Who Is You

• Taj Collings, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2022

It was a crisp morning with the birds chirping and the temperature fixed. My brother, my pair, and my blood woke me up. Ben appeared agitated, so I casually used the phrase "p*** off." Ben murmured, "I have a plan," into my ear as his countenance turned grave and dejected. Since we are fraternal twins, no one would notice that we had switched identities, and when we told everyone on Christmas Day, it always made for a good chuckle. I considered this plan to be highly ambitious for it was March, but I know that only he and I are capable of carrying it through. The first time I ate breakfast, I was anxious because I was sure my mother would catch me, but switching into each other's clothes put me at ease. This persisted throughout the remainder of the week, after which a month had passed. Ben was Joel, which I detested, and I was tired of being him. I wanted to live my old life again because my mother liked Ben who was Joel, but when I suggested it to Ben, he rejected the idea and declared we would never go back. I realised at that point that I had been duped when Ben really only wanted to live my life since I had a bigger room, better clothes, more friends, and greater social standing. Ben left for my football practise as i considered how I would show I was Joel. In order to tell my mother and Ben that we had been lying the entire time, I changed into my clothes, styled my hair the way I used to, and waited in my bed until they arrived home. The only issue was that they were now six hours behind schedule and still hadn't arrived home. Then, at 2:30 in the morning, they come through the front door, both of them going up the stairs, and stand at my doorway, their faces filled with sorrow; I hid under the covers. Approximately five hours ago, Mother sent me a message on my phone, saying, "Hey hun, we just got in an accident a car t-boned Joel's passenger door, I'm fine but we are on the way to the hospital now because his leg got squashed and he hit his head extremely hard." Oh no! This could only mean one thing. I walked up to farther and tapped him on the shoulder and he explained what happened to Joel when I heard them open Ben's bedroom door to find me but I wasn't there. On the gravestone it said Joel but here I was perfectly well living my life. I was now trapped in this deception of a life. My body was overcome with a strong sense of shame since I knew that I should have been in that automobile, be dead, and the subject of everyone's grief. My body is filled with rage, but it is directed only at myself for allowing this to happen. I must leave forever.