Scarlett had been looking forward to going to Sam’s house all week.
Sam had a garden with a rope swing, a snack cupboard that was reportedly magnificent, and a games console Scarlett had never tried.
What Sam also had, Scarlett was quickly reminded, was a little sister.
Her name was Priya. She was five, and she arrived at the door approximately three seconds after Scarlett knocked, as though she had been waiting behind it.
“SAM’S FRIEND IS HERE,” Priya announced to the entire street.
“Priya,” said Sam, in the specific tone of voice that only exists between siblings.
“WHAT?” said Priya.
The morning started well. Scarlett and Sam played in the garden, took turns on the rope swing, and were in the middle of an excellent game when Priya arrived with her own bucket and spade and began digging - directly in the middle of what they were doing.
“Priya, we’re playing HERE,” said Sam.
“I’m playing here too,” said Priya, with complete serenity.
“You weren’t invited.”
“I live here.”
Sam turned to Scarlett with the expression of someone who had been having this conversation his entire life.
Later, after lunch, they finally got to the games console. They were three minutes in when Priya sat down between them and picked up a spare controller.
“You’re not plugged in,” Sam said.
“I know,” said Priya, pressing buttons happily anyway.
Sam closed his eyes for a moment.
Scarlett watched all of this with great interest.
She was an only child. She had always thought it might be nice to have a sibling - someone always there, always available, a built-in companion.
She still thought that. And she was also beginning to understand that it was considerably more complicated than it looked.
At one point, while Sam was getting drinks, Priya climbed up next to Scarlett on the sofa.
“Do you have a sister?” Priya asked.
“No,” said Scarlett. “Just me.”
Priya considered this. “Sam says I’m annoying.”
“Do you think you are?” Scarlett asked.
Priya thought very seriously for a moment. “Sometimes,” she said. “It’s just that I want to be with him.”
Scarlett looked at her. “I know,” she said. “I think he knows that too.”
When Sam came back with the drinks, Priya had fallen asleep against Scarlett’s shoulder, small and warm and entirely unbothered.
Sam looked at her for a moment. Something in his face went soft.
“She does that,” he said, sitting back down carefully so he didn’t wake her. “Exhausts herself and then just - stops.”
“She just wants to be with you,” Scarlett said.
“I know,” said Sam quietly. “It’s just a lot sometimes.”
Scarlett nodded. “I think that’s allowed.”
They sat together, the three of them, in the afternoon quiet.
🫶 Dream big dreams.