This post is a pioneering one for me: my fiction, published online for the first time.

Now, I cannot guarantee that this will be shown more prominently on this blog. I am *somewhat, maybe more than that* proud of this piece of work.

It was a take I did on that harmful Creative Writing session, and I freshened it up, edited it here and there, and finally handed it to the lecturer.

It would not go to any competition or anything, but it was a creative release. I have not done a short story in this form before.

You are most welcome to review, of course. Take note of these three terms:

'tembusu' - A species of tree.

'jie jie' - Big sister

'mei mei' - Little sister (those two terms are Chinese, by the way.)

And, on a reality note, this is the last day of my holidays, for real. Now I can add this to one of the holiday achievements.

Next you'll hear from me, I'll be in school.

~~~

The Letter

Dear Marilyn,

How are you? It’s been a long time since we met. I could say that it’s been awfully lonely since.

She made her way through the forest.

I know what you’ll say: I’m lying.

I’m not.

The old friends like Herman, Atiqah, Aye, Lina and so many more; they are around me. But don’t forget, they were OUR friends.

Dawn was in the distance, the illuminated sky betraying the pastel yellow and red sky behind the grey clouds. The glade she was in received the morning rays.

Herman was successful at the competition: He got the Scrabble Gold. Atiqah just ended the aikido classes and started archery classes (Laugh with me. She has too much on her plate.); Aye’s novel collection just got bigger: I gave her two Dan Browns, (One on your behalf.) and Lina’s birthday just passed, and she loved the Chinese-dubbed Korean soap opera DVD I gave her: ‘Jewel in the Palace’. It’s a soppy story about a little cook who matures, along with all the funny drama bits that you and I despise, but Lina enjoyed it greatly! She made me watch it with her!

She made her way through the trees, her skirt trailing along the leaf-littered mud.

I wonder how you are. I do, really! I mean, you should be happy now, and I should be that too, yet I’m not.

Strange, isn’t it? We’re twins, yet worlds apart!

She searched for it, hands delicately prying the foliage aside.

As for me – I know you’d love to hear about me: How I kept following you in your shadow; (Don’t shut me up.) how you were the ‘brain’ and I was the ‘brawn’.

You knew everything about me.

I took up writing recently. It’s my turn to be the ‘brain’, as much as I hate all the brain-burning stuff, like Maths!

I wonder how on earth you love it!

She found it, past the great tembusu that towered above her.

I must be honest. It wasn’t easy to get an ‘A’ in Maths. Thank you for your unending support by tutoring me, sis, even if I was such a horrible student. Maths isn’t so difficult, after all! (Hit me upside the head. You were the one who said so, and I didn’t believe you.)

And in my writing classes, I found the task of grabbing story topics and plots so easy! We had many adventures together (Do you remember? You better remember them!) And I loved telling them to the others! Remember how we looked after the class aquarium in secondary school? The writers loved the recount of you getting wet, and you whining about it! They found the ‘brace-face’ incident a great hoot! I hope your hand isn’t still hurting, and I got my braces off. Oh, and they were really amused that we were twins, but were not telepathically linked, and we didn’t look alike!

She stepped out of the bushes.

But I didn’t tell them this: we thought alike, and acted alike in similar situations. We did everything together, ever since our birth! You were my shield, and I was yours.

Gosh.

She made her way on, the sunlight pouring through the forest clearing.

I admit it.

She strode on purposefully, up to the feature of the clearing.

Marilyn.

My sister.

My other half.

My confidante.

You are the only one who I’m going to admit this to.

She stooped before the stone.

I miss you.

She looked at the picture embedded into the stone.

I miss you so much, ‘jie jie’.

I miss you terribly.

She removed a faded and stained yellow envelope upon the head of the grave, adding it to the rest that littered the foot of the grave in piles and masses.

Rest in peace. See you soon.

Till the next letter,

‘mei mei’ Mabel

She placed a white envelope, a cursive ‘Marilyn’ written on it, upon the head of the grave, and looked back at the image of her twin sister on the tomb stone.

She smiled, a sad smile, as memories once again flooded her mind. Kneeling down in silence beside the grave, she continued to gaze at her twin sister and allowed herself to remember and cry.

~~~