Anya's Smile

Sweat trickled down the side of my face as the words the teacher wrote on the board swam all over its smooth green surface. I was so sleepy that I was sure if I closed my eyes for more than three seconds, I would only wake up the following month. I had only got forty-five minutes of sleep the previous night because I had to babysit my four year old sister as she cried for her favourite toy – a sock – which I searched for in vain. My sister had cried all night, my father was awake for work and my mother was too ill to help me out.

I rushed through the front door of my house to find my sister, Anya, crying again. Our nanny was unable to console her. I took Anya into my arms, and instantly she stopped crying! However, she resumed her wailing within two minutes. I let the nanny, Mrs. Mon, take care of Anya as I frantically searched the house for her sock two times over. I was unsuccessful. I ran over all the possible locations of the sock in my head. I wasn’t able to think of anything.

The last time I saw it, it was lying in the play room next to the carton of clothes which were to be donated. The only place the sock could possibly be was in the box, where it might have fallen by accident. I ran to the playroom, but the box wasn’t there…

For five minutes, I couldn’t get over the idea. The sock couldn’t be in the orphanage, I tried to reassure myself. However, I had to face the possibility that it was in the orphanage. I checked with my mother where she had deposited the clothes, sat in the car and drove off to get the smile back on my sister’s face…

The whole pile came tumbling down on me. I was in a truck, looking for Anya’s sock amongst a huge mess of clothes. A man sitting outside the truck told me I would find all the clothes which were donated and being sent to the orphanage inside. And here I was, covered in clothes from God knows where. Suddenly I heard a screeching sound as the truck’s tyres began moving! I was trapped in a moving truck under  a pile of clothes, looking for a sock!

After what seemed like an hour of tripping over clothes and searching, I found the red piece of cloth with swirly yellow designs that Anya had turned the house upside-down for. I banged my hand on the truck a million times, and was almost about to give up when the truck lurched to a stop. A man with a wispy moustache opened the door and let me go with the sock clutched tightly in my hand. I went back home.

Anya ran up to me and gave me a hug. “Ria didi! Thank you! I love you so much!” she exclaimed as she hugged the sock and flashed a smile of uncontrollable joy.

I stood there and looked at Anya, who is a part of me. I can’t imagine life without her, her happiness, her smile. All the trouble I went to was completely worth it. Anya’s smile means everything to me. Even little things are worth a lot.