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Amidst the dimly lit forest, Kiran found himself surrounded by the subtle sounds of birds chirping on the branches above and the howling of wolves hidden deep within the faraway mountains. The feeling of dry, colorful autumn leaves crunching under the soles of his bare feet with every quick step he took filled him to the brim with exhilaration, the edges of his lips curling into a bright smile as he let out giggles and chuckles with each following breath.
Against all common sense, he found peace while running around aimlessly in the dangerous woods, his focus solely on the sound of another pair of feet nearing him at a rapid pace from behind. However, instead of experiencing fear, he felt nothing but joy at the notion of being chased. After all, he knew very well who the person those familiar footsteps belonged to.
The sound of her voice echoed as she gleefully squealed in excitement, scaring the few rabbits and frogs hopping and jumping around as she called out, “Come back here, sunshine!” Kiran let out an amused huff in reply, increasing his speed to avoid getting caught.
“No way! You gotta catch me to win, Hala!” He stated proudly, turning his head around for a brief moment to stare at her with a sly grin before sticking out his tongue in a teasing manner.
The girl a few meters behind him was none other than his twin sister, Hala, who was now pouting as she sped up alongside him. In an attempt to lose her, he made a sudden and sharp turn towards the left. Unfortunately for him, that decision had been a grave mistake, as he hadn’t been paying attention to the ground below him and accidentally missed the root of a tree that was sticking up awkwardly.
Recklessly, he ran directly into it, resulting in him tumbling down and rolling around after his foot was caught on the obstacle. He groaned in pain as he slowly tried getting up once he came to a stop, which gave Hala enough time to reach him and end their chase. But before she could rejoice for being the winner of this round of tag, she gasped when she noticed the cuts on his hands and the slight blood pooling on his knees.
“Oh my gods, are you okay? What happened?” His twin inquired gently, wrapping an arm around her brother’s waist to help him up. Kiran simply gave Hala an unamused glance in response to her obvious yet genuine questions, muttering under his breath, “I’m fine, I just…tripped.”
He could feel an embarrassed flush rise to his cheeks as he gave his sister a comforting smile, not wanting to worry her more than he already had. Hala had always been similar to him in many ways, especially when it came to her profound ability to be extremely empathetic regardless of the situation. And it wasn’t just because they were twins; they were fraternal, actually.
Despite the superstitions people of the village had regarding the only twins to live on the island, they were their own individual selves. Honestly, they looked pretty different despite having shared their time together since they were in the womb, but that didn’t keep others from making all sorts of comments. Whereas Kiran had brown skin peppered in numerous moles, soft hazel locks, and emerald-like eyes, Hala had a slightly darker complexion except for the light markings scattered across her skin, eyes that shone a pale magenta, and silver hair that seemed to almost glow under the moonlight. For being twins, they had very opposing features, but that never stopped them from still connecting the way they were always meant to while maintaining a sense of uniqueness.
Pushing away the thoughts beginning to cloud his mind, Kiran focused on the present issue at hand. With the help of his kind sister, they managed to make it back home unscathed—or, mostly unscathed.
They received a proper scolding from their parents as well as the elder that served as the village leader the moment they saw him arrive with scraped knees and injured hands. This wasn’t something entirely new, but it still didn’t mean it sat well with them. They were constantly told to not venture far from the village, but with there being little to no other forms of entertainment, they often spent their time playing in the outdoors. Truly, who could blame them?
It’s not like there were other villages on this island either—the elder had told them as much since birth. They were very young when they had first heard the story of how their village came to exist, but overtime, with so many repeats of the tale, the twins grew less intrigued by it. Some of the village children saw it as a mere story the elder would tell them so they would never leave the island, while others saw it as some kind of warning. Still, the twins never commented on it, nor did they try to acknowledge it.
They were kids who were extremely young and wanted to have fun; was that so much of a crime? Regardless of their thoughts on the matter, Kiran and Hala now found themselves with their heads hanging low as the elder continued to reprimand them, her index finger raised up as she tried making a point of this mess they created.
Their mother sat beside Kiran, tending to his wounds with a worried frown spreading across her face as the village leader spoke. Their father stood next to the old lady, awkwardly trying to get her attention as his mouth gaped, unsure of when he could interrupt her without getting scolded himself. Thankfully, the elder of the village seemed to calm down sooner than later, sighing exasperatedly as she put a finger to her temple and asked, “Do you understand now, children? I’m upset with you because I worry about you. Oh, please, don’t give me that look, Hala.”
The older twin, Kiran, turned to look at his sister at the mention of her expression. Clear as day, Hala was pouting with a few tears threatening to fall from her eyelids, eyebrows furrowed in a scowl as she said, “Stop being mean to my sunshine, it was an accident! Why do you always do this?” Kiran’s eyes widened in surprise at the tone of her voice, but he was more shocked by the fact that Hala had raised her voice against the elder of all people.
Their parents seemed just as stunned by her behavior, with his mother halting her efforts to clean his wounds and their father looking awfully pale, his jaw slacking from the sheer disbelief. They quickly tried apologizing on their daughter’s behalf, but the elder raised her hand and shut them up with a single motion. “You are still too young to understand, Hala, and that’s okay. There are many things we can’t tell you because they are adult matters, meaning they are not for you,” The old lady said calmly, stepping away from the twins as she made her way towards the door of their little hut, “Just know, your parents, the villagers, and I…we are simply looking out for you two. Always.”
And with that, she shut the door on her way out, leaving the twins with an eerie feeling swirling at the center of their chests as their parents helped them to bed.