It Must Be A Twin Thing

Elaine was four the first time I took her to the beach. She was utterly captivated by the experience. Elaine danced across the wet sand, staring down at her reflection as it mimicked every one of her moves. She loved the rock pools, spending hours searching for the prettiest shells, pieces of sea glass, and ammonites. She loved throwing pebbles into the water and watching the ripples expand in ever-widening circles.

On our fourth day, we stayed on the beach until later in the evening. The beach was quiet other than the gentle shushing of the waves against the shore. I was content reading my book while basking in the evening sunlight.

I became aware of Elaine chattering to herself and realised that her conversation was one-sided. Was she talking to someone I couldn’t see? 

“Look,” she said, “This one is so pretty.”

A pause.

“Yes, yours is pretty too. Do you want to swap?” Elaine placed a shell in the pool and giggled. “That tickled!” she laughed.

She fumbled in her pile of treasures and pulled out a piece of green sea glass. “This one is the same colour as our eyes,” she said.

Curiosity got the better of me. I dropped my book onto my towel and crossed to the rock pool where Elaine played.

“Who are you talking to, darling?” I asked.

“Jenny,” she said and pointed to the pool.

The blood went cold in my veins. “Who’s Jenny?” I asked tentatively.

“She’s my friend,” she said, “And she looks exactly like me. She’s the best friend I ever had.” She passed her hand over her gently rippling reflection with affection in her eyes.

I sat heavily on the sand, pulling Elaine into my arms and burying my face into her hair to hide my tears. Memories flooded back to the day of Elaine’s birth. Her birth and that of her identical twin sister. Jennifer had never taken a breath.

I’d tell Elaine one day when she was old enough to understand. But in her heart, I believed she already knew. It must be a twin thing.