About sisters

Hi. Are you already waiting for me? — she whispers in my ear from the phone.
—Hi, little sister. I’ll be waiting near Vilnius, by the fairy-tale towns, — I sing back.
—I’ll be quick. Don’t forget to turn your clock tonight. Otherwise, I’ll be standing there like an orphan with my “chiumudan.”

Tomorrow will be Sunday.
My day will start with a trip to the station.
There, my sister will be waiting for me.
Standing with her chiumudan.
A grin from ear to ear.
And if I’m late — even two cups of gas-station coffee in hand.

Tomorrow will be Sunday.
The kind that repeats every year for the past ten years.
She will arrive.
We will have an insanely intense day.
At the end of which we will have prepared the “stage” for our Christmas photo session.
And at the end of which… our cheeks will hurt from laughter.
Something that never happens in regular life.

What cheek-muscle therapy awaits us, my dear little sister!

To sisters!!!!!
Tomorrow is Sunday.
And if tomorrow they’re not waiting for you with a smile, a chiumudan, or coffee —
call them.

Even though as a child I always wanted an older brother,
I got a sister…
And today I admit —
they are the kind of GOODNESS that belongs in the pages of the Red Book.

V.