Firestarter - The Rants of a Pyrophile

You know that saying 'Blood is thicker than water'? Well, I'm not sure what 'thick' means in this case. Maybe they should change it to 'Blood is more viscous than water'. Although that might not be entirely correct. I can't be sure. In fact, I'm not even sure whether you can compare blood and water. Sure they're both fluid but blood is non-Newtonian and doesn't follow all sorts of rules. Sort of like ketchup. Guess we should just stick with 'thick' after all eh?

Anyhow, that old saying just wants to point out that family ties are stronger than others. Which means that the relationship that I have with my big sister, Along (aka Dude) could only be described as the blood that's been put in water with high salt content where osmosis happens and all the water comes out of the blood and into the solution and the blood cells go shrivelly. Yep, that sounds about right.

Our relationship started when I was born. She was only 3 years old. She was a good big sister. She looked out for me in a way only big sisters can. She even raised the alarm when I fell out of a moving car. Apparently she said 'Ma, adik jatuh'.

As you can see from the photo, I've always wanted to be like her when I was younger. I always did what Dude did. I wanted to dress up like her, get my hair done the same way. I'm not sure whether it was because I really adored her, or because I haven't got the imagination to think of something else.

One of my early childhood memories is of me constantly changing the way I address her. When it was just the two of us, I called her 'Kakak' but when my younger sister came along and ruined my 'youngest child' status, I was taught to call her 'Along'. And during the transition period, I remember not being able to make up my mind on what to call her. Since then I've settled on 'Dude'.

Growing up, I didn't feel the need to emulate her every move anymore. But I doubt the feeling of admiration and idolization ever went away. She is my big sister after all. My payung, payung, payung (to the tune of Rihanna's Umbrella, ella, ella). So, after all that, I would just like to say....