She was braiding her little sister's hair. They both had long hair. Almost waist length. They usually wore the back long and the front pulled back in a clip on top of their head. They didn't plan to match - or at least she didn't think they did. It just worked out that way. Some days, when they had a little extra time, she would braid their hair. She wasn't sure how or when she learned to French braid. But she was glad she had. She could do other people's hair as well as her own. It was easy, once you got all your fingers working right. And it looked a lot nicer than just the clip. It was also great on really hot days.
"Ok, hand me a rubber band. No, not that big one, just that little red one over there. Ok. All done." She wrapped the band around the tail end of the braid and dropped her hands to her sister's shoulders. She turned her around to face her. She wiped the toothpaste off her sister's chin. How she always got it everywhere was a complete mystery.
"All right. You ready?"
"MM-hm."
"Did you study for your math test?"
"A little. But its too hard."
"Math only gets harder every year. But if you pay attention its not so bad. Ok, lets go." Her sister ran off down the hallway.
Some days their Mother dropped them off at school on her way to work. The girls would walk home together afterwards.. It was a little over a mile. On nice days they would ride their bikes. This was the last year they would be at the same school together. They were about 5 1/2 years apart. She would start middle school in September. She was a little nervous, but mostly excited.
She walked around the corner to get her book bag. There she found her sister with her bag completely upended. The contents dumped out on the floor. "What are you DOING?!" She sighed and shook her head. Together they gathered the things up and got them back in the bag.
She loved her little sister. Very much. She was more like a mother to her than an older sister, actually. Yes, she loved her, but man was she a pain sometimes.