The Two

It was the summer of 1938 when the whisper of fate broke through the airless night, And two curious children got to their feet the little girl knew something was not right. Little Jack the baby, stood in the middle of the room, the dirt floor cool on his bare feet, his sister did not stand, but walked over to the screen door unmindful of the Texas heat. Who told the girl what happened? Could it be that angles spoke softly in her small ear? She looked at her little brother Jack, and told him what she knew, in her voice was no fear. “It’s daddy you know, he’s not coming back Jackie” she said in a quietly hushed tone. Little Jack was so young, and he didn’t understand. But daddy, he never did come home. Their mother you see neither one can truly recall, maybe for them she never really was, She walked through their lives on a stage of drama never doing the things a mother does. But they remember the rainy day in a town that is now gone, when daddy was laid to rest, Their mother you see showed up late, in a new car and wearing her brand new Sunday best. The Two though they went on, as children do. The little girl mothering her little brother Jack. So small and alone, they looked for food in the trash the little girl with her brother on her back. Mother was there somewhere, laughing in the dark secrecy, loving what men could provide. The children to her became baggage, inconvenient, a hindrance that she just could not abide. Some in the town began to take pity, watching the rag dolls as they walked through the street, When evening fell the town went home, so did the Two in their frayed clothes and bare little feet. But time can bring sweet escape, and that came to the Two through the blessing of a new life, It was their fate not to grow up together, one knowing peace the other life colored with strife. But the Two would meet through out the years for their destiny is intertwined in blood and history, Time marched on and as they now age they share in each others lives, a lasting bond and mystery. She can no longer carry Jack on her back, but she has always carried him in her heart and mind, And to Jack, his sister has always been more than words can explain, more than most will ever find.