Halcyon

Little One

Kakra was weak.

It was a known fact since the day she was born, when her sister Kamilah slid into the world,

a vision of red-faced glory and sturdy lungs, a sight that was beheld joyfully for six whole

minutes – until one last contraction pushed out an unexpected babe, whose breathing was as

slight as her frail and birdlike body. The younger twin was no vision of strength or good

health. Though her features mirrored her sister's identically, her skin was sunken and sallow,

no cries escaped her lips. The unforeseen child was unwanted, but no man of prestige such as

the father of these girls could turn away the child his wife had so heartily delivered and he

thus named her Kakra, meaning twin, because that's all she was in comparison to the

beautiful Kamilah, whose name meant perfection. There was the perfect elder girl and her

sickly twin, the latter eternally condemned to a life of humiliation and shame.

The two girls grew older, but as she grew, Kakra never truly changed. She was quiet and shy;

her sister was the opposite, a raucous girl with flawless beauty that nobody could deface or

shame for they found awe in Kamilah's every trait.

One day, everything turned a ghastly sort of dark, when the beautiful Kamilah was found

underneath a bridge, her body mangled unto the point where her own mother nearly could not

distinguish her child. Four bullet holes had torn through Kamilah's chest and as they heaved

her into a screaming ambulance, her enchanting green eyes soullessly stared to the sky. She

was pronounced deceased at the scene and her tearful father zipped the body bag himself,

crying over the daughter full of promise that he had lost and over the hopeless one he had

left. Kakra watched the sight sorrowfully and silently, her face devoid of tears as she looked

to the sky and wondered how the world could be so adverse.

Her mother came to her suddenly, as Kakra stood in the water's edge beneath the bridge,

above the spot of her sister's death, and smacked her face. "You pitiful girl!"

"Mama," Kakra cried. "What have I done?"

"You killed my daughter," Mandisa screamed wretchedly, whipping another blow to Kakra's

cheek. "You killed her! You're a despicable creature filled with envy and hatred for

Kamilah."

Kakra flinched with every word, but stood straight as a rod for every blow, for every blow

hurt, but the words stung her heart and made her eyes prickle with tears as salty as the

estuary in the River Nile. Her heart sank with sadness and her eyes dulled in pain, because

though she had envied her striking twin, she had never despised her so – no, the two twins

had loved each other with joyous hearts and were the best of friends, despite their family's