When the news about the twins spread through the school, everyone, understandably, was shocked. We all were so confused with what they did and why they did it. For the first few days that followed the event, everyone was quiet, lost in their own thoughts—lost in their own world—about the issue that clouded everyone's mind. It was what everyone thought about.
No one knew how to properly act whenever they or something that reminded everyone of them was mentioned; we were stuck in the past. A past that revolved only around them and how everyone all wished they had done something to help them; stuck in the cycle of wondering if there was anything they could have done to help.
Most people felt the hole that the twins made when they left, like as if they shot their hands through our chests, wrapping their hands around the hearts of everyone who ever loved or cared about them, leaving everyone cold and so, so confused. But there were those who didn't feel anything those first days, still overcoming the shock that came with the intensity and weight of the news, pulled into the vortex everyone else was sucked into. However, the emptiness in people didn't last long when a new emotion showed its ugly face; rising from the ashes of what was left of the twins.
The anger that progressively built from when the incident first occurred exploded and shook our little town, no one ready for the strong volcano-like eruption that never seemed to stop. We were startled by how much emotion--especially one so vile--we all had stored up in us, fueling us for the weeks that followed, our once peaceful community stained with the sorrow, pain, grief, and anger that circulated throughout us all.
No one expected them to do such a thing; to become such a burden on all our lives, affecting people you wouldn't think would be affected and leaving some torn down, empty shells of who they used to be. No one had any idea that those two people could make such an impact.
The effects of it were devastating.
Everything was so strange after. No one knew whether they should go to the twins' house to share their condolences with the family, visit the place, or just try to act as if there wasn't anything to do. It was all a mess. A mess that still can be seen in our town; cracks and faults that haven't been smoothed over. Cracks that still influence us today with the questions that keep them pried open, unwilling to be closed. Those gaps and holes left in our little town are the reason why we need answers to the questions that everyone needs for their own closure.
That's why there's finally someone to answer them.
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When They Breathed
Teen FictionIndie and Clifford Reed were the rich twins in the small city of Cannon Beach, Oregon that everyone knew and loved. With anything they did, the twins were always supported, admired, and never criticized; the fact that they were so nice to all they c...
