Attuned - Chapter 3 Rewrite

Chapter Three

     

    Twin Discoveries

     

       I was halfway out of the buggy when Michael pulled it up to the front of the house. Jonah was outside, having a cigar, sitting on the over-sized door step. He picked at a piece of weed sitting in the garden and was pulling it to shreds.

       “Jonah! Oh dear, Jonah,” I called to him, running to hug him. “Do you hurt? Are you in pain? You can tell me. It’s okay.” Jonah got up and embraced me – an automatic reaction. I could smell his anger, and pulled away from him. He was looking at Michael.

    “You told her?” Jonah’s eyes narrowed at Michael, as he slowly put me behind him. Why is he angry at Michael? It didn't make any sense. I thought he would have been happy that I knew.

    “I told her about me, yes.” Michael took a step forward, cautiously holding a hand out as if attempting to calm Jonah. I crept out from behind Jonah and looked up at his face.

    “About you?” Jonah looked down at me, but his question was to Michael. He frowned with his eyebrows and closed his eyes. “So that’s it then,” he said tersely.

    “Jonah, what’s wrong? It’s better I know it, you must have been in pain for so long, keeping this from me. Has the pain stopped? It’s better, is it not?” I put my hand to his face. I could still feel his anger, but as we looked at one another his eyebrows softened and he wrapped his big arms around me.

    “I’m okay, Sister. And you?” He brushed a hand over my forehead moving my hair away from my face to see me clearer. Something was still wrong, despite the look on his face - I could feel it. I tried to disregard it for now.

    I smiled, “Yes. I’m really good.” Today had presented itself as a great distraction from Father and the house, from memories and the absence of Mothers’ sweet voice. But I really did feel good. Jonah looked at me for a moment and then smirked a little.

    Jonah looked up at Michael and sat back down onto the step, to finish his cigar. “Did you tell her about him?”

    “Yes. And Shelly.”

    “What about…”

    “No,” Michael interrupted Jonah. “I said nothing.” I turned and looked at Michael, confused. If my brother was still holding something back, he would still be in pain – that would be what was still wrong. I paused for a moment and then looked at Jonah. I could see it in his face, as he slowly looked up at me and saw the look on mine. I sat by him on the step.

    “Jonah?” I brushed his hair away from his eyes, and could smell the pain that was burning him. “You are hurting, Jonah, I can smell it. Tell me what is bothering you. Please? You know me. I need to know it, whatever it is.” He put his cigar out – blowing the smoke away before facing me - and held my hand.

    “Charlotte, whatever is hurting me… well… it really doesn't matter this minute. Could we talk about it tomorrow? You've already heard enough bizarre stories for one day, I think.” As he said that, the sun disappeared behind some dark clouds and thunder ripped through the atmosphere. I looked up, and could smell rain in the air as the wind changed.

    “Go on inside, Charlotte, Father needs some company. I’ll be inside in a moment. I just want to talk to Michael for a moment,” he motioned me to the door behind us with his thumb.

    I looked at Michael and he gave me my market goods. Jonah got up and helped me get to my feet and then he ushered me through the front door. Jonah closed it behind me and for a moment I could feel tension coming from both of them. I began to walk toward the lounge room and then I could hear Jonah raising his voice. Whatever it was about, I would find out soon enough. I had to.

     

    I could hear Father playing his piano, stopping jaggedly as he played; I guessed to write a few notes down here and there, before forgetting them.

    “Father,” I said, from the door way. “It sounds beautiful,” I complimented him as I walked toward the piano. I kissed his forehead and he looked up, blankly.

    “Father?” I rubbed his shoulder and sat beside him on the piano stool. My arm lingered there, in comfort; not just for him but for myself too. I hated seeing him like this.

    He smiled, which looked like a lot of effort. “You're back. Did you have a good trip today?”

    “Yes I got some necessities. I better go take some things to Mrs. Potts, I’ll be right back. Keep playing, it sounded beautiful.” I got up and went toward the kitchen.

    Jonah burst through the front door, trying not to raise his voice. He growled through his teeth, “Just let me handle it.” And he walked quickly to the stairs and went up to his room, slamming the door.

    I turned and looked at Michael as he lingered in the front door way. “Michael?” I had no idea what that was about, but I had never seen my brother react to Michael that way. Michael and Jonah were the closest of friends.

    Michael looked at me; his face was stricken with a serious demeanor. When he saw my eyes he took a deep breath and gave me an awkward smile.

    “Oh, don’t worry, Charlotte. Brotherly row,” and he shrugged and walked into the lounge room and started to talk with my father.

    I exited to the kitchen and placed my bag on the tarry counter – what we called the place we left goods to be sorted out later – careful not to disturb Mrs. Potts. She looked busy cooking up a storm, and I didn't want to disturb her terrible singing – which I loved – during her excellent cooking time. I smiled at her off-key high notes as I walked out the kitchen. I could hear Michael talking to Father and I hesitated at the door. I decided to go speak to Jonah while he was alone.

    I went upstairs to Jonah’s room and knocked on his door gently.

    “Come in, Charlotte.” I heard him call. Ordinarily, anybody else would have asked who was at the door, but we always knew when it was the other twin. Intuition perhaps. It wasn't something that I really ever thought about.

    I opened the door and walked in a few steps. He was sitting on the floor with his back up against the end of his bed. His head was leaning back, and he was looking at the ceiling.

    “Jonah, is everything alright?” I went over and sat on the floor next to him. I could feel his emotions. He was anxious. I don’t know why. He was also angry, still. I waited for him to talk. I could have waited forever, if need required it. He was the one person in my world that I could always be eternally patient with.

    He slowly looked toward me and took my hand. “Michael told you, about himself.” I nodded even although I knew it wasn't a question. “Did he say anything about us?” he looked down at our hands.

    I raised my eyebrows and shook my head slowly. “No,” I eventually pushed out. What was so significant about Jonah and me? It didn't make any sense. I looked at our hands, “Why would he?” Now I was feeling very suspicious and a little bit scared. I slowly looked up at Jonah and met his eyes. Jonah took in a deep breath and turned his sitting position to face me, still holding my hand.

    “Charlotte, do you remember when we were kids, and we were playing at the lake and there was a boy who pushed you, and then you passed out?” He sighed, rubbing his forehead with his other hand.

    I remembered it vaguely, “Yes, I suppose. I woke up at home afterwards. I have no idea what…”

    Jonah cut me off abruptly, “okay, Charlotte. I figure since you saw what Michael can do, that you can probably handle this.” I relaxed a bit more, feeling Jonah's tension ease a portion.

    I nodded, thinking maybe whatever he was about to do in his bedroom should probably be done somewhere else – if it was like Michael’s morphing ability. Jonah smiled carefully at me and I felt confused.

    “What is it, Brother?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.

    “You really have never known?” he chuckled a bit, letting go of my hand. I shook my head and moved to sit on my knees. I could feel the pain he was feeling let go, too.

    Unexpectedly, the room looked like diamonds, getting brighter in a split second and then the room span around me. Suddenly, I was sitting facing my brother in a different position than before. I felt a little dizzy at first. I looked around the room. It felt like I had sat in a spinning cage, except I wasn't suffering from any inevitable inertia.

    Suddenly I realised I was sitting exactly how he was sitting before, and in the place he was when I had walked into the room. He was sitting on his knees, the way I was, just now.

    I blinked a couple of times and just stared at him. It took a moment to process. He just made us swap places, instantaneously.  I looked around all around, at my clothes and back at Jonah. He smirked.

    “Did you…” I began to say, but he cut me off again.

    “Yes,” he laughed. I looked at his clothes, not a thread out of place. “Charlotte, you never knew we could do that?” I raised an eyebrow at him and shook my head incredibly slowly.

    “What do you mean ‘we’? You did that, just now, not me,” still shaking my head.

    “No, Charlotte. We just did that. I don’t swap with anybody else, only with you. I tried, and, well…” His voice drifted to silence and then he chuckled softly to himself. It took a moment to process; the flash of colorful light, the room spinning. A smug grin tore open on my face.

    “How, I mean I have no idea how … we… just did that” I shook my head.

    “Mother told me about something that happened after we were born, it happened a number of times. She never told Father. And not just that, either. If you cried, I cried. If you were happy, I was happy, and vice versa. Sometimes, we didn't change places. We changed minds.” He looked at me, frowning. I didn't quite understand though.

    “What do you mean?” my curiosity peaked for a moment, and I wondered how much more I could handle before I'd have to visit the apothecary; does he make remedies for hallucinations. I shook the thought off and I waited for my brother to answer - genuinely interested now, despite everything I'd seen today.

    He sighed again. “You know how you can feel me; my feelings, my pain, all of the stuff I can feel?” I nodded. “Well, I feel those same things from you. But not just that, I can also see from your eyes. As if I am you. You can also do the same thing.”

    “No I can’t. I've never seen from your eyes. Only felt your feelings. I always assumed it was because we are twins, that we have a special connection. All twins are able to feel each other, I’m told.We have a bond because we were conceived and born together.” I explained, trying to legitimize our connection. “But sometimes I can feel or smell other peoples’ feelings too, I just figured it was because of their body language or something like the chemicals that release from their skin. I never really thought about it.”

    “Yes both of us can do that. It’s sometimes helpful. But you can see out of my eyes. The first time I did it, we were 13. For a whole week, you had constant thralls of bad dreams. It worried me. You would wake up as if you hadn't even slept day after day. So one night, I thought ‘if only I could see what was scaring her to death every night’. So I stayed awake until I knew you were asleep,” He tapped his head, suggesting he knew when I had gone to sleep. “And then I concentrated on seeing through your eyes. I wasn't even sure it was going to work. But then… it did. I saw your dream. You were dreaming of a man who was trying to hurt you. He had white short hair. He looked young. He was following you. So because I was aware, and you were asleep, I stopped him. I influenced your dream, and after that night, there were no more nightmares.” He looked down at my hands; I had been clenching them together as I listened to his story. It wasn't something I could forget, but there was something else.

    “I remember that. But not the way you tell it. That night, he was chasing me, but then suddenly I was safe. I wasn't dreaming about him anymore, I was in your room, looking up at the ceiling. It was a comforting ending to a dream.”

    I hesitated and then took a deep breath. Of course – I had seen from his eyes.

    “Oh. How did I not realize this before?” I said, quietly, finally understanding.

    Jonah rubbed my hands.

    “I tried showing you a few times, but I was not confident. I was worried that showing you would make you hate our bond. Mother had warned that it may not be a clever idea.” He choked as he spoke, and I could feel his sadness. Suddenly I could hear him, but he wasn't speaking out loud.

    I’m so sorry, so… so sorry. His face was down turned and I lifted his head up with my hand. I was smiling at him.

    “What?” He asked me, confused. I composed myself.

    “I, uh… I believe you. And I think… well… did you just say sorry, in your head?”

    His eyes widened and his jaw dropped, “well… uh… well yes, I did! How did you know that?” He shook his head in disbelief. I grinned and that must have relaxed him. I could feel his pain drop off completely.

    I figured since I could hear his thoughts, maybe he could hear mine, and I deliberately thought something to test him.

    Because I can hear your thoughts.

    I waited to see if he reacted to what I had done, smiling. He cocked his head to the side and smiled.

    “Did you…”

    “Yes,” I laughed. “This is astonishing,” I smiled at him.

     

    Suddenly we heard a knock at the door and I looked at him and smiled. I touched my forehead – I wanted him to know I was pleased to know about it – and got up off the floor, to sit on his bed. He nodded at me and smiled. “Come in,” he called. Michael opened the door and looked at us, both grinning at him. He raised his eyebrows and took a step in.

    “Is everything okay?” Michael asked, confused and cautious.

    “Yes,” Jonah and I said in unison. We both looked at each other, trying to stifle a laugh at one another – again in unison. Jonah got up from the floor and gave me a strong hug.

    “We should have a talk, more in-depth.” Jonah muttered to me. “Now… out of my room, both of you. Can’t a gentleman get a little privacy?” I smirked at him and went up to Michael, still standing near the doorway.

    “Hey, uh… Jonah?” Michael still looked confused.

    “You are both fine, Michael. The very best of friends once more,” I spoke for my brother, before he was able to. I patted Michael on the shoulder and walked out of the room. Michael grumbled something and closed Jonah’s door and followed me out to my room.

    “He told you about himself?” Michael asked me, trying to gauge my reaction as I opened the door. I let out a sigh and smirked at Michael.

    “He told me about us. We had an interesting discussion. He showed me something intriguing,too. Then I showed him something useful.” I tried to stifle another laugh, but it was really not much use. I was giddy with excitement.

    I went into my room – keeping my voice down – telling Michael about what happened in Jonah’s room. The whole time, the smile on my face got bigger and bigger.

    Don’t you think he’s heard enough, Sister? We must have some secrets! Jonah was making good use of his new found ability of sharing his thoughts with me. I laughed out loud and Michael shot me a bizarre glance. I looked at him and my laugh cut off. I cleared my throat and tried to look serious. “Sorry” I muttered to him.

    Brother, please! I’ll torture you at bed time if you do not stop. I threatened Jonah, trying not to appear to Michael as distracted.

    You wouldn’t dare!

    Ha, you know me better than that, Brother. I would dare.

    Then a grin broke out over my face. Michael, who was sitting on my bed watching my deranged expressions, got up and went to the wall that separated my room from Jonah’s and hit his fist against it a couple of times.

    “Pardon me, Jonah, it’s my turn for her attention!” Michael raised his voice, laughing. He understood what was happening, which was a relief for me.

    “Sorry!” We heard a call from the next room and a muffled laugh.

    Michael rolled his eyes and grinned at me.

     

    I was relieved, at dinner, that things were going well - except that Father was still depressed, understandably of course. Jonah tried very hard to keep the smile off his face at dinner, so that Father wouldn't get upset at our unusual happy attitudes. During most of the meal, I would have moments of reflection. I missed Mother desperately, but I needed to stay happy; I knew she would want that. But the silence during our meals was beginning to make me more depressed than I had been since arriving.

    “So Father, how’s the music coming along. It sounded virtually completed this afternoon,” I broke the silence, smiling at him and kicking Jonah in the leg. I didn't want to be the only person encouraging him. Jonah grunted.

    Ouch! What?

    Jonah glared at me. I glared back at him and looked at Father, indicating that he should say something. He cleared his throat, “Yes Father, it was sounding like it was really coming along well.”

    Michael grinned and nodded. I think he caught onto what I did. Father looked up at us and raised his eyebrows. He was inside a sad kind of stupor for a moment and we must have pulled him away from it.

    “Oh, yes it’s going well. Kept me busy, today. It was good.” Father nodded.

    “Well, Mr. Thomas, I can’t wait to hear the finished piece. It sounded very thoughtful.” Michael looked at my father, smiling. We all nodded in agreement. His face lit up and started eating his half-cold meal.

    Suddenly Mrs. Potts came into the dining room, her head down apologetically. “I’m sorry Mr. Michael, sir, but somebody is at the door for you. She said her name is Ms. Shelly.” I looked at Michael. He raised an eyebrow. I could sense he wasn't happy about this.

    “Excuse me, Mr. Thomas… Miss Thomas, Jonah,” he bowed as he got up from the table and left the room. I looked at Jonah, worried.

    Don’t get up from the table, he instructed me. And calm down. I looked down at my food, stabbing the roasted pumpkin. I could feel myself getting annoyed.

    Charlotte, calm down. Please.

    Why? Am I not allowed to be concerned?

    Jonah finished his plate of food and got up from the table.

    Yes of course you can be concerned, he reassured me. But getting angry will not be a good thing. Trust me. I’ll explain later.

    I finished my meal, but remained at the table with Father.

    Please check on him for me, then. I don’t like her.

    I am perfectly aware that you don’t like her. I’m pretty sure she knows it, too. Then he turned to Father, “I’m going to check on Michael. I won’t be a moment, Father.” And he left the room.

    Father looked up at me, after taking a mouthful of food. “So did you get what you needed today,” he asked, half mumbled with his food, waving his fork at me.

    I smiled at his mumbling and nodded. “Yes Father, I had a good day. Michael and I ended up visiting the tea house for a little talk and then we went for a walk. It was very agreeable.”

    Father nodded in approval. “I’m glad you two are being getting along. I know it was hard when he went to the city. He’s a gentleman, Charlotte. I don’t think he meant to hurt you.” I looked out the doorway of the dining room, nodding in agreement with him.

    “Yes, after our discussion, I can believe that, I think,” I said. I needed to find out what was going on with her, at the door. Talking to Michael. I began imagining myself pulling her short ugly hair out of her head. Jonah shared a disapproving, but silent remark. I was obviously projecting my feelings to him.“Well I’m going to go read in the parlor. Do you need me for anything, Father?”

    Father looked annoyed, like I was being senseless. “Please, Charlotte… stop fussing over me, I'm… I've been looking after myself for quite some time. I know I've been acting a little out of the ordinary. But I'm not one of your wounded birds and I'd thank you to remember that,” he said gently, but his tone hinted at slight frustration.

    Father got up from the table before I had a chance to and took mine and Jonah’s dinner plates from the table – quickly walking into the kitchen without a second glance at me.

    A voice behind the doors to the kitchen was suddenly in distress, “No, please Mr. Thomas! That is my job. Go, get out of my kitchen. I can do that… Off you go, Sir.” And suddenly I saw Mrs. Potts pushing Father through the doors of the kitchen back into the dining room. Father stood there silent, looking at me – I was still sitting dumbfounded at the table. Father adjusted his suit pants and tie before embarrassingly storming out of the room. A few moments later as I got up from the table – cautiously – I could hear the piano rushing into an angry stanza.

    What did I say? I thought to myself. I have upset Father, I told Jonah. I liked this mind reading ability. This surely saved time.

    Yes I can tell. I think we better give him time alone. In the mean time, come to the front door. You need to be here. Jonah sounded agitated so I didn't want to annoy him as well.

    I left the dining room, walking slowly past the lounge room, where Father was. As he played, I saw how rough he was striking the keys and knew I had upset him more than he’d let on. I’d have to fix that later. I turned toward the front door and approached Jonah, who was at the threshold of the door.

    A fair-haired woman, who was short of stature, stood before us, under the lamp light by the front door. She looked quite miniature compared to Michael who was standing outside on the gravel, easily towering over her. Her short hair flicked out in all directions as if she had been in a hurricane and had no time to adjust her perfect strands of white-blonde hair. Perhaps her hair was so short because she once had to sell it. That happened sometimes when poorer families owed money to people. I almost pitied her. But then, remembering that she took Michael from me, the pity was instantly overpowered by my intense dislike of her.

    She looked up from where she stood to look at me. I watched her eyes gaze up and down, just as I’d seen young girls eye off a new dress in town.

    “Hello, Charlotte. What a pleasure to see you again,” she droned with a sigh. She didn't sound very pleased to see me. She sounded extremely uninterested - bored even. I looked at Michael, as he turned away from the short little critter to look at me. He nodded at me, and I took this as a sign that I should hurry up and answer back.

    “Michelle.” I acknowledged, nodding my head once. I felt that if I called her by her nickname, I would be accepting of her being here. Even after Michael had explained to me all the wondrous and incredible life he’s come to know and shown me about his special talent, I felt extremely guarded toward her.

    “We were just discussing you, you know. You and your brother. Weren't we, gentlemen?”

    Michael and Jonah crossed their arms as they turned to look back at her – almost simultaneously.

    Jonah? I probed to my brother.

    Okay, the fact that she was discussing me to anybody didn't feel right, and I needed my brother to enlighten me.

    If we can hear each others’ directed thoughts, then please show me what she’s been saying. I pleaded to him in his head.

    Suddenly I saw images. I looked at Shelly who stood perfectly still. She looked at me and then to Jonah and smiled – revealing her perfectly carved dimples. I closed my eyes so I wasn't distracted by her annoying face, and saw something. Jonah began showing me jagged thoughts, memories and images. I suppose memories were always shifting and jagged when they were from someone else’s perception. But as he showed me, I started to get the general understanding of what had emerged. She wanted us to go with her, and soon. But she was telling them it was a request, not a demand. Michael didn't like it. Then there was some quiet arguing.

    I opened my eyes and glared at Shelly. She smiled at me again. Jonah placed his hand on my shoulder and looked at Michael. “Charlotte?” Jonah said, out loud this time. I blinked and slowly turned my eyes to Jonah. He looked at me, “It’s only a request. You don’t have to go,” He assured me.

    Michael stood in front of me, blocking my glare toward her. I slowly looked up at him. “How can she know? I only just found out, myself! Just today… I don’t understand!” I pushed Michael out of the way. She looked at me, smirking, like she was extremely clever.

    Hover told her, Sister. He can see us. He watches us to see when we would make the first connection. He doesn't approach people, usually, until they begin to acknowledge their abilities.

    I looked slowly toward Jonah in disgust. “That cockroach, Hover, told her?”

    “Hey, have some respect.” She snapped and I whipped my head to her direction, narrowing my eyes. “I think you have the wrong idea about him,” She continued, flicking her hair around with a lazy hand movement.

    “Well luckily, I don’t have to listen to this,” I said, smirking in return, and walked back into the house. Michael raced in after me and grabbed my hand as I started walking up the stairs to my room. “Michael, I’m not going to talk to her. She ruined me for months and to be honest, I don’t think I like the idea of a strange man watching my life.” He followed me, but didn't try to pull me back down the stairs. I walked into my room, and he followed me in, closing the door. I went over to my bed, and sat down. I was not pleased by any means. I could feel my eyebrows burrowing down. I looked at Michael.

    “Nobody is forcing you and Jonah to go.” Michael said, calmly, kneeling next to me on the floor.

    I shook my head. “She took you away. Michael, I have a job to think about… Clare, Little Tom. What about the children? Does she expect us to just drop everything we've been doing? Jonah’s training? He can’t just leave. He has a…”

    “Jonah is an adult now. He can think for himself, and his commission will be there any time,” he cut me off softly, touching my hand. He sighed, “I know the time I have been absent from you has been hard for you and us, and I’m certainly not going to negate that. But they helped me understand my… differences. That is why I had to go. I didn't want to continue with our courtship without knowing what I was up against. What if I hurt you? I would not be able to live with myself if I caused you physical harm.”

    Rubbing my hands together, I thought about it for a moment.

    Charlie, there is no point in me going without you. So if you don’t want go, neither do I. Jonah assured me. But that made me feel worse. He actually sounded like he wanted to go.

    Jonah, this is so sudden for me. Can you tell her to come back another day? I need to think. I closed my eyes. Michael rubbed my hands, and kissed them. I heard the front door close and after a few moments, Jonah knocked on my door. I opened my eyes.

    “Yes,” I said in a low tone, and Jonah walked in.

    Michael touched my face gently, “I need to go talk to her, anyway. I’ll be back. You two should talk.” And he got up and left the room, closing the door behind himself. Part of me was angry that he needed anything from her. But I stifled my anger to focus on the matter at hand. Jonah and I.

    Jonah walked over to my bed and sat down beside me. “I wasn't expecting her either. But I've known about them for a while.” He took my hand and rubbed it. I stared blankly at the floor. “I know Hover sounds evil. But…”

    “No Jonah.” I cut through his words sharply. “I only found out today. It’s perfectly fine for you and Michael; you've understood what’s been going on for a while. I don’t even know how long you've known about…this,” I waved my hand back and forth, pointing to Jonah and back to myself. “I found out only today, and all of a sudden, Mister I-Can-See-You wants me over for tea?” I looked at him painfully. I didn't even know what we were. He sighed and then held me close.

    “I’m sorry. I should have told you before.”

    “She just would have come earlier,” I declared, quietly, with a sigh.“It wouldn't have changed anything. The problem is… what is it, exactly? I mean, what you and I do, or what Michael does… is it evil? Is it a spell or some kind of magic or witchcraft? And why us? Hover wants us because of it and I’m not okay with that, Jonah. You’re special but I don’t want someone to take you away from me because of our gift or curse or magic... whatever this is.”

    “You’re special too, Charlotte.”

    “That’s my point. What you and I have…? I am still trying to process it. And Michelle… That… that thing comes here and instantly tries to convince us to run away from the world, from our lives? It’s not right. Something in my belly tells me not to trust her.”

    “Well I asked her to give us a couple of days to think about it. Even if we’re not willing to go with her in a couple of days, we can always tell her again when she returns.” He rubbed my arm with his hand to comfort me. “The most important thing you need to remember is that she can’t take you without me, and nobody can hurt you when I’m around. And if we go, Michael will come too. With our body switching abilities and his gift of transforming - whatever it may be, all three of us are protected.”

    “What are we, Jonah?” I looked up at his face. He smirked awkwardly.

    “Well, hmm. Let’s see. We can change positions to where the other person was, while still wearing our own clothes. We can hear each others’ thoughts – the ones we give to each other – including things we've seen. We feel each others’ feelings. We can be in each others’ bodies. But so far I’ve only stopped a bad dream; I haven’t actually moved your body or anything. So, I guess that’s something to test out another day.” He squirmed a bit, uncomfortable by the thought. It wasn't a popular idea with me, either.

    “Yes I don’t know that you walking around in my body is exactly something I’d be comfortable about. I love you, Brother, but that would surely be crossing some invisible line of propriety. Please do not test that theory, unless it’s absolutely necessary.” I winced at the thought of my brother looking at himself as a woman, me, and shuddered.

    “I am sure I’m not going to attempt it, Charlotte. It’s every bit of wrong that I can fathom.” He smiled. “But one thing I noticed was that when we are close enough in distance, I can hear your thoughts more clearly, and I can sense you clearly. So maybe that’s what we do. We can sense one another.”

    I looked at him and felt the look of confusion reach my face.

    “How about we don’t label ourselves, like the others’ do? We can sense each other. That’s our ability. I’m not changing my name, Charlotte. I’m happy being plain old Joe” He looked at me and smirked.

    I nodded at him, “Okay, that sounds great. I like our names better anyway.” I smiled at him and we embraced. All the confusion subsided… for now.