Twin Brothers Need a New Plan

This Non-Erotic tale explores a family relationship through unexpected trials. All characters are fictitious and no particular place or time is intended.

Twin Brothers

Two boys came into the world that night. They were very different from each other. I know their story well enough to describe the roller-coaster journey from Day One to mid-life. It is a tale of separation, followed by an unexpected reuniting.

They were fraternal twins. Sharing only half their genes, the boys weren't at all alike. The first-born was perfectly formed, very robust, but the second almost seemed like an afterthought. He was slight and thin, not the picture of health- to the extent that his mother wondered if he'd thrive at all. But both cried out loud protests at being taken from their warm, crowded home inside Mum.

During the next few years, the babies grew into toddlers. The first born quickly learned to crawl, then to walk, and to run. By the time he was dashing about, the second-born was up on two feet and just beginning to explore the world beyond his nose. The first child was a strong and assertive blonde-haired dynamo, already taking his world by storm, while his smaller brunette brother was rather timid and shy. He usually preferred solitary play.

When David and Daniel were old enough for school, they entered the same kindergarten classroom. Their teacher could hardly believe they were twins, so accustomed was she to the idea of look-alike pairs. How could two boys be more different? Why, they didn't even look like brothers, let alone twins. And, one was so happy and out-going, the centre of activity around him. The other- well, not so much. There he was off to the side, alone, making something with wooden blocks.

In the third grade, teachers at the school were planning a pageant to entertain parents before the school holiday break. David, the blonde boy, was destined for a leading part in the little production. He'd be the one to lead the parade on stage, then position himself correctly so the children following him would be perfectly in line. Daniel would come on-stage last because one never could tell if he would even participate at all.

The pageant was a rousing success and the boys' parents applauded as loudly as the rest of the people there. David smiled and bowed, the others following suit one-by-one right down the line. But Daniel hadn't been paying attention, looking off in the other direction, and when the spotlight following the bowing children reached him, he stood staring into it, frozen in confusion.

"I'm so proud of David," their father beamed, adding, "But I wonder if Daniel will ever come out from behind his shadow?"

"Some trees grow more slowly than others," Mum whispered. "Give him some time and you might just be surprised."

By the sixth grade, the boys were already on different paths. David was the natural leader of any group he chose to join. He excelled in several sports and was successful in his studies. His teachers praised him when they reported to his proud parents. But with Daniel it was a different matter. Teachers were much more diplomatic, identifying him as a 'late-bloomer', a student with 'untapped potential', a 'loner' who might eventually emerge from behind his twin brother's prominence.

****

That was more than twenty-five years ago. The boys were mature men now, grown and changed, and each found himself in a deep personal crisis. Their futures did not look especially bright.

"Where do we go from here, Daniel?" David asked his brother as they considered the new reality staring them right in the face.

"I really don't know. We've always gone off in our own directions. Isn't life strange? Look how we've circled around and both ended up in this place."

"Yeah. At least it's good to have you here to talk about this. You know that for so many years we've been pretty much out of touch. Now we're in the same dark place."

"I don't know about you Dave, but I'm just looking into a crater that was once my life. And I have no idea how to get back on top of things again."

"This is a tough one Dan, especially with families, education expenses, and bills probably piling up. We both need to come up with something."

"For sure, but I really don't know the answer. Any ideas, brother?"

****

The twins had taken different directions right from the beginning.

By the time they were teenagers, the two boys attended different classes and lived rather different lives. David had so many friends and outside interests that it was sometimes difficult for him to focus on schoolwork. But there were other ways to handle this. David acquired some studious buddies to help ensure that things were done well and on time. However Daniel struggled on his own, gradually developing a dogged determination to see things through.

The teenaged twins increasingly went their own ways, with quite opposite temperaments, and diverging interests. David wanted to have more spending money, so he sought out ways to earn it. Soon he had come together with a few friends to buy and sell old comic books and collector cards. It was surprisingly successful for a time, until they ran short of product. Other enterprising ideas followed with more success. David seemed destined for the business world.

In the meantime, Daniel earned a reputation as a dreamer. He had a few friends, loners like him who came together, if only to escape the scorn of more popular students. They liked the way Daniel thought about bigger things, about where life might be taking him. Most of all, they liked how he talked about flying, about being up there away from all this pushing and shoving down below.

After their eighteenth birthday, the mismatched twins left home for further learning.

"I think Daniel is finally finding his way," Mum told Dad. "This is such a big step forward for him."

"Yes, if he can get through basic training," his father cautioned. "And believe me, that's no small hurdle. It's going to make him or break him."

"Have you any concerns about David?" she asked her husband.

"None at all. Well... unless he gets sidetracked into some crazy money-making scheme. He's always in such a hurry to get ahead!" Dad laughed.

The boys' parents had no way of knowing the difficulties that awaited their sons down the road. Life's like that with its unexpected turns. Perhaps it's better that we don't know what's in store for us?

David excelled in his business program at the university. He already had some practical experience and the theories he was learning made sense to him. Like he had done before, David formed a cadre of good students around himself and used their friendship to improve his own efforts. Teamwork was natural for David, although he sometimes took more than he gave. By the end of the program, he would be ready to take the business world by the tail.

Daniel was on a completely different path. He signed up for the flying corps. They would pay for his higher education, and he would learn to fly. But first of all, they had to make a man out of this rather scrawny, shy kid. Boot camp nearly killed him, but he was used to seeing tough things to the end. Some nights as he lay in bed listening to the exhausted snoring around him, Daniel wondered if he'd made a big mistake. But, by the end of basic training he was still around.

David completed his business degree about the same time as his twin brother was part-way through flight training. David had formed some important friendships at university, people with whom he kept contact as they set out on their careers. Several of them worked for firms in the same major city and they would frequently meet for beer after office hours. Sometimes they would talk about building their own business together. The twins both had big dreams, different dreams.

A few years later, the boys were home for the holidays.

Their parents swelled with pride at their sons' achievements. David, the fair-haired child, was now a partner in a fledging automotive business, buying and selling quality exotic cars. It seemed a natural fit, somewhat like his first efforts selling old comic books and collector cards. A couple of his well-heeled school friends put in the start-up capital and David ran the operation itself. So far, business was good! The economy was booming, fueling the demand for distinctive cars.

They were just as proud of Daniel, secretly even more so. He was such a different young man now, still soft-spoken, but also muscled and confident. The military had made a man out of him, and he looked so good in uniform, with his pilot's wings. In fact, David hardly recognized him anymore! Daniel talked about some of the good friends he made in the camaraderie of the Air Corps and told the family how much he loved to fly.

For the first time in his life, David felt a bit envious of his once-reticent twin brother. Years later they reminisced about that special time.

****

"Do you remember that Christmas, Dan, when we were home with Mum and Dad? I hardly knew you when you came back all buff and with your wings. Was this my shy little brother or somebody else?"

"It felt good, I admit, not to feel like I was second fiddle to you for a change. That military career was a good move, though I wondered if basic training would break me."

"I thought I was such a winner then, driving around in those exotic foreign cars. Right on top of the world! Hey, but that's all gone now, isn't it? Right at rock bottom again."

"Like you were ever at rock bottom, Dave! Look at me now, all battered to Hell. Now you're looking at someone who has lost it," Daniel lamented.

"Quite a pair aren't we! My head and your body. Gone. Just pieces of what we both once were before all this happened."

"But we need to get through this and come up with new lives, right? I don't want to go on and on about how hopeless everything seems right now. There's no future in that, is there? We need a plan."

They both fell silent after that, thinking about the import of things they had just said, and wondering if there was some way out of the jam in which they found themselves.

****

A few years after that visit home, both men had married and soon afterward had children of their own. By the time the youngsters started to school, they had taken an interest in their uncles' careers. Daniel's children marveled at the 'cool cars'- Porsches, Lamborghinis, and Ferraris- that Uncle David drove whenever he visited. But after David's kids saw their Uncle Daniel's fighter plane at the Air Show, they told their father he should get a more interesting job!

David's exotic automobile business took root and flourished for several years. Times were good and he reinvested the swelling profits back into the enterprise. He was able to buy out one of his partners to become fifty percent owner of the company. There was still enough money for a summer cottage and winter ski vacations too. David's family lived well, even though the kids preferred his brother's flying career.

Meanwhile, Daniel's responsibilities grew in the Air Corps as he demonstrated his flight and leadership skills. He was steadily promoted and eventually had command of a fighter group. However, his family had to move from base to base as his military career advanced, and as a result they saw less and less of Uncle David and his family. Eventually, visits with them and their grandparents just became an annual thing.

"Too bad that Daniel's family is out on the coast now. I'd love to have the children around us but there never seems to be time," Mum complained. "This isn't what I'd hoped for in older age," she added, sadly.

"At least we see quite a bit of David and the kids. That's good, but they're growing up hardly knowing their cousins. Maybe we can get Daniel to fly the kids in to stay with us for a while?"

"Yes, but you know how Sally is about them. Do you really think she'd allow them on a plane by themselves?"

"Yeah. Maybe we need to remind her that we're not getting any younger. They're growing up fast, and we're missing out on most of it," Dad replied bitterly.

Life went on much as before, at least for another year or so. Then things changed dramatically and the boys' worlds began to collapse.

Economic boom was followed by bust, and the demand for expensive vehicles pulled back significantly. David began to notice that it was increasingly difficult to move exotic cars, except for the rarest ones in his inventory- good Ferraris still sold. But most potential clients were tightening their belts and going to cash so they could ride out the economic maelstrom. He was left with an expensive inventory and too little revenue.

His business was failing. David's remaining partner was demanding a portion of his investment capital so he could pay other debts. Fine automobiles were not selling, so there was little income. The only solutions were to borrow more or sell more- and that could only be done by drastically cutting prices. He was caught in a financial squeeze and began selling off personal assets to stay afloat. The family cottage was the first thing to go.

The pressure on David's exotic car business was intense, especially with his investment partner continually extracting money from the firm. Desperation grew to sell off inventory, cutting profit to the bone, in some cases selling at a loss. He stayed up late trying to find some way out of this mess other than borrowing more money at inflated rates. David's wife and family saw less and less of him, and when they did, he was usually preoccupied and unpleasant.

How was his brother faring as the economy staggered? Was he in a downward spiral too? In fact, that's exactly what happened!

Times became tougher for Daniel as an indirect result of the global economic slowdown. Hotspots around the world threatened to become boiling points as militants asserted nationalist aspirations. Daniel's unit was called for overseas service, with the real possibility of dangerous missions. He would be away from his family for his tour of duty, with face-to-face contact limited to the Internet for several months.

Daniel was a career serviceman, but he wasn't happy to be away overseas for extended periods of time. The conflict in his region was escalating and each time he flew patrols, there seemed to be more threatening signs of war. Increased troop build-ups, movements of heavy weaponry and materials, and intercepted communications suggested imminent threat. He appeared calm, but the officer was worried.

On patrol one night, a serious malfunction suddenly developed in Daniel's plane, sending it into a severe spin. Instrument lights began flashing wildly and an alarm sounded to heighten the confusion. The plane screamed as it spiraled downward, the ground coming closer at an sickening rate. The altimeter tracked the steep plunge: 25 000... 20 000... 15 000... 10 000!

Something was seriously wrong. Daniel's life was in danger!

"Mayday! Mayday! Out of control!" he shouted to ground control.

"Pull Up! Pull Up!"

"Negative! Negative!"

"Bail Out! Bail Out!"

As the plane hurtled toward Earth, Daniel felt himself blacking out. Ground control warned him to eject immediately from the cockpit and pull his chute. As he tumbled downward it was almost too late, but the fabric did open at the last instance, sending him hurtling too hard into the ground below- just enough to turn a safe landing into crushing pain.

Fortunately Daniel was over friendly territory at the time of the crash. Medical help arrived fairly quickly and got him on to life support. He was badly injured, with both legs broken and some damage to his spine. One broken rib had punctured a lung, causing considerable bleeding by mouth and internally.

He would live, but things looked grim. After a month in military hospital, Daniel would be sent home for local hospital care and recovery.

Meanwhile, David's nightmare wasn't over. He was being squeezed in an economic vice, facing bankruptcy. If his business failed, how would he be able to meet the mortgage payments on the family home? If the business failed, how would he pick up the pieces and start again? David couldn't sleep at night. The family doctor recommended quiet rest because he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

David's wife could see that he was totally preoccupied and drinking too much booze. Then one evening she found him slumped in his home office chair, passed out with a pill bottle tipped on its side. He was rushed to hospital where his stomach was pumped before the heavy dose of medicine entered his system. Deemed a threat to himself, David was admitted to the psychiatric ward for observation.

The good days seemed to be over for the twin brothers. Life had delivered them both crushing blows, and their families wondered if they would ever be able to recover.

****

The following week, a patient transfer ambulance pulled into the Emergency entry of the same hospital. Daniel was carefully transferred onto a gurney and wheeled in to be admitted. A short time later, he lay in bed with family clustered around him. He was still partially medicated from his long flight home, but he could see his smiling wife, children and parents there. He was alive and he was home, but his broken body meant that his flying days were most probably behind him.

Daniel's parents told him that brother David was currently in another ward of the same hospital. They delicately explained how he had succumbed to the pressures of his failing business and was a threat to his own life. They said that he was under observation now and that with counselling he could be expected to fully recover in time. Meanwhile, like Daniel, he would likely remain in hospital for at least the next several weeks, possibly more.

About a week later, both brothers were making good progress. They were restless, confined to their private rooms on different floors. There was a lovely sunroom for patients on the top level, a south-facing place intended for family visits or simply a pleasant change-of-scene for patients. David's wife, Marilee asked if she could take him there one afternoon, and it was agreed. She was soon pushing his wheelchair into the bright, sunny space.

Off to one side was a man apparently dozing in the sun, propped up in his hospital bed. Immediately David recognized that it was his brother, whom he knew by now was somewhere in the same big building. He looked so fragile on his medical bed, one leg partially elevated by a sling device since a recent operation to reset an improperly healed fracture. Then David looked down at himself, strapped into his wheelchair lest he either fall out or try to run off.

Both of them were badly damaged, one in body the other in mind.

"I'll get coffee for us now. You'll be fine alone, won't you?" Marilee asked. "I'll only be a few minutes. The cafeteria is on this level."

"Yes, I'll be fine. Bring my brother one too- I remember that he likes it with milk and sugar."

While she was gone, he wheeled himself over to Daniel's bed and touched his arm, rousing him from sleep. David jumped, then smiled and his brother returned it with a broad grin.

"Just look at us now, Dave. Aren't we a pair?" And noticing his brother's restraint he pointed to the raised side rails which confined him to his own bed. "I guess we won't be going anywhere soon either!"

Marilee returned with their coffee, pleased to see them talking. She had always liked her husband's unassuming brother and hoped that Daniel might help revive David's beaten-down spirit. The three of them conversed for a while until she saw that both men were tiring, in need of an afternoon rest. Before leaving, Marilee asked that Daniel be taken to the sunroom tomorrow, then she arranged for hospital staff to bring David up at the same time.

Next day, the twins were alone in the sun. They had many lost years to catch up on, having seen each other for less-and-less frequent visits over the past decade or more. Their conversation ranged over time, especially their younger years when they'd both been at home.