One afternoon, I spotted my contented sister in a shop, strolling hand in hand with a distinguished gentleman, both of them wearing wedding bands.
Laura had an identical twin sister named Emily. Since birth, the girls were inseparable. They played together, swapped secrets, and faced punishments side by side. Whenever trouble came, they defended one another fiercely. Their mother dressed them alike, and even as they grew older and could choose their own clothes, they still favoured matching stylesreveling in their twin identity.
Their family lived modestly in the outskirts of Manchester. Money was always just about enough. When Laura went off to university in London, Emily longed to follow but couldnt. The disappointment weighed heavily on her and their parents alike. Only by scrimping and saving did their parents manage the tuition fees, determined that both daughters would have a shot at a proper education. Emily felt mortified by the expense, burdened with the knowledge that her fees were stretching the family thin. The guilt gnawed at her, and no matter what she did, she couldnt help but feel ashamed that she hadnt quite succeeded like Laura.
One evening at supper, after one sherry too many, their grandmother let slip a family secret that shattered the peace. She reminisced about when the girls were bornhow, faced with the daunting task of raising twins, Laura and Emilys parents had briefly considered putting Emily up for adoption, fearing they couldn’t provide for both. Emily, as it turned out, had been the one at risk.
The revelation blindsided Emily, leaving her both shocked and wounded. She couldnt be calmed by anyones reassurances; they all fell flat. It seemed to her that Laura had always been the favourite, the one loved most. Driven by resentment, she resolved to hurt her parents in returnby disappearing from university, taking her paperwork with her and leaving everyone in a lurch.
Emily began blaming Laura for everything; if it werent for her, she said, no one ever would have thought to give Emily away. Surely, she told herself, in Laura’s absence she would have been cherished as the only daughter, the irreplaceable one, the beloved. From then onwards, the family was split down the middle. The twins kept their distance, living their lives separately.
Laura moved to Reading, married a kind man, and had a son. Years slipped by with barely a word from her sister. Only once did they all gather under their parents roof, but the reunion was frosty: Emily was prickly, snapping comments and passing snide remarks about Lauras appearance.
Their next encounter happened by sheer chance, in the bustling heart of a shopping centre. Emily looked the picture of poise at the arm of a respectable manwealthy enough to turn heads, a wedding ring glinting on his hand. Laura assumed he was Emily’s husband.
Nervously, Laura moved to give her sister a quick hug, but Emily recoiled, as though she hardly recognised her. The moment froze; Laura stood awkwardly rooted to the spot, while Emily swept out towards a sleek car and was gone.
Soon after, they both were summoned once more to their parents home. The visit quickly soured as Emily turned on Laura, criticising her for being unkempt and letting the family down with her appearance. She accused her of not looking presentable or respectable enough, and Lauras feelings stung.
Perhaps there was a glimmer of truth. Laura, with her wild curls, preferred to go without makeup and dressed simply, never fussing with fashion trends. Emily, in contrast, favoured elegant hairstyles, always wore makeup, swapped glasses for contacts, and relished the luxury of regular beauty treatments.
Laura was upset, her sisters barb cutting deep. She was no less than Emily, she insisted to their mothershe too had a family, a husband, a child. She aired her pent-up grievances, bewildered by the transformation in her beloved sister, unable to fathom how someone once so close could become so cold. Where had so much hatred come from?
All her mother could do was ask Laura not to hold a grudge against Emily, to let her be happy in her own wayand, above all, never to cross paths with her again or disrupt her life.
From that day forward, Laura was only allowed to visit her parents by prior arrangement, or an explicit invitationjust to ensure she and Emily never met again. All it took was a single careless admission to alter the course of their family’s life forever.
