His Better Half

1

© Will Martin, 2023

All persons in this story are figments of a fertile imagination and are not associated with any persons living or dead. That pertains to today, or in the time period that this story is written.

Any feedback to this story can be sent to martins-atlantis@hotmail.com – Thank you. 😊

He wept, "Is she gonna be OK? She's my better half. We've been best friends since we were born."

– o O o –

13 years earlier, first day of school, August 12, 2150

"I's Theodore, she's Annette!" he explained.

It was their first day of kindergarten, in the small town of Martinton, Illinois, about 30 klicks south of the Chicago megalopolis. The classroom was small, but it still held about a dozen young students, all about 5 or 6 years old.

They were twins, and though they were obviously not identical, the teacher thought they were definitely identical looking. Both had mid-length brown hair (not too long for a boy or too short for a girl, hence the confusion), blue eyes, were about 1.1 meters, slender, and both were tan from being outdoors.

"I'm sorry, Theodore," his teacher responded. "You really do look alike, though."

Annie Hamton giggled, "That's 'cause I don't wanna be a girly."

T.D. Hamton stared at his sister. "Well, you can't be a boy!"

Annie enlightened, "Yeah, but I also ain't gonna be a girly." Then, turning back to their teacher, she emphatically pronounced, "An' he's T.D. and I's Annie, and we're gonna sit together, too!" When speaking, she said "we're" the same as she would say "were".

And with a hidden smile, their teacher thought, "And that is the end of that." And she went back to teaching her students.

– o O o –

It was a few years later, and as might be expected, both were a similar amount taller. T.D. now had shorter hair than Annie, and she was now taller by a few cms.  Otherwise, they still looked the same in the face, and their voices were still nearly identical. During some energetic play outdoors, tomboy Annie ended up with a broken leg, and their parents took her, with T.D. to help "supervise", to the Martinton health clinic.

"I sees you, Annie!" called T.D., as they scurried around the small health clinic.

Though Annie was in a walking cast, she was still surprisingly mobile. "Maybe, but I'm gonna disappear," and she hid.

Dr Kumari was speaking with the parents as the children played. "Mr and Mrs Hamton, there's something else about Annie I'd like to check."

Marie Hamton, looking at her daughter as Annie showed her cast to her twin, asked, "Is it something else about her leg, Dr Kumari."

Dr Kumari shook her head, "No, ma'am, something else I noticed when I was examining her."

Ted Hamton, Sr, looked puzzled. "You were casting her broken leg, right? What else would you notice if yer lookin' at 'er leg?"

"Sir, we had to take her vitals, as well as a blood sample. Her blood showed very high levels of white blood cells, and I think we should do some testing to see why that's happening."

Mr Hamton shook his head and stated, "Sorry, we gotta get back home. I cain't wait ner pay for testin' that's gonna show she's just growin' faster. Now is her bones set or ain't they?"