Cry 😢

Short Story #30

The twins were so identical that it was impossible to tell them apart, but that’s where their similarities end for if Ray was the sun, Marcus was certainly the dark stormy weather.

“You make me out to be a robot,” Marcus accuses his twin as they sat in Mille Fleurs with three of their closest friends. “A robot without feelings, too.”

Ray elegantly shrugs for it was the Gallic thing to do before responding, “You’re so emotionless that when you’re chopping onions, you don’t even weep, but the poor onions do!”

Ramses found this highly amusing and the éclair that was about to be devoured was paused midway. Trishanti tried to hide her giggles behind a napkin as she stole a peek at her ex-boyfriend’s expression. Benny only shakes his head.

“I am not emotionally detached!” Marcus defends. “Just because I am not your typical stereotypical over sensitive Frenchman means that I am void of emotions. I just deal with it better than Mr. Sunshine In A Cup over there.”

“Marc, come on, we all know Ray’s the better twin.” Justin playfully inputs.

“And you call yourself a best friend.” Marcus rolls his eyes and looks at the healthy slice of tarte tatin that was placed in front of him by the waitress five minutes before the conversation took a weird turn. “I maintain that my brother is a saint, but it doesn’t make him flawless or perfect.”

Ray shrugs. “You’re right, but you’re only deflecting from the conversation. What a heartless thing to do!”

While the others laugh, Marcus scoffs, leans back and runs a hand through his auburn wavy hair. “All right, what’s the lowest you can hit me?”

Delighted, Ray stops eating for the moment and teasingly grins. “You never cried after reading Charlotte’s Web.”

Gasps simultaneously went around the table.

“I know you’re not a crier, but that’s a low blow even for you,” Trishanti accused.

“Says the ex,” Marcus sneers. “Look, the book sucked. I mean, all the other animals were going to get killed someday, so why do we care about the pig alone? Isn’t that selfish? He wasn’t even all that special. He stood under a stupid web and if a spider spun webs with words, then it makes the spider special, not the pig. THE SPIDER CAN SPELL!

“However, we all know that spiders don’t have a long lifespan so where did it get the time to be all philosophical and stuff? Wilbur is such a whiner that I couldn’t feel sorry for him. I don’t eat bacon, but if he whined one more time, I would’ve made him into bacon. He’s so dramatic, I guess he majored in theater.”

“Wow, you’re going to make a great dad.” Ramses sarcastically remarked. “It’s just a children’s book. Lighten up.”

“Says you, but my children are not going to read a book with the main character running around sobbing and squealing that it doesn’t want to die. In real life, spiders die and leave their children behind. Do human children cry about that? No, they try to kill the spiders. Fight me all you like, but I rest my case.” 

Ray cracks a loving smile at his younger half. “And that’s why you’ll be a top lawyer. Don’t ever stop being you.” Two hours later, after the food was eaten and everyone caught up with one another’s life, Ray stood to help his twin with the crutches. As Ramses made a remark about forgetting Marc’s broken foot, Ray saw another opportunity to rib his brother, “I know, right, and it’s not like he cried when he was flung from the motorcycle either.”

Marcus sighed in exasperation. “Ray, you’re lucky I love you.”

“Otherwise you would’ve beaten me up with the crutches?”

“How do you…? Ray!” 

Would Marcus ever cry? Who knows? I just wanted to write some banter.

All grammatical errors are mine.

I am currently reading my way through classics and wondering if my feelings have changed hence the existence of this story. Do I feel as Marcus does about Charlotte’s Web now? I guess you’ll have to wait for the review to find out. Coming soon!

I love Marcus. But I love Ray more. He was practically the very first character I developed when I took writing seriously back then, hence the reason he’ll biasedly always have first place in my fictional heart. 

***GIFs/Images that don’t belong to LPM are via Google Search (Right-click for original source)

Disclaimer

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CRFT snippet #4: Copycat!

The following banter is unedited and all grammatical errors are mine:

Ray quickly rakes his hand through his curly reddish hair, give himself the once-over in the mirror, liked what he saw, spritzed on some cologne and head out of his room humming happily. His happiness was shortlived when he met his twin in the lobby. Marcus was wearing the same navy blue cashmere peacoat and his hair was a messy curly fringe like Ray’s. 

“Marc, we’re not going out like this.” Ray gestures at their coat and identical hairstyle. 

“Why not? We always match when we go out to dine at La Petite Fleur!”

“But you’re copying me!”

“Well, you’re copying my face, Ray!”

Ray rolls his eyes. 

“Stop doing that,” Marcus lightly scolds.

Ray was confused. “Doing what?”

“Rolling your eyes. It makes us both look unattractive.”

“Oh, so you could roll your eyes now, but I can’t? Go upstairs and change this instance otherwise I’m not stepping outside with you.”

“Stop acting as if you’re my dad.”

“I am the older twin so technically, I am your father.”

“I’ll hurt you!”

“Ha!” Ray taunts. “I’ll like to see you try without hurting yourself.”

“If this is about the girl, I know you want to impress her, but there is no need to.” Marcus reasons. “Tu lui plais, ça crève les yeux.”

“I know, but I won’t have her thinking that we dressed similarly on purpose to play the identical game. Now, go change and meet me by the fountain.” 

French term used:

*Tu lui plais, ça crève les yeux – She likes you, it’s obvious. 

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Sonnets 

In my feelings

Who hurt you?

The dominant twin

I know what I said last week: that I won’t be sharing any more snippets at the moment, but I couldn’t resist sharing this banter! By the show of hands, who thought Marcus was the oldest (not you, Tammy for you already know)?

As twins grow, their personalities also grow and change, and although they may look the same, the difference between them becomes more apparent. There are many examples of the first born twin being the bossy dominating leader while the second born is submissive and would follow the older (not so with Esau & Jacob, though!). However, because identical twins’ relationship can be so complex, I don’t think their birth orders matters when it comes to who the dominant twin is.

Actual footage of Ray & Marcus when they were babies. See how submissive Marc is? 😁

CRFT snippet #2: Sonnets

Thanks to Kage of RLyis for this lovely cover

The following is unedited and all grammatical errors are mine:

Ray needed to be in two places at the same time: his swim meet and Romance Lit Club. It was his first swim meet so he chose to go there asking his twin to stand in for him at RLC. Although Marcus knew what he was in for, he obliged for he couldn’t say no to his twin, plus, there was bribery cake in it. 

The club had a total of thirty members and they met in the music room on Wednesday evenings. Today, twenty-three showed up to read their favorite sonnet. Marcus was aghast. There was no way he was going to pull this off now. He hated sonnets! 

A tall lanky guy stands and addresses Marcus, “Ray, if you don’t mind…”

Where Ray was charming, Marcus was the total opposite, but he forced a smile – when all he wanted to do was coldly glare – and said, “By all means, be my guest, Papin.” He listened half-heartedly as Papin gushed over a sonnet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and tuned him out as he gazed out the window thinking about the batch of cupcakes Ray was going to especially bake just for him. 

“I shall but love thee better after death.”

“Ugh!” Marcus moaned in despair when some of the girls clap wildly. “Please, stop the train I want to get off.” By the time the fourth reader dramatically read her sonnet, Marcus wanted to hurt something. “I rather watch water boil!” he let out a breath and chanted internally, Think about the cupcakes. Oui, the cupcakes!

They were black coffee vanilla cupcakes that left a somewhat bittersweet coffee aftertaste in the mouth. Ray was skilled at creating bizarre foods that ended up being masterpieces. 

The cupcakes.

And they were all his after sitting in on this stupid romance club for one hour and a half. The cupcake dream soon disappear when Jarvis Facinelli said, “This sonnet is perhaps the most popular to date! It’s Sonnet 18 by Shakespeare who I consider the greatest romance writer of all time.”

Trying hard not to laugh, Marcus bit the inside of his left cheek and insolently rolls his eyes, “Right, and Shah Rukh is the best actor in the world.” 

Jarvis frowns. “Ray, I know you have your opinions…”

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Marcus cuts off the escalating rant. “Thou art more lovely and more temperate.” He mocks. “As if he was comparing his love to the weather! It’s emotionless and dispassionate and it’s like talking to a dead fish.”

“Oh, yeah,” Jarvis challengingly folds his arms. “then what’s your killer passionate opening? Something from a dead French fanatic, perhaps?” he sneers.

“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine,” Marcus smirks as the class was thrown into an uproar. A few of the girls sigh dreamily. Papin was frantically trying to rack his mind for the sonnet number and Jarvis was still staring at him with contempt. 

“Who wrote that sonnet?” Papin finally asked. 

“Ever heard of the Holy Bible?” Marcus looks on as everyone nods. “Good. That’s Song of Solomon. Read chapter one for the next class and we’ll discuss the greatest piece of romance ever told. As for me,” he picks up his backpack. “I’ll be devouring some of the finest cupcakes soon. Au revoir!”

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Have you ever seen the devil face to face?

The Old Switcheroo!

Well, I know that you’re familiar with this one! 😄You might have also seen movies with twins switching lives or a class for a day or maybe even two. Some results were hilarious, or successful, while some were plain disastrous; but twins enjoy sharing the pranks they’ve pulled on their classmates, friends, and even relatives. One of my favorite accounts involved identical twin teachers pulling off the big switcheroo, but some students noted the difference in handwriting and the class went nuts. Luckily, the teacher was just standing in for his identical twin for one day… or was he?

However, it is also important to note that although identical in appearance, twins do have different personalities and habits. They might look the same, but they are not always the same except in a few rare cases.  

CRFT snippet #1: In my feelings

Thanks to Kage of RLyis for this lovely cover

The following is unedited and all grammatical errors are mine:

Ramses Alexander Page III looks back and forth between Marcus and the identical mirror twin Ray, an idea forming in his mind. There was a theory he wanted to test ever since he read about it in the science journals and here, was a pair of twins that unknowingly presented themselves for the opportunity. 

“Salut!” he enthusiastically greeted Ray as the Auburn head teen sat down to lunch at their favorite table in the spacious cafeteria. It took a while to learn how to tell the twins apart although sometimes it was still hard especially when they were wearing identical expressions. “How’s Romance Lit club?”

Ray genuinely smiles. “I am happy with the last turn out. This week we’ll be looking at Pablo Neruda’s work.” he looked at the Egyptian-Greek with earnest. “Would you like to join?”

“Poetry is not my thing.” Ramses realized that Marcus was wrapping up his pep talk with the football team of which he was the captain of. He had to move fast. “So, I read something interesting about identical twins.” When he had Ray’s curious attention, he asked, “If I were to hit you, would Marc feel it?”

“No, it doesn’t work that way. I… hey!” Ray cried out as Ramses slaps him on the arm just as Marcus proceeds to sit. 

“You didn’t feel that?” Ramses asked the ever-scowling twin. 

“Feel what?” Marcus gruffly asks tearing into the beef sandwich.

Ramses shrugs and ate lunch with his buddies in silence wondering how to finish carrying out his theory without Marcus killing him. He closed his aquamarine eyes, count to ten and swiftly kicks Marcus in the shin. The result was instant. The twins let out a howl of pain and automatically reached for the offended area at the same time. As they were facing each other, it looked like they were mirroring each other.

“So that’s what they meant by mirror identical!” Ramses mused out loud. “And now that I have the answer to my theory, I shall be on my way.” He makes to get up, but Marcus grabs him by the lapel of his school jacket and yanks him back down in the chair just as Ray starts ranting about painful shins.

“What is wrong with you? Do you know that the tibia is protected by a thin layer of skin? That actually hurt, you idiot!”

“You hurt my brother, you pay,” Marcus sneers.

“But I kicked you, not Ray!”

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Myth or Fact: Do twins share each other’s pain?

Although this has been proven as fiction by TONS of experiments conducted over the years, there are some accounts of identical twins who have felt each other’s pain. Sally Keeble felt her identical twin sister’s labor pains and it wasn’t a walk in the park for her. Identical twins Angela King and Elena Gatt also insisted that they share each other’s pain ranging from accidents to morning sickness. When Angela was 8, she had her tonsils removed. Meanwhile, Elena was unaware and stayed with her grandmother screamed at the exact moment Angela’s tonsils were removed. 

Science can’t explain everything nor was everything meant to be explained when it comes to identical twins and their feelings. A twin connection is simply unique to that of a normal sibling.