“Who would have arranged my room so neatly? Neatly? Is it you?” Tasha asked his younger brother, Nathan.
It's been six years since her twin sister died. She died when she was eight and died of just a headache. She was so neat and could never allow the parlor to look tattered or untidy. Likewise, she has this mind of neatness, as arranging things was part of her nature. Not only that, but she also knows how to keep things in order; I like Tasha. The two happened to be words and opposite, but then they look exactly alike. When you see Tasha, you would take her for Nasha, but I am different in character and nature.
George Milton
One night, Tasha had to fling her clothes on the floor as she was deeply late for school. She tried to keep to time, but then her usual attitude kept swallowing her thoughts. “I can't seem to abandon my character of splashing things around the whole corner of the house. I don't know when I'm going to change, just like my twin sister.” Nasha was so tired of her behavior.
She took her younger brother and left for school. Her mum, on the other hand, had gone for her usual business since she was a businesswoman. Moreover, her father always comes home once in a blue moon. Anytime her dad comes home, he is the one to arrange Tasha’s room, as he does not want her daughter's room to remain so unkempt.
When she came back from school, she saw that her room had been kept tidy. She was so happy that her dad had arrived from travel.
“Nathan, it seems Dad has come back from travel,” she said.
“How did you know? Dad, of all people, can never come this time. Remember, he always comes home once every two months. The last time he came home was two weeks ago, and what would have brought him home so early?” Nathan responded.
“My room has been cleaned up, and it is only Daddy that can make it clean.” Tasha was so sure of what she was saying.
“Dad! Dad!! Dad!!!” Tasha shouted in happiness while she ran to her daddy's room. She did not find the smell of her dad in his room, not even his bag.
“If Dad is not at home, then who would have cleaned my room so neatly?” She said,
“Maybe it's mum," Nathan replied.
“No, Mum always shouted at me to clean up my house, and the last time it happened, she nearly got angry and pushed me to tidy up my room. So, she can't be the one, and besides, she had gone to market," Tasha began to wonder.
“Nathan! Is it you?” She asked but was not too sure as they both left for school in the morning.
“Buy, we both left for school this morning, and Mum had gone before us too," Nathan said.
When it was in the evening, Tasha had to ask her mum if she was the one who made her room when they left for school.
“I left you very early this morning at my market; how would I have come back home to keep your room today? Besides, you know I always yell at you to keep your room tidy," her mum said.
“Yes, ma'am, but I was so surprised to see my room neatly arranged, and even my twin sister's frame was placed in the right position just like the way she always wanted it.
The next day, Tasha carried out the same act as usual, as she was so used to messing her room up. She rushed with her younger brother to the school. They came back in the afternoon when they were close, and she saw her room neatly arranged. She checked the surroundings to see if there was anyone at home but could not find any. This kept her wondering who would have made her room neat.
She kept quiet, and this kept repeating itself time without number. Sometimes, she tells her mum, and sometimes she manages the situation, but then she keeps doubting her mum as she thought she was the one sneaking back from her market to make her room tidy.
Two months later, her dad came back from work, and they welcomed him nicely as usual. He went straight to her room and made it tidy.
The next morning, she jam-packed all the clothes in her room and made her room a mess. She left it just like that, as she always did for school. When she came back, it was nearly arranged just like before. She purposely dropped her sister's picture under her pillow, which even her dad cannot touch.
Her dad went to her room just to keep it tidy but met it already. “Wow! My daughter has changed a lot. Look at how she had kept everything in her room tidy," he said, but then he raised his head and saw her late daughter's picture placed in the usual place she had always wanted it to be. He was lost in thought of her.
When it was afternoon, Tasha and her brother, Nathan, arrived from school, and they met her room, already kept tidy just as before. She looked at the usual position where her twin sister always loved to see her picture, and behold, she saw it well-placed. She was not ready to conclude and instead rushed to her dad. “Dad. Thanks for arranging my room for me,” she thanked her dad so much.
“But, I thought it was you who did that before leaving for school this morning," her dad said in surprise.
“I did not, dad. This has been repeating itself time without number and for up to three weeks now," Tasha said.
“Would it be what I'm thinking?” Her dad said loudly.
“I think I have that same thinking too," Tasha said, even though she knew less about what was on her dad's mind.
“What do you think is on my mind?” her dad asked.
“My late twin sister would have been the one tidying up my room.” Her dad was surprised to hear this from Tasha.
“That's what I had in mind the moment I saw her picture well-placed and in her usual position," he said.
This was when Tasha had to change her character, and she started making her room tidy just to suit her late sister.
“Don't worry, Nasha, I will always be who you want me to be, neat just like you, and I will always keep your picture in the usual position without taking it from there. Henceforth, I will be as neat as you were," Tasha promised as she spoke to the air.
