STORIES ONLY YOUR HEART KNOWS (PART-2): THAT FAVORITE COUSIN

While cleaning my room, I found the hand cream she would use every now and now and then throughout her stay at my home. Undoubtedly, I was going to keep it as a souvenir without letting anyone know that she has forgotten to take her hand cream back home. 

She was elder than me and would visit us every year during her summer breaks. Be it studies or be it games, she would always teach me good things like a friend.

In order to acknowledge her presence, I would go almost selfless for that entire week. 

I would always love the vibe she would bring. 

She was groomed, elegant, intelligent, and beautiful. 

She would always turn out as an effortlessly dressed-up teen girl who knows how to embrace her beauty. 

I would dress up and would try my best to carry myself the way she used to. But being two, completely different persons, no matter how hard I would try to look like her, I would always turn out something else which is inevitable. One thing, we had in common was our long black thick hair, and this used to give me another level of confidence. 

We would eat, watch cartoons, listen to songs, and would dance together at night. The sense of security that an elder sister could give used to feel during our post-dinner walks where she would hold my little hands. 

I would eventually adopt her habits without letting myself decide if I was liking them or not. Eventually, I would imagine my teen self to appear as good as her. 

I don't know how fair it was for a 6-year-old girl to give validation to her grown-up version to stand out as someone else. If I could go back in time, I would give my younger self a tight hug for trying too hard to look like her cousin and would ask her not to ignore the way she was growing.