Grandma Saved The Day

Now this essay won me a silver for the Commonwealth Essay Competition this year. Just wanted to share it.

          I vaguely remember someone telling me that one would be very lucky to have a grandmother like mine. I was indeed very lucky and I will let you know why. 
          We went to my Great-aunt Margaret’s house for a week’s visit. Great-aunt Marge became very stern after her husband’s death. “She’s really soft from the inside,” grandma always claimed.
          One morning I went to Great-aunt Marge’s room to get a pen, when I saw a photo lying in the drawer. It was her late husband, Kale Sebastian. So this was his only photograph grandma was talking about, I wondered. I thought of showing the photograph to my brother as we never got to see him before. As I walked out of the room, I slipped on the doormat, spilling the glass of water I was holding and---
          Ooops! I was sitting on the floor, holding onto a wet, disintegrated photo. It was murky and falling apart to pieces. I felt sick; as if there was a monster inside my stomach trying to make its way out. Soft from the inside or not, Great-aunt Marge was very short-tempered. I took the photo without her permission in the first place. How was I supposed to face her now?
          My brain stopped working. Not knowing what to do, I decided to keep it back where I found it. No one would then know who was responsible for it. I felt guilty but I had no other option.
          Suddenly, grandma came in. She asked why I looked so worried. I said everything was alright.
          “You can’t hide anything from me,” she whispered.
          True. I cannot. I told her what happened and she listened without interrupting. I always wondered how she managed to smile all the time and stay so calm.
          “Marge loves paintings,” she said.
          “What do you mean?” I asked, very perplexed.
          Grandma explained that we could paint Great-uncle Kale’s portrait and give it to Great-aunt Marge.
          “Get real gran!” I exclaimed “How can we possibly paint him exactly the same?”
          “Who said we’ll paint him exactly the same? We’ll just try to make it as similar as possible. After all, we’re not that bad at painting, are we? ”
          She was right. Grandma and I loved painting together and we were pretty good. So we went to the attic and I took out my brushes and paints from my bag, while grandma examined the photograph carefully. It was torn and smudged but we could still make out some of it.
         “It looks like a cartoon character!” I complained after we finished it.
         “Trust me, she’ll like it. Marge always appreciates my paintings even when they are bad or amateur. “
           I recalled the day Great-aunt Marge’s cook broke a vase. She was furious. That was only a vase; but I ruined her husband’s last bit of memory. Grandma said if I kept the photo back in the drawer it would be dishonest and cowardly. Everyone was in the living room when we came downstairs.
      “I want to show you something,” I said very feebly, not daring to look straight into Great-aunt Marge’s eyes. When I finally showed her the photo, I could tell that she was not angry. But she was really sad. Tears rolled down her cheeks. I held her hand and said, “I’m really sorry. I painted this for you.” There was a moment’s silence. All sorts of bizarre thoughts came to my mind. But Great-aunt Marge walked to the fireplace and held it against the wall above it and said,
        “It’s going to look lovely up here.”
         I never felt more relieved. I ran and hugged her for the first time and it felt great.
         “Why did you take the photo without anyone’s permission?” my mother asked.
         “Umm... I just---“
         “I told her to get it for me,” grandma broke in.  
         I turned around and looked at her totally awestruck. Grandma just smiled and secretly gestured me not to utter another word. That day was very special for me. It was the day I realized that my grandma was simply the best. She was there for me when I needed her the most and she saved the day.