Anything You Can Do...
by Kristen Stone
Genre: Drama
Swearwords: None.
Description: The tale of twins who have grown up unwittingly competing against each other.
_____________________________________________________________________
Nicola watched with a mixture of excitement and horror as her brother, Nick, jumped out of the aeroplane along with the other members of the parachute team. They were twins and for some perverse reason their parents had thought it a great wheeze to give them the male and female equivalents of the same name. Nicholas had shortened his name to Nick as soon as he had any say in the matter – about 2 months after they started school together when the other children picked upon the similarity and said he had a girl’s name. Nicola, however, had kept her given name and no-one was allowed to shorten it to Nick or Nicky – except, on very special occasions, her brother.
They were now in their mid-twenties and this was the first time they had reunited since Nick went away to join the army, much to Nicola’s disgust. Up until that time they had hardly ever been separated. They had started school together, had their first swimming lessons together. They could both swim well, taking part in galas for the local swimming club and both winning junior events. Their swimming careers were cut short, however, when they both developed an allergy to chlorinated water and had to cut out their daily practise.
For some reason they cannot now remember, they moved on from swimming to ballroom dancing. Once again they became accomplished in this hobby and paired together they entered competitions at the highest level until dancing dominated their lives. Nick, however, did not like this hobby broadcast amongst his peers, it was not a very masculine hobby, not like football, and before they had quite reached the very top he announced he did not want to compete any more. For a while Nicola continued with other partners but the magic had gone and after a while she, too, stopped.
She followed Nick to the local athletics club, where, with the strength and stamina they had both developed from their previous activities, they both became star athletes, long distance running being their speciality. Day after day they would pound round the track or run for miles along the tow paths of the canal and the quieter roads of the town. They entered cross country events and half marathons, Nicola matching Nick in every race.
It was one of their coaches who suggested air pistol shooting to Nick after he developed a problem with his ham string and couldn’t run for a while. Once again Nicola lost interest in running without her brother to compete against and joined him at the shooting range.
By this time they had both left school. Nicola was training to be a hairdresser and Nick had taken up an engineering apprenticeship. They could now afford to save some money and take up a hobby that involved a bit more expense. Not that dancing had been cheap, their mother frequently pointed out, not with the private lessons and the dresses and the suits and the shoes. No, dancing had been very expensive, thank you very much. The twins, very sensibly, did not point out that it had been their mother who had encouraged them to dance in the first place, and took up scuba diving.
And so it went on. After diving came surfing in Cornwall and climbing and fencing; you name it the twins had a go at it. Each time Nick would initiate the interest and Nicola would follow. Each time she became as good as or even better than her brother until finally Nick announced that he was joining the army, with the hope of joining the parachute regiment.
This stopped Nicola in her tracks. She was totally against violence, even when it was sponsored by the military. Although she had done well at pistol shooting, that had been done against targets and the skill involved did not require shooting another living thing, let alone killing people. For the first time in their lives the twins had a major disagreement with each other and stopped speaking. Nick went off to make a new life in the army and Nicola took up cross-stitch and joined a gym.
That had been three years ago. Now Nick was back, taking part in an air display and falling through the sky with five other idiots. Nicola could hardly breathe as she watched them falling. Somehow they moved through the air until they joined hands and made a circle which they held for a few brief seconds before peeling away and opening their parachutes. A gasp went up from the crowd as one of the chutes failed to open. Nicola felt her heart pounding as she realised it was Nick who was tumbling towards the earth at breakneck speed. Then, thankfully, the chute blossomed above him, his rate of fall was reduced and he made a perfect touchdown in the landing area, not even rolling on the ground but landing on his feet and gathering in the chute as he came to a halt. Around him the others started to land and they all bowed to the applauding crowd before retreating to their preparation area.
Nicola stood at the entrance to the paratroopers’ information tent watching her brother, now dressed in full combat uniform, talking to some youths who were showing an interest in the army recruitment posters. As the boys walked away Nick looked across to her and smiled. He held out his arms and she ran into them and hugged him like a long lost lover. He picked her up and swung her round and she laughed. When she regained her feet she took a step back and looked up at him.
“You’ve grown,” she said in surprise. “How the hell did you do that?”
They had always been a similar height. Nicola was by no means short but Nick had added a couple of inches on her before he left home. Now he was at least six feet tall, with a broad, solid torso to match.
“Good to see you, too, Sis,” he said with a grin. “Don’t you know us boys keep growing much longer than girls? How are you? What have you been up to?”
“I’m fine, but I haven’t been doing much lately,” Nicola replied. “Still swim a bit, work out at the gym, but that’s about it. I wish I had known about the parachuting. That looks great. Can you teach me, or tell me where I can get lessons?”
Nick put his arm around her shoulder and gently led her out of the marquee.
“Going for a quick break,” he said to one of the other soldiers standing around. “Take over for me for a while.”
The soldier nodded and waved them away. Nicola looked up at her brother and frowned.
“Let’s grab a coffee and catch up,” Nick said.
They went to a refreshment tent and got some coffee and doughnuts and found an empty table away from the hustle of the displays which were still going on in the main arena.
“This looks very serious,” Nicola said. “What’s wrong?”
“You tell me,” Nick suggested. “Mum says she is worried about you. Since I joined the army she says you have done nothing but work and go to the gym a couple of times a week. She says you’ve given up all the things we used to do together, don’t seem to have any new friends, rarely go out. Where’s the girl who used to be full of energy and life?”
Nicola stirred her coffee even though there was no sugar in it.
“It’s not the same without you around,” she said quietly. “I’ve got no-one to compete against.”
Nick took her hand and gave it a little squeeze.
“Two things,” he said. “Life doesn’t have to be one long competition. You can do things for the hell of it. You were good at everything we tried so if you joined a shooting club or a fencing club or anything like that you would soon make new friends and maybe find someone who would like the challenge of beating you once in a while. You are good, Sis, damned good at whatever you try. I can’t tell you how frustrating it was having you follow me about everywhere and then beating me.”
“Was I really that bad? I thought you liked it.”
“I did at first, but I need to do my own thing sometimes. Which brings me to my second point. We are different people, Sis, we have our own lives. Like Granddad used to say, we may have been in the greenhouse at the same time but we had different grow bags. We are individuals, we should be finding our own paths not piggy-backing on each other.”
Nicola smiled at the thought of their Granddad who spent all his spare time working on his allotment or in his greenhouse. There wasn’t a problem in life that he could not solve without resorting to some gardening analogy. He was sadly missed. So were his fresh tomatoes and runner beans.
“So, all the time we spent together you wished I wasn’t there?” Nicola asked.
“No. Not all the time. I would have looked a prat dancing around a ballroom on my own. And it was fun doing things together, trying to beat you, sharing the experiences. But there were times,” Nick paused. He didn’t want to upset his sister. He loved her dearly, they had always been friends. “To be honest there were times when you cramped my style. You were always there which freaked some people out a little. There are some things siblings can’t do for each other, some games they shouldn’t play together. I needed space to myself, room to develop relationships with other people.”
“So you joined the army, that’s full of men. Are you saying you’re gay?”
Nick laughed.
“No. There are lots of women in the army these days. But being with other people has done me good. I’ve learnt lots of new skills, found I’m a good leader, can hold my own against most people in most situations.”
“All without a pesky twin sister following you,” Nicola added. She did not know what to make of what Nick had said. She had never realised he had felt that way about her company. They had always rubbed along well, never a cross word between them. Maybe there should have been. Maybe he should have told her to get lost instead of running away to the army. She felt tears welling in her eyes and blinked hard to try to get rid of them, without success.
Nick reached out and held her hands.
“Niki, I wouldn’t change one thing about our lives. Without you following me everywhere I would never have tried so many things. But I have found a life without you and it’s time you made a life for yourself. Promise me.”
Nicola took a deep breath. Maybe he was right. Maybe it was time she stopped comparing every man she met to him. There was that guy who used to take a great deal of interest in her shooting skills. But he got married. Still, how did the saying go ‘plenty more fish in the sea.’ Maybe she should take up surfing again. She wiped her eyes on a tissue and picked up her doughnut.
“There is one thing I would change,” she said.
Nick raised his eyebrows.
“Oh, what’s that?”
“I’d call you Peter.”
Swearwords: None.
Description: The tale of twins who have grown up unwittingly competing against each other.
_____________________________________________________________________
Nicola watched with a mixture of excitement and horror as her brother, Nick, jumped out of the aeroplane along with the other members of the parachute team. They were twins and for some perverse reason their parents had thought it a great wheeze to give them the male and female equivalents of the same name. Nicholas had shortened his name to Nick as soon as he had any say in the matter – about 2 months after they started school together when the other children picked upon the similarity and said he had a girl’s name. Nicola, however, had kept her given name and no-one was allowed to shorten it to Nick or Nicky – except, on very special occasions, her brother.
They were now in their mid-twenties and this was the first time they had reunited since Nick went away to join the army, much to Nicola’s disgust. Up until that time they had hardly ever been separated. They had started school together, had their first swimming lessons together. They could both swim well, taking part in galas for the local swimming club and both winning junior events. Their swimming careers were cut short, however, when they both developed an allergy to chlorinated water and had to cut out their daily practise.
For some reason they cannot now remember, they moved on from swimming to ballroom dancing. Once again they became accomplished in this hobby and paired together they entered competitions at the highest level until dancing dominated their lives. Nick, however, did not like this hobby broadcast amongst his peers, it was not a very masculine hobby, not like football, and before they had quite reached the very top he announced he did not want to compete any more. For a while Nicola continued with other partners but the magic had gone and after a while she, too, stopped.
She followed Nick to the local athletics club, where, with the strength and stamina they had both developed from their previous activities, they both became star athletes, long distance running being their speciality. Day after day they would pound round the track or run for miles along the tow paths of the canal and the quieter roads of the town. They entered cross country events and half marathons, Nicola matching Nick in every race.
It was one of their coaches who suggested air pistol shooting to Nick after he developed a problem with his ham string and couldn’t run for a while. Once again Nicola lost interest in running without her brother to compete against and joined him at the shooting range.
By this time they had both left school. Nicola was training to be a hairdresser and Nick had taken up an engineering apprenticeship. They could now afford to save some money and take up a hobby that involved a bit more expense. Not that dancing had been cheap, their mother frequently pointed out, not with the private lessons and the dresses and the suits and the shoes. No, dancing had been very expensive, thank you very much. The twins, very sensibly, did not point out that it had been their mother who had encouraged them to dance in the first place, and took up scuba diving.
And so it went on. After diving came surfing in Cornwall and climbing and fencing; you name it the twins had a go at it. Each time Nick would initiate the interest and Nicola would follow. Each time she became as good as or even better than her brother until finally Nick announced that he was joining the army, with the hope of joining the parachute regiment.
This stopped Nicola in her tracks. She was totally against violence, even when it was sponsored by the military. Although she had done well at pistol shooting, that had been done against targets and the skill involved did not require shooting another living thing, let alone killing people. For the first time in their lives the twins had a major disagreement with each other and stopped speaking. Nick went off to make a new life in the army and Nicola took up cross-stitch and joined a gym.
That had been three years ago. Now Nick was back, taking part in an air display and falling through the sky with five other idiots. Nicola could hardly breathe as she watched them falling. Somehow they moved through the air until they joined hands and made a circle which they held for a few brief seconds before peeling away and opening their parachutes. A gasp went up from the crowd as one of the chutes failed to open. Nicola felt her heart pounding as she realised it was Nick who was tumbling towards the earth at breakneck speed. Then, thankfully, the chute blossomed above him, his rate of fall was reduced and he made a perfect touchdown in the landing area, not even rolling on the ground but landing on his feet and gathering in the chute as he came to a halt. Around him the others started to land and they all bowed to the applauding crowd before retreating to their preparation area.
Nicola stood at the entrance to the paratroopers’ information tent watching her brother, now dressed in full combat uniform, talking to some youths who were showing an interest in the army recruitment posters. As the boys walked away Nick looked across to her and smiled. He held out his arms and she ran into them and hugged him like a long lost lover. He picked her up and swung her round and she laughed. When she regained her feet she took a step back and looked up at him.
“You’ve grown,” she said in surprise. “How the hell did you do that?”
They had always been a similar height. Nicola was by no means short but Nick had added a couple of inches on her before he left home. Now he was at least six feet tall, with a broad, solid torso to match.
“Good to see you, too, Sis,” he said with a grin. “Don’t you know us boys keep growing much longer than girls? How are you? What have you been up to?”
“I’m fine, but I haven’t been doing much lately,” Nicola replied. “Still swim a bit, work out at the gym, but that’s about it. I wish I had known about the parachuting. That looks great. Can you teach me, or tell me where I can get lessons?”
Nick put his arm around her shoulder and gently led her out of the marquee.
“Going for a quick break,” he said to one of the other soldiers standing around. “Take over for me for a while.”
The soldier nodded and waved them away. Nicola looked up at her brother and frowned.
“Let’s grab a coffee and catch up,” Nick said.
They went to a refreshment tent and got some coffee and doughnuts and found an empty table away from the hustle of the displays which were still going on in the main arena.
“This looks very serious,” Nicola said. “What’s wrong?”
“You tell me,” Nick suggested. “Mum says she is worried about you. Since I joined the army she says you have done nothing but work and go to the gym a couple of times a week. She says you’ve given up all the things we used to do together, don’t seem to have any new friends, rarely go out. Where’s the girl who used to be full of energy and life?”
Nicola stirred her coffee even though there was no sugar in it.
“It’s not the same without you around,” she said quietly. “I’ve got no-one to compete against.”
Nick took her hand and gave it a little squeeze.
“Two things,” he said. “Life doesn’t have to be one long competition. You can do things for the hell of it. You were good at everything we tried so if you joined a shooting club or a fencing club or anything like that you would soon make new friends and maybe find someone who would like the challenge of beating you once in a while. You are good, Sis, damned good at whatever you try. I can’t tell you how frustrating it was having you follow me about everywhere and then beating me.”
“Was I really that bad? I thought you liked it.”
“I did at first, but I need to do my own thing sometimes. Which brings me to my second point. We are different people, Sis, we have our own lives. Like Granddad used to say, we may have been in the greenhouse at the same time but we had different grow bags. We are individuals, we should be finding our own paths not piggy-backing on each other.”
Nicola smiled at the thought of their Granddad who spent all his spare time working on his allotment or in his greenhouse. There wasn’t a problem in life that he could not solve without resorting to some gardening analogy. He was sadly missed. So were his fresh tomatoes and runner beans.
“So, all the time we spent together you wished I wasn’t there?” Nicola asked.
“No. Not all the time. I would have looked a prat dancing around a ballroom on my own. And it was fun doing things together, trying to beat you, sharing the experiences. But there were times,” Nick paused. He didn’t want to upset his sister. He loved her dearly, they had always been friends. “To be honest there were times when you cramped my style. You were always there which freaked some people out a little. There are some things siblings can’t do for each other, some games they shouldn’t play together. I needed space to myself, room to develop relationships with other people.”
“So you joined the army, that’s full of men. Are you saying you’re gay?”
Nick laughed.
“No. There are lots of women in the army these days. But being with other people has done me good. I’ve learnt lots of new skills, found I’m a good leader, can hold my own against most people in most situations.”
“All without a pesky twin sister following you,” Nicola added. She did not know what to make of what Nick had said. She had never realised he had felt that way about her company. They had always rubbed along well, never a cross word between them. Maybe there should have been. Maybe he should have told her to get lost instead of running away to the army. She felt tears welling in her eyes and blinked hard to try to get rid of them, without success.
Nick reached out and held her hands.
“Niki, I wouldn’t change one thing about our lives. Without you following me everywhere I would never have tried so many things. But I have found a life without you and it’s time you made a life for yourself. Promise me.”
Nicola took a deep breath. Maybe he was right. Maybe it was time she stopped comparing every man she met to him. There was that guy who used to take a great deal of interest in her shooting skills. But he got married. Still, how did the saying go ‘plenty more fish in the sea.’ Maybe she should take up surfing again. She wiped her eyes on a tissue and picked up her doughnut.
“There is one thing I would change,” she said.
Nick raised his eyebrows.
“Oh, what’s that?”
“I’d call you Peter.”
About the Author
Kristen Stone describes herself as a frustrated writer looking to conquer the world. Although born in London, she knows all the words to 500 Miles, has attended several Burns Night Suppers and would love to play the bagpipes. She has even offered to change her name to McStone. Those are all good reasons for McStorytellers to grant her the status of Honorary Scot.
Kristen’s website is at http://www.kristen-stone-the-writer.com. Her first novel Kianda Mala - The Monkey Man will be published by Night Publishing later this year. Meanwhile, it can be previewed and downloaded from Smashwords at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/44006.
Kristen’s website is at http://www.kristen-stone-the-writer.com. Her first novel Kianda Mala - The Monkey Man will be published by Night Publishing later this year. Meanwhile, it can be previewed and downloaded from Smashwords at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/44006.