My Environment Vaishnavi J Lakshmanan

I had the spent majority of my days here, spending my time exploring the nooks and crannies when my parents were at work and looking for the ancient photos and relics dating back in my family’s history. Whether I was on vacation or living in India, I always made sure to come back to this often, exploring the history that we had not been able to take to America, but were able to keep alive in my grandparents’ house. It was my home away from home. It opened up my curiosity and made it persistent, as I explored the generations that made up the house, hidden from my eyesight. The little trinkets I would find in the cabinets, and the smells and sounds of the old house creaking encapsulated my love for mysteries and my will to keep searching for answers.

One of these hot summer days, I had found a mysterious brown box under my cousin’s bed. What was my cousin hiding? She had gone out to get us some coconut during a massive heat wave in India, and I couldn’t help but explore the house trying to find something to do while she was out. The box was covered in dust and scraped the floor as I pulled it into the broad light, waiting to examine its contents. My little fingers trembled in anticipation as I opened the box. I jumped back,...