✅ My Sister's Problem

125. My Baby Sister

It felt like I'd been crawling for hours when Mum came to find me, and politely turned my truck around again. But when I turned back to follow the way she was pointing, my family were a lot nearer than I had thought.

"Come on," Mum said, almost laughing. "We've found a closer sea for you to use. Do you want Mummy to carry you? You've come so far today, haven't you?"

I blushed, and I couldn't bring myself to look at her. I'd half been hoping for some kind of punishment, but Mum was being so kind. And that made me feel even more childish.

"Okay then, sweetie," she said. "But you'll take forever crawling. Do you think you can use your feet? Come on, can you reach Mummy's hand? Toddle for Mommy."

As soon as she said the words, I knew I couldn't help it. I was so excited to show what a big girl I was. I pulled myself up to my feet, and then found that it took all my concentration to put one foot in front of the other without falling down. But after a couple of steps I was feeling so proud that I could do it all by myself. I was sticking my hands out to keep my balance, and wobbling uncertainly, but I managed to run all the way back to the little area where we were supposed to be playing. I didn't want to be naughty anymore, and then Mommy came to show me the new sea they'd found.

Next to one of the windbreaks, there was a hole in the ground, and it was all full of water. There was even a ramp at the side for my mixer truck to drive down, so I could fill it up. It wouldn't take long before I could build a huge moat to protect Lindy's sandcastles. I was giggling and playing, and for a long time I really was thinking just like a little kid.

When I'd grown up a bit, mentally at least, I wondered how the water in the hole hadn't all drained away. I crawled back over, to get another truck full of water to support my futile attempts at filling the little moat. And when I reached down, I could feel that the water was cool. I peered around the back of the windbreak, and saw something a bit more complex than I had expected. The sand was disturbed, so it had clearly been dug up a bit. A line of disturbed sand connected the windbreak to a blanket where Mum had been sitting while she watched us. And on the far side of the blanket, I could see a hose leading back into the house. Somebody had devised a way to silently refill my water reservoir, so the babies could keep on playing without having to think about it.

I laughed then, and went back to digging the moat with one of the diggers. But this time, I knew that I wouldn't have to carry all the water by truck. Instead, I started digging a trench all the way to the mini ocean. And when Lindy saw what I was doing, she had to join in as well.

"Having fun?" I asked.

"No." Her response was a sullen pout. But a few seconds later, she added: "Well, it's not too bad. It's embarrassing, but we did this all the time, didn't we? It's silly, but nobody knows. Except Hugo. I feel like he's going to tell everybody, and I'll be laughed at all through school. And then... Well, that's how you felt, isn't it? I kept on trying to make your friends notice. I told Harper and Hugo, and if they'd believed me it could have..."

"It's okay," I said. "Hugo won't tell anybody. This is our secret."

"You'll really forgive me?" she asked. "I can't even imagine... If you'd put me through something like this, I'd hate you forever. And all the things I feel now, you had it worse. And now Hugo's seen you... How can you just let that go?"

"You're my sister," I said, like it was an answer in itself. And then explained: "I have to look after you, just like Mum does. I do my best because you're my family, and I want us to stick together, whatever life has to throw at us."

"And you're still a baby," she said, looking down at her hands, where she was absent-mindedly squeezing the sand into different shapes.

"Guess so. I know this is a tough punishment, and I didn't want you to face it alone. Plus, you know, look for the silver lining."