I woke up to a dream. Mary nudges me fondly and leads me to a dark room. We both lie down and rest our heads on a pillow. She gazes at me with those deep brown eyes. I can hear people's voices outside as she gets closer. I can feel her breath as she pulls the blanket over us. That is exactly when I woke up from this dream. Ten years hence these rare dreams are the only passage to those eternal memories of warm sibling love.
About ten years back, I was in India; also where I am originally from. My name is Tony. I was about 18 years old. Along with my Mom and Dad and my two sisters: Mary who is 22 and Reena 20, I lived in a small apartment in Chennai. Unlike in the west, this is a common setting in a Indian family: girls move out of home only after they get married and boys continue to live with their parents and take care of them. I was in my first year of college. Reena was in her third year and Mary was looking for jobs. We were a lower middle class family leading a very simple life. Dad had a bank inspection job with frequent travel and Mom was a teacher in a middle school.
It is a routine Sunday evening. Everyone in the family preparing for their busy week ahead. Our apartment had 2 rooms, a living room, a kitchen and then a separate area for the toilet and bathroom. I and my sisters used to sleep in the larger bedroom. Mom and dad (if he is in the town) sleep in the living room. The other bedroom was a dark room used mostly for storage. After night prayers we all retired to our rooms. Reena and Mary sleep next to each other and I sleep besides their head side. We all sleep in the concrete floor on a mat with a head pillow.
After a relaxing day which includes a afternoon nap, I find it extremely difficult to sleep on Sunday night's. I lie down with random thoughts in my mind; often involving women and sex. Our bedroom adjoins the living room but we close the bedroom door because the bedroom windows are open and sometimes cats would creep inside the windows and make their way to the kitchen through the living room. Once it is around 2-3 AM, I get up and grab the flash light placed for emergencies between my sisters' pillow. I turn on the flash light and flash it around the room just to check if my sisters are in deep sleep. Sometimes Mary gets disturbed and wakes up but Reena never does. She hardly wakes up in the middle of the sleep. Every time as I start this ceremony my body shivers with excitement.