Madame Mimi and Madame Zoe Stael have not been seen together for over twenty years. If you’d met them then, you’d have been unable to tell them apart. They’re twins, you see. Now they fight on opposite sides of our war.
I wonder how this is possible. To be born of the same place, the same season—that should make them the same person. Twins trouble me. We are each unique, except for those born together. My uncle says twins are not people but birds.
Today, after the battle, only one of the pair will survive. The victor will become a person, and we will know our path.
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here
Neil MacDonald Author 
Dear Neil,
Hello a day early. 😉 Oops. Twins are a mystery. There are stories out there now of identical twins separated at birth who find each other years later to find how alike they are. My daughter in law is an identical twin. Two very different personalities.
Love this story. Poignant and thought provoking.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks so much, Rochelle
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It happened during the American Civil War. Brother against brother father against son. Intriguing idea, Neil.
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And in the English civil war. Though, of course, civil wars tend to pit different classes or groups against each other. Thanks, Linda
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Having raised twin nephews I can attest to just how opposite and yet totally alike they can be. Great story.
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There’s nothing like sibling rivalry and a civil war to bring out the differences
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Intriguing and thought-provoking, Neil.
Was there a reason you chose the surname Stael?
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No special reason. It had resonances I liked
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That’s cool, finding the right name can be a challenge, I just wondered if you were inspired by Madame de Staël
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Sounds a bit like Highlander! Well done.
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Thanks, Joshua. Isn’t Highlander a time travel thing?
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Just immortal Scottish beings battling one another until only one remains, I think.
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How often this has happened during civil wars. Well done, sir!
Happy Christmas!
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Thanks so much, Dale. And seasonal merriment to you
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Thank you, kind sir!
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Oy to the insane realities of war. All war is insane. Twins fighting each other only highlights the absurdity of all wars. Well done!
As for twins, we only have the boy+girl combos in my family, which are still a bit flighty but not quite as bird’ish as identical twins can be. …
Na’ama
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Thanks so much. I think non-identical twins are probably marmosets
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Yeah, sounds about right. 🙂
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Ooh! This reads like mythology, the origin or some people or trait… or bird?
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I’m glad if it does. The mythopoeic voice is one I enjoy
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Interesting story with an epic feel to it, Neil.
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Thanks so much, Jade. I’m glad you got the epic feel
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You’re welcome 🙂
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Really terrible.
But, war does such terrible things. Really hope no brother or any other has to fight…
The Monument – Anita
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I’m afraid many will probably be slaughtered
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Two of our long-term friends are identical twins, though now they are 77 life has marked them differently. Sometimes they are the best of friends, but more often at each other’s throats!
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It was ever thus with siblings
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Interesting concept that twins are not people but birds. I’m an avid birder (certainly not proficient) and wonder where that intriguing thought came from.
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In societies where birth order ascribes your identity twins are a problem. The origin of the idea that twins must be birds I think is from the Nuer in Sudan
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I will have to look that up. It’s a lovely idea.
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Isn’t it though?
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I was raised to see twins as the happiest of people; they are never alone. It took years to understand that it could be a curse too. I’m saddened by the idea that one had to die for the other to “become a person”.
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In this fictional society, two people can’t occupy the same identity
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Oooooo I like this… this could go longer I think, quite the intriguing mystery. Who will win. As twins what if neither did?
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As twins, it may not matter who wins
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Not so similar inside, perhaps. I like the idea that once one is gone the other will at last become one complete person.
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Thanks so much
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An interesting world, where woman fight wars and twins are somehow cursed, and yet it’s a world reflecting our own where wars are fought to determine the way we should go. There are many overtones to your story, Neil.
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Thanks so much, Penny
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I must confess to a certain uneasiness around twins. There’s something very arresting about the thought that two people could be the image of each other. Lovely story.
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Twins almost live in the “uncanny valley”. Thanks, Sandra
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