(Page 1 of 2) Quadruped by Kareef ArzadonSUMMARY: What happens if you separate the living into two different entities? I really had no intention of being symbolic here but it could very well be pushed in that direction if the reader wishes to.Roberto and Alberto were born of the same mother at exactly 3:00 P.M. on the same day of the same month of that same year. Their age difference is difficult to establish and can only be settled by a precise quartz clock to be about .57 seconds. But their difference from the other kids on the block is easier to spot - they walked on all fours. Two pairs of legs, that is. Not one after the other but together like any other Siamese twins born before them.
Walking on all fours complicated movement as opposed to sitting still all by your lonesome self. The cartilage which joined them in a perfect mesh via the rib cage made motor coordination constantly thwarted at every turn - while Roberto would reach for a toy train, Alberto would bend in the opposite direction to touch his mother's face. But this minor tug of war did not stop them from playing throughballs and inhaling lungfuls of laughter for no apparent reason other than that their young hearts are in the mood for it. Their immediate feelings seemed exquisitely intertwined like that time when they wept as one when the puppy they received as a gift three weeks ago was split in half by a speeding car. Alberto, the jovial one, held the other dangling half of the puppy, while Roberto, the pensive one, patted the other half. So this is what happens when you separate the living from its usual self into two. The thought so horrified them. At a young age, they knew it deep in their entwined hearts it has been their inescapable fate to go on living side by side. The idea of being separated never occurred to them except during that one particularly oppressive incident when the teasing from the unruly kids at school has gone too cruel for their young minds to endure.
For the first time the twins stopped talking to each other trying to ignore the connection they shared by pretending the other did not exist. It did not last for long. Only a few hours and the kids are back to their usual banter and cheerful pranks as though lifted from their wretchedness by an ever-guiding, benevolent hand. Of course, everyone in their poor but happy household knew that this charmed double existence will not last for, as the years passed, their difficult and awkward existence became more and more unbearable for them.
Two days before their seventh birthday Alberto refused to eat and started to lose weight at an appalling rate while Roberto grew even more morose and unresponsive - no amount of coaxing or diversion from the parents and the hospital staff succeeded in bringing back the twins' usual sprightly selves.
"We have underestimated the twins' ability to overcome this difficult phase in their fight for survival. Alberto and Roberto are dying. We must act quickly. Our phone lines are open 24 hours everyday."
Dr. Ahmed Al Selim, the Division head of Pediatric Surgery at King Elgammal Medical Center did not need to sound more affecting and imploring than he already is. The viewers first saw the twins courtesy of his weekly Public Service program. He always referred to them, for want of a better sloganeering, as his "special" children.
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