WANDERLUST
CH 2
AWAKEN MY LOVE
It became rather clear to Martha that despite their identical appearance, it was rather easy to differentiate between the two brothers. Not because of some instinct of her's, but rather she noted their entirely different personalities.
From birth, as Alice had tried to place the nipple of a warm, bottle of milk into Tom's mouth, he had refused to take more than half a bottle at a time. He ate little with each feeding and this meant they had to feed him more and he was usually hungry at every hour. John, however, drank at least a bottle and a half every time he was fed. He was greedy and tried to take every last drop before pure sleepiness seemed to overtake him. He slept more than Tom as well.
Martha began to find it unnerving how Tom just seemed to stare up. He didn't blink too much and he just seemed completely out of this world. He often stared at things for far too long, as if seeing something that wasn't there. It caused the hairs on Martha's neck to always stand rigid.
As January became February and as February became March, Martha began to truly note just how odd Tom was. He never smiled. His eyelashes thickened and the tops of both of their heads began to grow thick, black hair. He was so unlike his brother. John carried a smile on his face as the older children played around them. He let out little, unsure giggles as he grasped at their fingers and faces. Tom didn't interact. It was as though they were night and day. John knew how to light up a room, even at such a young age. Martha found herself favoring the youngest one (although she swore she never held favorites), but maybe that was because she had named him for her late husband. She had been widowed at an early age. Her husband had fallen ill with influenza and had perished a few years back.
She had been told that it was acceptable as a widow that she could remarry after a certain amount of time had passed but she had loved John with her entire being and she had been absolutely devastated when he had died. She knew her time as a married woman had come and gone. She now had over eight children to take care of. Two of them were infants, three were toddlers, there was one eight year old and one ten year old, and then there was, of course, Alice. She felt quite proud that there were so few orphans.
She knew that it was because the world was a changing place. It was growing and shifting and become safer for all walks of life. When she thought of the future, she thought of stability. For a long period of time, that hadn't been her feelings. She had lost two brothers in the Great War. She knew that there couldn't be another one like it.
She looked down at the sleeping children. For once, Tom had gone down peacefully. She knew it wouldn't last that long and they would be stuck trying to figure out what had gone wrong. She smiled at John. He had been asleep for a good hour already and she knew he would sleep most of the night away. She swiped a finger through his rich, black hair and left the room.
It was silent for a good second before John hesitantly open an eye and then another and he blinked rapidly. He had ended up in this strange place after - after; well, he couldn't exactly remember that anymore. His memories were hazy and strange. He could remember some things and then he couldn't others. It was weird. He knew that these people talked funny and that he certainly had never talked like them before. It was as though their place of origin was at the tip of his tongue, but he could never quite get it out.
He could remember that he had been on okay person. Or had he? He had been shocked that there hadn't been a hell or a heaven for him. Only a new life. He had woken up to a blurry world. It was slowly becoming more clear and he was relieved. He remembered that it had been similar in his old life. He hadn't been able to see quite right.
He looked moved his head slightly. He wasn't even strong enough to pick it up on his own. There was never a worse feeling than that. He liked the people well enough. He had come to identify the older woman as Mrs. Cole and there was a girl called Alice that was often in their nursery, but that was about all that he could remember. But they kept him in a cradle with a baby they called Tom.
He had come to realize that this was his brother. Often, they talked about how much they looked alike and how confusing it was. They talked of his brother's weird mannerisms and already John felt something clench in his heart. How dare they talk about Tom that way? And Tom was just a little baby. It wasn't like he could help himself.
He analyzed his brother's chubby cheeks. There was a little truth to Mrs. Cole's concerns. Tom didn't like to sleep. Or eat. He didn't like to do a lot of things. John noted that he didn't even like to be held and he was sure that he had never even seen Tom smile. He tried to think on it, but there wasn't much that popped up.
He shook his head off of thinking of it and tried to go to sleep; for real this time. He had to or else he would keep himself up all night trying to think of his old life rather than focusing on his new one.
