Stories As Short As Rhode Island

The Death of West; The Life of East

(A/N: I'll write something cheerful one day.

But that day.

Is not today! :D)

"EJ?"

That voice. He couldn't get himself to place it. It was too fuzzy. Too drowned out by the ringing in his ears.

"East...? Are you alright?"

He looked at the speaker, but his vision was blurred. He couldn't make anything out but smudges of color.

He leaned against the doorway (Doorway? Wasn't he at the cliffs?) for support as he tried to calm down and take a deep breath, but he was too choked up to manage anything.

What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he breathe? Why couldn't he stop shaking? Why was his face wet? Was he crying? He didn't cry.

A worried Connecticut put down the muddy shoe he was cleaning and approached the distressed colony standing in the front door.

"What happened?" He asked, thoroughly concerned as he guided his little brother to a chair, "Where's West?"

West. West was just with him, where did he go?

East Jersey thought back and tried to recall.

He remembered going with West to Elias Green's tavern an hour and a half ago.

Then they were thrown out thirty minutes later for... EJ got into an argument with Abner, right? It broke into a fight? West got involved and tried to break the two up. Elias thought he was joining in, so he threw all three of them out before they destroyed anything.

EJ was livid. He wanted to get some fresh air and clear his head, so he asked WJ to come with him to the...

Oh God, East's eyes widened as his face paled, The Palisades.

The final memories came rushing back to him;

West agreed to come. The two were talking. Joking around. Goofing off and walking by the edge. The sun was setting.

East was in the lead, ranting about the fight and how he was sorry for dragging his twin into it.

West was listening, saying it wasn't a big deal, and then... he cried out. EJ thought he was joking, since the two often did that to try to scare one another, but when he turned around to give his twin an incredulous look, he was... gone.

And that's when East heard the impact of the fall.

He made himself look over the edge, and... and...

East hung his head and sobbed. He killed his brother.

He killed his brother. It was his fault.

If he just sucked up his bitterness and went home with West, none of this would of happened.

If he was simply more mature about the argument and walked away to enjoy his night, none of this would of happened.

If he never suggested to go to Elias's in the first place, none of this would of—

"...East."

That uneasy voice. Those footsteps. The shoes entering his field of vision. None of them were Connecticut's. They belonged to someone else.

Someone who started feeling distressed the second West fell, despite being oblivious to the entire situation. Someone who felt that unexplainable despair three times before.

Eyes overflowing with tearful remorse, EJ looked up to his father.

"...Vader, I... West..." East choked out, "H... He's..."