s wait for tomorrow.” Said Aunt with a smile.

*********

A red Porsche stopped in front of the house. When she came out of the car, Cherry was unable to recognize her. She was wearing a denim short skirt, white tank top and stylish black stilettos. Her long brunette wavy hair was flowing down her shoulders.

From the other side came out the mystery person. He was a tall, masculine and handsome man. He was dressed in coral blue chinos, white tee and a tan brown blazer flung over his left shoulder. He was wearing charcoal sneakers. With a broad smile on their faces and a tinkle in their eyes, they started walking towards the house.

“Hey mommy, see who’s come to grace your mansion? Where are you?”.

Cherry understood, this was Chelsea. Very excited to meet her after 4 long years, she came racing down the stairs.

“Hello Chelsea, long time, no see. How are you?”

“Sorry, do I know you?” said Chelsea with a snobbish attitude. Cherry was a little disappointed with her reaction.

“Got you…” she laughed. “Of course, I know you my dearest sweet sister Cherry. Just thought of having some fun.” winked Chelsea.

“Hi, hope I am not disturbing the sweet ladies.” came in Roger. “I have heard a lot about you from Chelsea. Nice to finally meet you.” He shook hands with Cherry and gave her a big hug. Cherry did not like his hug. It made her uncomfortable…

“Well, Cherry this is Roger. We work at the same place. He and I met about 2 months back.” There was a ring in Chelsea’s voice when she was introducing him. It was quite clear that they were in love.

“Why don’t we make this visit a memorable one. I know a great place where we could hang around before the house warming party happens at night.”

“Chelsea, I don’t feel very well. Let’s do it some other time.”

“Oh, come on Cherry, don’t be a spoilt sport."

With a puppy face and fluttering eyes she looked at me. I had no choice but to agree.

*********

In about fifteen minutes, all three of us were in the boat. The waters were turbulent.

“Chelsea, the tides are really wild. Did you check the weather? I think we should not go..”

“Relax Cherry, the weather is absolutely fine. We will be back in time. Roger had checked the weather forecast, right Roger?” He gave a weird crooked smile…

Roger started the speed boat and off we were. We reached the island in about half an hour.

“Chelsea, how did you discover this marvel. Deep blue clear seas, High swaying green palms, Sandy beaches soft like cotton and not a soul in sight…it can’t be real.”

“Told you, this place has that effect on almost everyone. Roger discovered this place.”

“But, isn’t it the first time he has met Aunt Christine?”

Oh yes, last month, just the two of us had come down here. Please don’t tell mom..”

“Fine, let me enjoy this place.” Saying this Cherry alighted from the boat.

As soon as she was off the boat, Roger started the boat and raced away leaving her alone on the island. Chelsea too did not stop him.

“Hey Chelsea, Roger what are you doing? Stop fooling around. Come back. This is not funny.” Almost half an hour had passed. No sight of them.

Cherry was now getting annoyed and worried. She thought of giving Chelsea or Aunt Christine a call to stop this nonsense…But, her phone was out of battery. “Damn, does everything have to happen together?”, thought Cherry.

She was all alone on the island, with no one beside her. She was blank for several minutes. “What should I do? How do I get back home? Why did Roger do this? And Chelsea supported him as well. I hope someone send’s a search party for me soon…It is getting dark and cold. I don’t even have any clothes or food with me. I hope I survive the night.”

With these thoughts on her mind, she started wandering cluelessly on the island. After a while, she spotted a small light at some distance. Elated at the sight, she ran towards it .

Approaching the light with hope, she discovered that it was a hut. But in vain. No one was there in the hut. It was a mud hut with thatched roof. It had no furniture, just a small lantern hung on the wall.

She now started feeling hungry. She spotted a small stick lying aimlessly on the ground. “I know what I can eat for dinner.” She grabbed the stick, rushed back to the waters and tried her hands at catching some fish. After 2 hours of useless efforts, finally she was able to capture one. “How am I going to eat it raw?” She looked around for some sticks and pebbles to make fire. “How does this work?”. With umpteen tries, she finally managed to light a fire, ending up with 2 burnt fingers and a swollen toe.

After having her food, she went back to the hut. “Does this mean someone lives here? Why hasn’t anyone come yet?” Suddenly her eyes fell on a small tape recorder kept hidden under a heap of hay. “What is this doing here?” She played it.

“Hi Cherry, surprised? Yes, this is your beloved sister, Chelsea. I know you must be wondering why I abandoned you on that island. Well, dear sister,before you die,I will unravel the mystery. After all,I am not all that bad. By the time you will be hearing this, all will have forgotten you. Don’t worry about anyone. I am taking good care of everyone here. Uncle and Aunt are also fine. Well ,where shall I begin. You see, a few days back, mom told me that I was her adopted daughter. She never got married and she doesn’t know who my father is. Shattered to hear this, I decided to find my real parents. On this journey, I met Roger at the Orphanage. With his help I was able to get hold of my papers. I learnt that both my parents were criminals and were in prison, waiting to be hanged. But with this, Roger gave me someone else’s papers as well. And that my dear was yours. By the way, you too are an orphan who was adopted by Uncle George and Aunt Hilda as they had no kids of their own. But destiny...you happened to be the daughter of Aunt Christine, from teenage pregnancy. Even she is not aware of it. I could not let Mom know this truth. I cannot afford to lose my only family…Also because the entire property is named after her daughter... which is me. I cannot share it with anyone.” With this the recorder stopped.

Cherry was really sad and disheartened. “How could she? She should have spoken to me. I never would have taken her place. I love mom and dad and so do they..”

While processing this heartwrenching reality that she just learnt, an idea clicked her.

Her eyes fell on the tape recorder. She opened it up and pulled out the battery. She used her hair clip to connect it with her phone’s charging socket. With 2 days of continuous attempts, she finally got success. The phone started charging. With her phone charged enough to be able to switch on, she called her mom.

“Hello mom, Cherry here, I don’t know where I am but Chelsea does. Please get me out of here.”

Hearing her voice, Cherry’s mom was very happy. She could not stop her tears. With final interrogations of Chelsea, she was able to track her daughter. The search party got her back and Chelsea and Roger were put in jail for attempted manslaughter.

Still, Cherry decided to forgive, and went to the prison to meet her.

“Chelsea, I love you, my sister. You and only you will be Aunt Christine’s daughter. You should have spoken to me.”

With this, Chelsea couldn’t stop crying….

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