Photo

I arrived home, feeling drained from the day. Walking into my bathroom I noticed the sleeping pills I bought on top of the sink. 

Sigh! 

I opened the container and poured out the pills down the drain of the sink before washing down with water. They really had no purpose. Really they failed in their job, helping me get a good night's rest. 

After all this I stared into the mirror, disgusted by a face echoing the lack of sleep on it. 

Blinking for a second I felt that feeling coming, my throat grew tight. Breathing heavily I grew into a fit of rage. 

"ENOUGH", I yelled out, walking out of the bathroom. My feet pressing down onto the ground, ready to attack. A silent pause echoed in the room. Suddenly my rage broke out, free to wreck everything in my path.  

Throwing anything I found near my view, in a state of pure anger I began to throw everything in my house to the floor. 

Picture frames, electronic remotes, displays and other things close by, felt the depths of my wrath. 

Flipping the tables and chairs, I yelled in a voice of pain, 'WHY, WHY, WHY"

Moving into the kitchen, I took out my frustration on the pots and plates. 

Tearing through all my belongings, I left nothing untouched.

As I finally calmed down from my temper tantrum, I seen the mess I made. 

Sigh!  

"Now look what you've done,  who's going to clean this mess", I asked myself.  

The task fell onto my hands alone, so I picked up a dustban and broom, cleaning up my mess from the kitchen onwards. As I got to the lounge, I noticed the broken picture frames, the pictures hanging out. But before I could pick up the broken pieces a particular picture caught my eye. 

A family picture, my father on the left, mother in the middle and I on the right. The background, a blue sheet. Something like a photo studio. About to put away the picture, I noticed something really concerning. 

The edge of the picture where I was didn't seem to be straight. A piece was cut off, and looking closely at the picture there was a third piece of clothing. 

"What's going on with this picture", I thought to myself. 

Knowing the best person to ask about this recent discovery, could only be my dear mother. 

Well of course her, since SHE gave me this picture, the day I moved out. 

The next day I made my trip there. My mother lived a few kilometers out of town. She lived on her own, for she split up with my father years ago. 

Knocking on the door I was then greeted with a smile. 

"Come in, come in", she told me.

 "I'll start up the kettle for a cup of tea", she continued.

We spoke for a bit. Our conversation a typical parent asking how are you and why don't you visit often. When she finally stopped talking for most of the time, she picked up her cup to sip some tea.

I prepared my mouth to speak. 

But before the words could reach my tongue to ask a question about the picture, my words were held back by voice. 

"Don't ask her, for you know she'll push it away.

Check in the box for the truth", the voice said.

Listening to the voice I changed my question into asking where she kept my old comics. 

"I plan to give them to the children who come into my store with their parents", I explained to her.  

She told me, "they should be in the backroom outside. Amongst the old junk"

I went there, telling her, "Stay, I won't take too long"

What's the point of all this?

 The box the voice was referring to is my mother's secret box she hid from my father. I knew of it's existence for I often seen her put things in it when she thought I wasn't looking. 

And knowing her at this age, she put it away amongst the old junk too. 

Making my way into the backroom I searched for that box. Hidden underneath old blankets I found it. I could tell my mother had never once touched it after my father left. Blowing the dust off the lid, I opened it to see it's contents. 

Some old love letters, not from my father that is. An old doll, a necklace and silver bracelet, amongst other things, were the first I found. 

And right at the bottom was what I was looking for, the missing piece of the picture. 

Pulling out the other piece of the picture from my pocket, I put them both together. My eyes opened wide in shock. The complete picture was overwhelming. 

"Dear Lord, I had a brother!  Goodness me he was my TWIN BROTHER" 

"Finally, I feel complete. You've found my missing self. 

For this picture had no value, till you put it back together to reveal it's wealth. 

But why did this woman cut my off as so. 

Perhaps I'll never know. 

But what I do know is you see a Truth. 

Dear boy you had a twin brother from your youth. "

_ Photo