Microstory 1060: Martin

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Viola was the one who created me and my sister. Margaret is my twin, and of course, that has always been the case, but it hasn’t always been the way it is now. The bond between us has only grown in recent years, but the fist shift happened when we were eight years old. She and I weren’t very close when we were kids—which may sound strange to hear about a pair of twins—but when two people go through what we did, a lot can change. It wasn’t until recently that we developed the twintuition. It’s even more powerful for us. It’s not that we didn’t get along before, but we were born with incompatible interests, and differing worldviews. We were very nice and affectionate with each other, but we didn’t hang out, and we weren’t the kind of siblings who tell each other everything. She had her life, and I had mine, and it wasn’t looking like things were ever going to be different. Then ten years ago, the four of us were on a train, on our way to visit our big brother in college, who was probably the biggest thing we had in common. The authorities still don’t really know what happened, but our car somehow broke free from the rest of them, and tipped over. Besides our parents, seven other passengers died that day, while Margaret and I were the only two survivors. Our brother ended up dropping out of school, so he could take care of us, and we could never repay him for that. Had we been a bit older, we might have suggested we move out to Illinois for him, so he could continue his education, but we were too young to understand the situation fully. About three years ago, our brother, Marzo was diagnosed with a terminal disease. He wasn’t really given a prognosis, and he’s still alive today, but life got even harder at that point. One day, Margaret and I had just returned from leaving Marzo in the hospital for an overnight stay, when we found Viola waiting for us in the living room. She warned us that things would not be getting better, and couldn’t if the dynamic remained as it was. The details are a little personal, so I won’t get into them, but she basically performed a ritual over us, which gave us the ability to exchange thoughts, and see through each other’s eyes. I know it sounds far-fetched, but I’m telling you the truth. I can even get her in here to prove it. Or you can call her. What luck, here’s a deck of cards. Now, you pull one at random. Okay, show it to—was that your phone? It’s Margaret, isn’t it? She was already watching us. Boom. I don’t know how, but Viola did that. And I don’t know why, because our connection will apparently not be vital until—well, would you look at that? Tomorrow is the big day.