You Should Change
Carli was an only child and she loved it. She was only 5 but very much understood her lifestyle. She had her parents' attention all to herself and that brought joy to her. She did not have siblings that she had to share anything with and she enjoyed it very much. Every Christmas and birthday were all about her. Her grandparents spoiled her and she got anything she wanted whenever she wanted it. Carli felt her life was the perfect fairytale and it all revolved around her. Then one day her mother said to her, "Carli, you are going to be a big sister!" To her dismay, she would no longer be an only child and that meant that what at one time was only hers, she would now have to share.
A few months went by and Carli saw her mom's belly get bigger and bigger. Eventually her mother gave birth to a little boy named Tommy. Carli made it clear to her parents that she did not want to a share a room with her brother. As Tommy got older and started being able to play with toys, Carli made sure to hide all the toys in her room. She wanted everything only to herself. Her parents were not happy about her behavior but they also were not sure how to handle the situation exactly.
The years went by and Carli only got worse. Every year at Tommy’s birthday party, Carli faked being sick so that she would have all of the attention. Eventually, this got old and people stopped buying her fake routine. Tommy, who was very kind-hearted, always made sure his sister was happy and did whatever he could so that she would be. This attracted people to Tommy. Everyone thought of him as a selfless and genuine young boy. Carli hated that her brother had so many people that genuinely cared for him. At school, things were not very different. If her friends got new clothes or school supplies, Carli would go home after and cry to her parents until she got something better than her friends.
Eventually, Carli grew up and got married. All her life she had gotten away with her selfish behavior and no one had ever put a stop to it. Even in her marriage she was able to have things the way she wanted them. Despite that deep down she was very unhappy and she never understood why. Her mother always told her, “If you continue to push those around you away because of your selfishness and greed, you will end up alone." Carli was not bothered by this at all. She had convinced herself that she did not depend on anyone and was fine being alone. She had not spoken to her brother in years and she had no intention of doing so. Her mother had passed away a few years back and her father was ill. One day, her husband grew weary with Carli and decided he could no longer stay married to someone so selfish and cold. He divorced Carli and moved out. This still did not bother her for she knew that she could call her father and that he would still put up with her.
A few months passed after her divorce and Carli felt very much alone. She was afraid to admit it, so instead she covered it up by deciding to go see her father and check up on him. When she arrived at his house, he was not there. She became frustrated because she did not like when people were not readily available for her. She noticed a car pull into the driveway. It was Tommy. This made Carli angry for she did not like her brother. Carli felt that ever since he was born he took her parents' attention from her. Tommy went in and saw Carli standing there. She scolded him and ranted about her father not being home. She said, “Where is Dad? He should be home! This is why I cannot be around you two! Always disappointments and undependable!” Tommy could not believe she was throwing a tantrum, especially at her age! He looked to Carli and said, “Dad passed away about a month ago and you would have known that if you had answered any of my calls."
Carli began to cry. She had let her hate for her brother build up over the years and had decided to never talk to him again. She would reject his calls and the time when she should have answered, she didn’t. She missed saying goodbye to her dying father. Her selfishness had made her so bitter that she pushed many people away. She was now alone and filled with regret.
Author's Note: This story was derived from the anthology series from week 2. A story that I directly took the idea of karma from was "Turtle." In this short story men discuss how to kill the turtle and they are outwitted when the turtle successfully swims away. It is relevant to the topic of karma because they were inteding to kill the turtle and figuring out ways to do. This did not work out for them and in turn the turtle was able to get away. The story has all fictional characters that were not taken from another story. The plot itself is also original and was not replicated from an epic. Karma can be observed in various scopes. Whether it is good karma or bad karma, something always proceeds an event occurring. I decided to focus on stories of karma since there are always debates about it being real or if it is more about what people attract themselves. I believe it is important to remember that it can be immediate and it can also take years to occur. For this story I decided to look at it from a 'years down the road' approach. Although the plot and characters are not applicable to the Ramayana or Mahabharata, karma can still be observed throughout. In the Ramayana, Vali is trapped when his brother thinks he is dead. He then manages to escape and tries to make his brother pay for leaving him trapped in there. That can also be seen as a form of karma.