“Mia, come on up! You’re going to miss it!”   

“I’m coming, I’m coming. It’s not like you are going to take the picture without me. I would love that, though,” Mia grumbled, rolling her eyes at her mother.  

Mia’s father was straightening her younger brother’s shirt. Her elder brother, Max, was talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone.   

“Come on, look lively, dear. You don’t want to be sulking in our family photograph, do you?” asked her mother.   

“I guess not,” said Mia, shrugging.  

Joshua ran up to Mia as she reached the spot where her mother was standing. He kicked sand onto her brown leather boots. She frowned and smacked his head. He fell dramatically. His head missed the rocks by inches.   

“Mia! What are you doing? You could have hurt your brother,” said her father.   

“If anything, those rocks would have undone whatever is wrong with his head,” said Mia.  

Her father stared at her. Then he shook his head and helped Joshua stand. Joshua didn’t seem to mind the fall. He stuck his tongue out at Mia when their father wasn’t looking.   

“Well, it’s a relief he didn’t ruin his clothes. Come on, Joshua. Stand next to your sister,” said their mother.   

“Jesus, Brandy. The boy could have been hurt and you’re worried about his clothes?” Mia’s father asked.   

“It’s not every day we are out for a family photograph at the lighthouse. I just want it to be as good as it can be, Connor,” said Brandy.  

Her husband sighed. He shook his head again before calling their elder son over to join them. “Come on now, champ. Your mother wants this to be perfect. That means you need to take out some time out of your conversation.”  

Max chuckled before moving to stand next to his father. Joshua stood next to Mia. He pinched her as he took his position. Mia resisted the urge to smack him again. Her mother sighed and placed her hands on Mia’s shoulders. Connor put one arm on Max’s shoulders and the other hand on Joshua’s. Mia looked at them as they smiled at the camera.   

“Come on, dear, look at the camera. We don’t always have such a lovely day here,” Mia’s mother whispered into her ear.  

Mia turned towards the camera and sighed. Her sunflower-yellow frock fluttered in the breeze. The sunlight on her arms and legs had a soothing warmth. Water from the sea next to the lighthouse sprayed over them gently. It tickled the backs of her knees.  

Mia had dreaded this—the family photograph—but standing there, she felt quite peaceful. Just as she was about to smile, she heard the snap of the shutter. She had missed the moment.   

Her mother rushed over to the photographer. Brandy snatched the picture from his Polaroid as soon as it came out. She shook the picture, eager for the image to appear. Joshua ran past Mia to join his mother.  

Mia heard her mother say something to the photographer, who shook his head. He pointed to the other people waiting to get their photographs taken. Her mother was visibly disappointed as she walked away from him.   

“How is it?” asked Connor.  

“It’s…alright,” replied Brandy. Connor took the image from her and looked at it for a few seconds.   

“What are you saying? This is beautiful! It’s much better than I imagined,” he exclaimed.  

He showed it to Max, who liked it as well. Then he handed it to Mia. The day looked even more beautiful in the picture. Her father and brothers looked really happy. Joshua’s eyes squinted against the sunlight. Her mother looked content.  

Then Mia’s eyes fell on her own face. She realized why her mother wasn’t so pleased with the image. Mia’s mouth was half open. One of her eyes was half closed. The picture was taken at the moment she was about to smile.   

She wanted to apologize to her mother. Brandy had wanted it to be perfect. Mia felt guilty. She wanted to say something, but her mother smiled warmly at Mia and continued walking.  

Like many other occasions, Mia failed to express her feelings to her mother. Mia watched her mother sigh as another small happiness evaded her.   

Mia’s father sped away as quickly as his rickety car and the shoddy road allowed. Mia and Max tried watching him vanish into the distance, but all they could see was the huge puff of dust the car left behind. They were trying to delay going inside as much as they could.   

“Come along, you two. Grandpa is waiting,” said Brandy. She walked inside with Joshua. Mia sighed and turned, taking a long look at the place they visited every Saturday.   

“I suppose your Saturdays at college are way better than this,” she said. Max chuckled and stroked her hair playfully.   

“It’s not that bad, Mia. He’s a nice guy,” said Max.   

“I know he’s nice. That’s why it makes it difficult to avoid coming here. It’s just that he’s so cranky and worked up all the time. And his practical jokes... God, Joshua could come up with better jokes than him!”   

Max laughed again. He put his arm around Mia’s shoulder as they walked. “People tend to get that way when they’re old.”  

“I won’t ever be like that,” said Mia.  

“You’re still in high school, Mia.”  

“It would rather be in high school all my life than get old and become like that,” Mia mumbled as they reached their grandfather’s room.   

“I don’t think Jimmy Thomas would like that. I bet he has thought about your prom night already,” said Max, teasing Mia. She blushed and pinched him playfully.   

“Oh, so you finally found your way to your grandpa’s room!” said their grandfather sarcastically.  

He was sitting in his easy chair by the window. His roommate lay on the bed in the other corner of the room. The radio on the table played an old country song. The weather outside was gloomy. The weather usually was in their town. Mia always felt that old country songs were meant to be played in such weather. Cloudy skies and country songs went well together.   

“How have you been, Grandpa?” said Mia, walking over to hug him.   

“My arthritis is a constant bother. But apart from that, it is all hell,” he said, patting her back lightly. Mia frowned as she let go.   

“Dad, you can try and be a little cheerful,” said Brandy.   

“When you get as old as I am, you’ll know how I feel,” he said.   

“You smell funny, Grandpa,” said Joshua. He was leaning on one of the curved supports of the easy chair.   

“I know! He wouldn’t believe me! I told him that he should take a bath. It’s been four days since he last had one,” said their grandfather’s roommate from across the room. Their grandfather grumbled and turned towards the window. He knew what was coming.   

“How can you live like this, Dad? Four days without a bath? No wonder you’re always so grumpy. When your body is fresh, you’ll feel better,” Brandy insisted.  

Brandy’s father had heard all this before. He knew it was pointless to argue with Brandy, so he turned his attention to Max.   

“Tell me, boy, what’s going on in your life?” he said politely. He was always that way with Max.   

“I’m almost done with my freshman year of college, Grandpa. It’s a really nice place. If you feel up to it, I’ll take you there sometime. I’m sure you’ll like it,” said Max.  

His Grandpa laughed off his suggestion. “This old geezer has had his fair share of traveling. Besides, road travelling is not for me. I’m a man of the sea. Living with other sailors, working hard day and night, eating fresh quail from the sea each day….ah! Now that’s a life worth living! You kids wouldn’t know about reaping the fruits from the sweat of your brow or the strength of your back.”   

Mia sat down heavily on the edge of Grandpa’s bed. He started recounting one of his tales from his sailing days. Mia wondered whether old people liked to live in the past, or if they just ran out of things to talk about at a certain age.  

Mia’s eyes fell on the strands of hair sticking out of her grandpa’s ears. It irked and disgusted her to see them, but her eyes wouldn’t look away. His black toenail attracted her attention similarly. She had always thought it was a bruise. But her grandfather’s toenail had been black ever since she could remember. 

After a while, Grandpa told them he was feeling drowsy and wanted to rest. Mia’s mother and brothers got up to leave. Mia continued looking at her grandpa, imagining his smile. For all his physical and mental changes, he had retained the warmth in his smile. When their eyes met, he gave her a smaller version of it. It was still a beautiful sight.  

He signaled her to lean forward. “Your fly is open!” he shouted as she brought her ear to his mouth.  

His loud voice made her recoil. She checked her trousers, but he was lying. It was another one of his silly pranks. It amused his roommate a lot, who was laughing and coughing in his bed. Joshua teased her as she walked out of the room. She couldn’t believe that she always fell for Grandpa’s dumb jokes. 

She cursed herself and stormed out of the building.   

Max was packing his rucksack for his journey back to college in the city. As he packed the shirts his mother had ironed, he noticed Mia out of the corner of his eye. She was standing in the doorway. But he didn’t turn towards her. He could tell she was trying to stay out of his sight, hiding behind the wall. He smiled involuntarily.  

“Hey, come on in,” he said, trying to sound surprised to notice her. Mia entered nonchalantly, as if she would rather be somewhere else. 

“I see you’ve got your things in order,” she said, sitting on his bed.   

“Yup, that was the last of it. All set to leave first thing in the morning,” he said, exhaling loudly.  

Mia was conscious of his gaze. She tried to find a point of attention in the room to look at. She fixated on his ukulele.   

“Not putting it inside your rucksack?” she asked, pretending to sound uninterested.   

“No, I prefer to hold it in my hands. The case is quite sturdy, but I like to hold it anyway. It’s not too heavy.”  

Mia simply raised her eyebrows slightly and nodded.   

“Any chance you might tell me what you’re painting currently?” asked Max.  

Mia looked up at him and smiled. She shook her head mischievously. Max laughed. He sat down next to her and patted her head.   

“Take care of everyone, dear sis. Especially yourself.” 

Mia put her head on his shoulder and held her arms around his neck.   

Early the next morning, Max embraced Brandy and Mia before getting into the car. He patted Joshua on the head and ruffled his hair. They waved goodbye as Connor drove Max to the bus station.   

Connor drove hurriedly, even early in the morning. But that was Connor. Mia felt that the town knew him not as the local doctor but as the most dangerous driver around. It was like he was driving to an emergency all the time. It did not matter to Connor how poorly the roads were made, for he never took his foot off the gas. What was worse was that he was never totally in control of the car. It was nothing short of a miracle that he had never been in an accident or killed someone.   

Mia was nervous when her dad drove. But he was always in good spirits. It was like his mind didn’t register his reckless driving. The near-death experiences of the people on the road didn’t fluster him in the least. And no one ever bothered him about it. Apart from being the town’s first doctor, he was one of the kindest spirits around.   

Mia still had a few hours before she had to go to school. She picked up the newspaper from the front door and went inside the small service room on the corner of their little garden. She sat down in the chair beside the window. An advertisement about a local painting contest in the paper caught her attention. It was a contest for children under the age of eighteen.  

Mia instantly decided to enter the contest. She looked at her easel for a long time, trying to think of a theme for her painting.  

Eventually, Mia heard her father’s car come up the driveway. Instead of getting out to open the wooden gate, he nudged it open with his car. Mia watched him go into the house.  

Shortly after, Mia’s mother walked out the front door. She walked barefoot into the garden, as she did every morning. She liked how the morning dew felt on her feet. 

After a few minutes, Brandy stopped walking. She stood still, resting her arms on the wall. Looking at her from where she sat, Mia couldn’t help but feel that the morning was fresher and more beautiful because of her mother. She felt as if the day was being rejuvenated by her mother’s presence and not the other way around. Her blond curls hid her face from Mia. The sunlight fell on her bare arms and legs, giving a heavenly radiance to her body.   

Mia was able to see Brandy’s face when the wind blew her hair back. Mia felt sad when she noticed Brandy’s expression. There was something in her face that Mia knew too well, for she had seen it in her own reflection in the mirror. It was the look of dissatisfaction, from small but unfulfilled desires.  

Mia knew her mother didn’t want anything elaborate in life, just small, simple pleasures. She had seen her mother rejoice in them when they occurred.   

Joshua ran out of the house and jumped onto Brandy’s back, startling her. He nearly knocked them both to the ground. But Brandy scooped him up and playfully fell to the ground with him. She tickled him until he freed himself and ran out of her grasp. 

Mia couldn’t help but smile. Joshua slammed his fist on the door of the service room before going into the house. But Mia didn’t mind. She was busy looking at her mother, who noticed Mia and smiled.  

Mia smiled back. She waved as Brandy walked into the house. Now Mia knew what she would paint.