TWINS

Once upon a time… there were fraternal twins still in the womb of their mother. They grew there safe from danger. They eagerly awaited the day when they would see what was outside of the walls that confined them when they could finally see what made all the sounds they heard beyond the womb. They would talk with each other excitedly about what may be awaiting them.

One day a magical fairy appeared to them.

“Hello”, said the fairy. “I am your fairy guide, here to tell you of the world into which you are to be born.”

“Oh my!” said the little twins. “We have never met anyone but each other. How you shine!” They were delighted to see this magical creature before them. Anything would seem magical to these two perfect unsullied creations but a real fairy dazzled them beyond measure.

“Well thank you,” said the fairy, “but let us dispense with the niceties, I have a schedule to keep, so let us proceed with my introducing you to this world you will enter.”

“Oh yes, oh yes, please do!”, cried the twins gleefully. “Tell us, what is it like to be born?”

“Well”, said the fairy, “you will enter out of this dark world into a world of bright light, and the muffled sounds you hear will be clearly discernable. You little girl, will be cleaned off and wrapped in swaddling blankets and held close to you mother’s breast.”

“Oh that sounds wonderful,” said the twins.

“But what of me?”, asked the brother with wide eyes and innocence.

“You”, said the fairy, “you will have part of your penis chopped off.”

“Whaaa?!!!”, said the little boy, shocked and horrified. “But…but…it is just now growing, it is so small and delicate…why would they want to hurt it?!”

“It is just the way”, said the fairy guide.

The little sister looked concerned about her brother but her fate did not seem at all bad so she asked the fairy, “What then fairy, after we are born?”

The little brother looked up, still with innocent curiosity in his eyes. He had been shocked by the prospect of being mutilated at birth but had spirit and thought that it must get much better after this entrance into the world.

“Well then you will grow and soon you will play.”

The little boy started to perk up at the thought of this and again the two spoke as one, “That sounds wonderful. What kind of games will we play?”

“You, little girl,” said the fairy, “you will play with dolls and dress up, you will color and be expected to be good in art, you will have kittens and puppies for pets, and will help in cooking delicious meals.”

“What of me?”, asked the little brother.

“You”, said the fairy, “you will play in mud and dirt, you will make frogs and snakes your pets. You will be rough. You will wrestle and fight and get into trouble.”

“Why do I have to play in the mud…and…snakes?!? Why would I get into trouble? I don’t understand?”, asked the little boy, confused and disheartened.

“It is just the way”, said the fairy guide.

Again the little sister was concerned for her brother but could not wait to ask what was next for her because all that the fairy had told her seemed so wonderful.

“What then fairy? What will come after we are older?”

“Well”, said the fairy, “as you grow older you will begin to play different games.”

The little brother thought to himself that after all that had come before this must be the part where his life will become enjoyable and again the two speak as one,

“What then fairy guide? What kind of games will we play?”

“Well”, said the fairy guide, “you, little sister, will swim and run. You will play a musical instrument in your school band and you will be a cheerleader. You will say things like ‘GO TEAM!’ but what you will mean ‘Look at me, I’m so pretty! Everyone loves me. Life is so good!’”

“What of me?”, asked the little brother. “What games will I play?”

“You”, said the fairy, “you will play games where you fight other young men for a ball. You will slam your body into theirs and hurt each other to get this ball and then you will put it through a hole or take it across a line and whoever does this the most wins. Whoever does not hurt the other one more and take the ball away the most will be losers and no one will like them because they have failed.”

This time the little boy just stared in disbelief at the fairy for a while. Finally he said, “What stupid games. Why would I want to play those games?!?”

“It is just the way”, said the fairy guide.

Again the little sister felt for her brother but her concern was little more than a tinge when she thought about what else she may look forward to. Everything sounded wonderful so far.

“What then fairy guide?”, she asked almost squealing with anticipation. “What will happen after that?”

“Well”, said the fairy guide, after a while you will be done with school and done with the games you played as children. Now life will truly begin for you on your own.”

At this the little boy, who was now staring off into the blackest corner of the womb, looked back and again the two asked as one (although the boy did not do so with the same zeal as his sister), “What will we do then?”

“You”, said the fairy guide, “you little sister will go to college, a school for young adults that will ensure that you get a higher paying job. You will be eligible for all the scholarships your brother is and you will have special scholarships because you are a girl. Your parents will give you more money as well, because they will worry about you because you are their precious angel. Your father will not want anything bad to happen to you because he thinks you need his protection and your mother will see herself when she looks at you and will give you all that she can.”

“Oh that sounds wonderful!,” said the little sister.

Not wanting to ask but not able to help himself, the little brother asked, “And what of me?”

“You”, said the fairy guide, “you will have to register for Selective Service. It is just in case they have to conscript you into the Army and you may go to war. You may not be able to pay for your college though and you may have to join the Army anyhow, in order to pay for your college. That is if you survive. It is not likely that your parents will help you very much with college because you are a boy and they think you should be able to pay for it yourself. You will not be able to get a good job though, because you have no education and the economy sucks, so you probably will not be able to finish college,”

“Oh,” said the little brother. And that was all that he said.

Little sister was beaming with the thought of all that life had for her and she asked, “What then fairy guide? What will happen to us then?”

“Then” , said the fairy guide, “then you will graduate and get a good job. You will not have to work too hard and you will be paid well for this. You will bear children and they will love you. You will live your life out happily and see your life continued in the children that come from your womb.”

“Oh that sounds wonderful”, she exclaimed. “Do not tell me the details, I want to experience it all myself.” She then looked and saw her brother staring dejectedly into the blackest part of the womb. “But what of my brother?”, she asked hoping that some good news might console him.

“He”, said the fairy guide, “He will never graduate college, he will stay in that dead end job that he got in order to pay for the little bit of college he could afford. He will get a girl pregnant. It will be her choice to abort it and he will become horribly depressed. He will then get another girl pregnant one night after becoming incredibly drunk at a bar. She will decide to keep the baby, it is her choice, but she sues him for child support to pay for the result of her choice. He will be even poorer than he already had been. After a few years he will develop cancer from the carcinogens he has been exposed to at the dead end factory job that he has been working at for year. He will lose his job and insurance and die a hellishly painful death, alone.”

With this the fairy guide left them. The little sister beamed and could hardly wait for the day that she would be born. The little brother sat and thought in complete dismay, about the life that he faced. After a few weeks they saw a light opening up beneath them and they knew that it was time to be born.

Outside of the womb, their mother was in labor in the maternity ward of a hospital. The doctor told her to “PUSH! PUSH!” After a long while of pushing the doctor said to her, “I see the head. Here she comes.”

With that, out came little sister. She was taken away for a moment and cleaned and wrapped in swaddling blankets.

Still there was little brother inside so the doctor kept saying, “PUSH! PUSH!” After a few minutes of pushing the doctor said to her, “I see the head. Here he comes.”

With that out came little brother. A hush born of grief came over the room. Little brother had arrived but his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck like a noose and he hung from his mother’s womb as a baby condemned since before birth.

The doctor took him away and brought little sister to her mother. Mother was sad at firs and so was little sister, but soon they forgot their pain and were able to enjoy their lives that they had been so fortunate to be blessed with.