Navigating Sibling Dynamics: A First-Person Narrative

Abstract

Non-fiction First Person Narrative Five years down the line, and I still remember that Wednesday, the 14th day of December 2015, like it, was yesterday. I had just spent three days at home after breaking from school for my December holiday. My mother is a nurse, and my father, a lawyer, makes their stay at home quite limited. Not even over the weekend can my parents' presence at home be guaranteed. For this reason, I had to spend most of my time with my brother, who resides at home, having rejected an offer to be taken to a boarding school. My mother is the kind of parent who plans what house chores the sons if at home, must attend to before she gets back home from work. Besides my mum’s planned house chores, my father subjects us to a daily one-hour physical exercise which becomes recorded for his reference upon coming back home from his ever engaged working schedule. My brother is very welcoming and always makes me feel at home every time I break for holidays. I did not think by any chance he can be holding grudges on me until that Wednesday morning when I tried waking him for his hand in the kitchen chores as I attended the family kitchen garden. That Wednesday, I did not get back to bed after my mum left for work at 6.30 Am. At first, I thought it was too early to wake my brother, thus gave him time to sleep, assuming that by the time I am done with cleaning the house, he will have woken and at least washed the utensils, among other kitchen chores. I glanced over my mom's listed chores of the day and decided to wake my brother after 8 Am. I remember knocking on my brothers’ bedroom door four times when he finally answered with, "A little more time, buddy, I am coming." I did the house cleaning, washed some house mats, and cleaned my dads' car, then decided to get back to the kitchen for my breakfast. It was already some minutes to ten. I was shocked upon finding the kitchen disorganized and some tea being poured on the floor, which was a great sign that my brother was already awake. As if I was not bothered by my parents' kitchen's poor state, I sat down and made myself some eggs and tea for my breakfast. After my breakfast, I decided to get to the dining room to check on my brother's progress with his breakfast. Unfortunately, I found emptied glass and bowl on the dining table with some bread on the already wiped floor, which left me burning with anger. I thought my brother had decided to shower since it was a very hot morning, so I decided to let him be and left to attend the kitchen garden. I finished attending the kitchen garden at 10 minutes past noon, and to my astonishment, I found my brother relaxing on a couch watching a movie. The kitchen chores were still un-attended, and my brother had not even taken a shower. I sat down wondering what he might have been doing but couldn't control my anxiety, thus asked him why he had not attended to the kitchen chores. He ignored my question first, which made me ask him for the second time, though in a friendly tone as was not up to any evil. My brother sat up and looked at me with his eyes wide open said, “not even a week and you are already crying for help? How about those people who attend these chores three months and above without anybody to assist them? Give me a break!" His response sounded like a dream to me as he had never addressed me with such disrespect ever since he was born, not to forget that I am four years older than him. The response opened a room for an argument where each party yelled according to...