My Sibling was Cool

Peggy had always found her brother a snob.

Seeing things from her perspective, one wouldn’t have been surprised. Pete was an outdoors kid, spending the limited time he spent at home holed up in his room. Peggy had wanted to spend more time with her brother, knowing his interests and sharing hers, but the few attempts that she made to get close were pushed away by Pete. His things were always never to be touched, his food not for sharing, never a playtime with him. Just the cold shoulder for little Peggy. 

The final straw had been when she joined the school both of them studied in. She had been the small, nervous first grader shuffling along with all the other kids. As she was walking down the unfamiliar hallways, she had seen her brother pass by. He had caught one glance at her hopeful eyes, but had turned away and continued talking to his friends. 

She had finally filed away her brother as one of those older siblings who thought themselves too good for the younger kids. If he thought that his younger sister wasn’t worth talking to, he was a snob. End of story.

And then anyways, school was a loaded plate of its own to deal with. All the new classes, new things to do – soon took over Peggy’s interest and that was that.

Years had gone by, and it suited her perfectly now. She had two steady friends, a shelf of her favorite books, and a PC in her own room with an internet connection; and she was positive that’s all she needed to survive high school. Most importantly, she had time to draw and post her work online! She had discovered her love for art trying to solve the silly problem of grown up books not having enough pictures in them, and now she couldn’t stop. Putting colors into worlds created out of thin air was a divine act, and damn her if she didn’t rise to the occasion! 

She was having a great time. After all, she had access to the internet, and that meant she could not only seek feedback on illustrations, but also get her hands on useful tips to improve. Her guiding figure for this was ‘The ArtsyBeetle’, the online magazine about all things art – old and new. There was no question she had come across that ArtsyBeetle couldn’t answer. All she wanted was to one day be able to contribute to her beloved magazine. As it was to be, her chance was just around the corner. 

It was the end of August. August, the month of half-yearly exams, in short, exhaustion. The exams had gotten over just a day or two ago. Kids for whom exams were a pain in the ass anyways were already out demolishing the concept of a curfew. For Peggy who had slowly built up a routine of sorting her notes out, finishing readings and general preparations prior to the exams, it was slightly disorienting. She had just gotten used to being busy, and she needed time to bounce back to enjoying leisure. Which was precisely when she got a delightful news.

She was in her room, scrolling through her Email Inbox mindlessly when her eyes popped. ArtsyBeetle had announced a reader submission competition on their website! She quickly skimmed through the Email at least three times, and made her plans. They had opened submissions for various categories, and she was sure she could do something for the digital section. She stretched her arms with a gleam in her eyes. She was ready to have some fun, finally.

On the other hand, Pete had been curiously quiet since exams ended. You see, Pete had been, evidently, looking forward to exams ending so that he could go out for sports as often as he used to before exams. But exams ended, and the enthusiasm was “POOF”! He was frequently spending time all alone in his room, eating less and meeting very few, if any people. The other day, when both the kids had a few morsels of food and ran away to their respective rooms, their parents just sighed and said, “Teenagers.” 

It took close to fifteen days of incessant work, and finally her artwork was ready. When she emailed it, a day before the deadline, she was sure it was good enough, at least this time.

Meanwhile, her brother had gotten a different shade of annoying. When she walked out to get a breath of some fresh air, he almost collided with her.

“Can’t you see where you’re going?? Oh god” she shouted, taken aback.

Pete simply picked up the huge package he was carrying and ran out, murmuring, “I don’t have time for this.” As for Peggy, this was too minor an annoyance to fret over. Pete and his musterious parcel couldn’t worry her today.

Soon, it was time for the winners to be announced. Peggy had been at the PC, constantly refreshing the ArtsyBeetle page since the morning. While she was extremely happy to have participated and submitted something, she was extremely curious about who had won in the different categories. Like all good bussing artists, she was aware that it was important to seek inspiration from different sources to better one’s art. 

When finally the winners’ names showed up on the dash, AND SHE HAD WON! However, before she could break into a joyous foxtrot, she saw her surname somewhere else. 

Pete had won in the oil painting category.

* * *

Peggy heard somebody knock on her room door.

Pete stood there, looking a bit sheepish. They stared at each other silently for a minute, when Pete asked indignantly, “Will you even call me inside?”

She collected her thoughts, and nodded. After all, she couldn’t stop thinking that how unlikely it seemed that her Football bro was into oil painting. She couldn’t have guessed!

“I didn’t know that you draw.” 

“Neither did I”, Peggy smiled, “and that too ‘fine-arty’ art? Aren’t you posh, dude?”

Pete broke out laughing. “Well, I think your fanfic illustration mania was also a bolt from the blue. How long has it been, since you started?”

“Sometime in third grade. Have been into digital ever since I got the PC. Wanna see some stuff?”

Peggy showed him her profile and the different styles she had posted her illustrations in. Not to be left behind, Pete got a few canvas pieces from his room to show her.

“So, THIS is what I collided with that day!”

“Yeps! Had to send the full thing as a submission. I managed to send it on the very last day too!”

“If I had known that you were also submitting, I could have helped you. I sent my work on time!”

“Yours was digital, though.”

“Still.”

And so, the brother and sister spent the whole evening showing each other their art and talking. Even though they still were the same two kids with diametrically different interests, a bridge for conversation and connection had opened up. Through the endless bickering and long conversations, the children realized that yes, their sibling had always been cool.