The Twining

The narrative centres upon the thoughts, feelings and experiences of the protagonists (husband and wife Morton and Hattie in their early thirties) in a series of short chapters which alternate between the developing present and a series of flashbacks from the past.

A seemingly enviable couple, they begin to experience doubts and uncertainties towards one another’s and indeed their own respective capabilities of siring or conceiving a child for which there are no apparent explicable medical reasons. These concerns cause Morton to reflect upon a past demeanour as a reason for a possible karmic punishment.

A pregnancy manifests arbitrarily against expectations and produces an exquisite and charming little daughter who possesses somewhat unique physical and behavioural characteristics that make her quite remarkable and distinguishable.

Yet the child develops a terminal illness...

The narrative develops to the point where the child, conscious of her own mortality and time left, makes a chilling prediction to reassure and comfort her parents who nonetheless succumb to sevre grief at her passing. The plot develops to show the affects of the girl’s death upon her parents, relatives and the family pet. At the funeral service, there is a modern gothic experience which foreshadows the twist in the resolution of the narrative.

The couple attempt to move on with their lives, albeit gingerly and find different ways of dealing with their grief. As the pain of grief subsides, there emerges an unexpected but anxious pregnancy and the couples’ trepidation intensifies with fears that a congenital disorder could repeat itself.

Another daughter is born with disturbingly similar physical and behavioural congruities and juxtapositions that strike many, particular family members to comment. Despite parental fears, the child develops healthily yet displays an uncanny knowledge of experiences of which she should know nothing about…