Little Brother, Big Prank: Noor and Stelios in Medieval North Africa

She was terrified. Noor had to admit it; she was absolutely petrified. How could she not be? The stakes were so high, and the risks were so extreme that there was no way of predicting how things would turn out. Heck, she wasn’t even sure she fully understood what she was doing in the first place.

But the temptation was too much to resist. Her brother Stelios had been acting like a jerk lately, and he’d been giving her a lot of grief. She couldn’t help but feel frustrated, especially when he mocked her for all the TikTok videos she watched on her phone every day. He teased her relentlessly about it, never letting her forget that she was a laughable nerd with no friends or social life. It hurt so much, because he knew how to push all of her buttons, and he seemed to enjoy watching her squirm with his constant jabs and insults. But today was going to be different! Today she would teach him a lesson about picking on his little sister!

She thought back to all of the times he’d messed with her over the years, always using whatever advantage he had over her to get under her skin. Sometimes he’d just make fun of her for being chubby, calling her names and making ridiculous impersonations of how she walked and talked. Other times he’d pretend to trip her or push her down on purpose whenever they were walking together, laughing hysterically as she fell on the ground with a loud thud.

After enduring years of this torment, Noor had finally reached the breaking point! She couldn’t take it anymore! So tonight, after dinner when their parents went outside to have some adult time while they cleaned up in the kitchen, Noor made her move: She grabbed some baby clothes from their parents’ room, found an old diaper bag in the garage along with some bottles and pacifiers (from when their older sister had babies), and then dragged Stelios into their parent’s bathroom without saying a word.

She placed him on the big bathtub seat at the end of the tub where only half of his body could fit inside. Then she started filling it up with water until it reached his neck level. As soon as most of his body was submerged in water, she took off his shirt, pants and socks and threw them aside in a messy pile near the sink where everyone could see them when they came back inside later tonight. Then she wetted down his hair and face until he smelled like he needed a shower instead of a bath. After that, Noor grabbed one of Grandma’s old diapers from underneath the sink and placed it underneath Stelios’ butt before folding it over itself to absorb any leakage that might occur during playtime and nap time later on today…assuming everything went according to plan!

Once he looked sufficiently wet and stinky enough, Noor grabbed one of Stelios’ pacifiers from off the floor (where they both landed after being thrown at him earlier that night) and shoved it into his mouth while wrapping a large blanket around him like a baby burrito with just his little face sticking out from one end so that he could breathe properly while playing inside their bathtub during “bathtime.”

She would have kept going if only their parents hadn’t walked back in at that very moment! Startled by the sight before them, Noor dropped everything in her hands onto the floor as Mr. & Mrs. Kostas yelled out in shocked surprise: “What are you doing?! Are you trying to drown your brother?! Put him down right now! I mean it! Right now!! Do you hear me!?” They demanded as they rushed towards them while red-faced with fury and panic etched into their faces!

"Noor!" Their mother shouted as she reached up towards Noor from inside the tub where Stelios was floating listlessly upside-down underneath all of those blankets as though he were lifelessly drowning inside this giant bathtub full of water! "What is wrong with you?!" She screamed at Noor angrily as she quickly peeled away all of those blankets from around Stelios' body only to reveal him wearing nothing but an oversized baby diaper underneath! "What have you done?!" Mrs. Kostas demanded angrily as she wiped away tears from beneath both eyes while shaking uncontrollably from shock and disbelief!

"I…I don't know," Noor said softly while staring down at her feet guiltily. "Are you okay?" She asked quietly while looking up towards Stelios who remained motionless inside the tub of water despite having heard every single thing she'd just said moments earlier while standing right behind him, listening intently to their parents' heated discussion outside on the front porch. "Stelios…are you okay?" She asked again before reaching upwards towards his face hesitantly with both hands, wanting to ensure his well-being. She realized that, indeed, he was still breathing normally, even after being submerged