Perfect Twins

Chapter 18.

Mr and Ms Brown used to come to the park often, especially on the weekends. They would sometimes invite their friends and family over to the park for a picnic, or they would just sit on one of the colourful benches and lean on their canes, they either talked, or they fed the pigeons.

It used to annoy Lucy and Janet how they would see the same old faces everyday in the same spot. But this time it bothered them even more than ever. Why was it that Mr. and Mrs. Brown always visited the park anyway? Their skin was wrinkled to the point where it couldn't age any further, their hair was whiter than snow and they walked slower than a snail. It was easy to assume the reason why they loved the park so much was because they were lonely. Their children didn't care for them anymore, even if they visited them once in a while, they've still moved on, like they were never raised.

Lucy sighed.

Could I ever do the same to my mother?

"Have you heard?" Mrs. Brown spoke to Mr. Brown in a fail attempt of a whisper. They sat on the bench behind the swings the twins sat still on, while the other children in the park laughed and were having their fun. "The twins were suspected of murdering a little boy!" She said in shock.

"Really?" Mr. Brown exclaimed, "it's sad... the way this generation turned out."

"It's hard to believe any child would kill another."

"Is it? Well... I guess... but not for the twins, I always sensed there was something awfully wrong with them."

"That, you're right. Their mother's crazy!"

Lucy cringed, how could they think that the twins can't hear them?

"Indeed." Mr. Brown agreed.

"She's so different to how she used to be... she's so... aggressive."

Lucy tightened her grip around the chains of the swing.

"How could they act so casual about, literally, talking behind our backs?" She whispered to Janet.

"Let's go." Janet said as she came off of the swing and started heading home, soon followed by Lucy.

Her hands were in her  pockets, she wore her hood and her head was down as she followed her sister, Janet towards home; it's become a habit now, where they hide themselves from everyone else, and don't fight back.

"I don't like this." Lucy whined behind Janet, "I don't like people talking about us that way."

Janet sighed, "What can you do?"

"People are so distant now..."

"It's a consequence of what we've done. Think of this as our punishment."

Lucy pursed her lips and frowned at herself.

Moments later, they finally arrived home. Janet opened the front door, which hadn't been locked. Alice was in the kitchen, her head on the table with her arm stretched towards her drink that was inches away from her fingers.

Janet waited for Lucy to enter and then closed the door behind her, which made Alice raise her head slowly. Her face and hair were a mess with her makeup smudged and her hair uncombed.

"You two." Alice said slowly and weakly, "come here."

Lucy's heart started to race but she didn't dare disobey her mother. They both came into the kitchen and stood next to her, the foul smell of alcohol overwhelming them, but they didn't show it.

Alice slowly sat up and leaned back on her chair and gave out an exhausted breath, for the fist time perhaps, Alice was calm. "We're moving next week." She said, "get yourself ready by then."

"Why?" Janet asked.

A flicker of an annoyed expression passed Alice's face, causing Lucy's heart to skip a beat, "don't ask so many questions. We're moving because you two shits decided to kill someone." She then chuckled, "or so they say behind your back. I can't deal with this pressure. This means new school, new neighborhood, new everything. Now leave." She grunted.

Lucy and Janet didn't hesitate to leave. They ran up in their room, took a moment to sink it in, and then jumped up and down and giggled in excitement.

A chance to start again!

A chance to be normal!

Perhaps Alice would stop being mean and would actually love them for once!

Maybe everything would change and start anew!

They laughed and hugged each other.