Sunday

“Let’s do something fun today.”

“Like what, Avaline? We don’t have the most exciting life… or the means to really have one,” Oliver snapped back, lying on his back, legs resting on the black leather sofa that lay in front of him. He tossed a tennis ball up in the air and caught it on the way down, one handed.

“I thought you were dying your hair blonde today.”

Avaline let out a disgruntled sigh, proving that she was growing tired of answering the same question.
“I swear to Christ, you ask me that one more time, Ollie…”

Oliver rolled to his feet, tennis ball still in hand and a smirk painted on his face. “Well, you’ve been talking about it for weeks. What’s the hold up?”

“Why do you care so much, anyways? You act like you’re my boyfriend or something.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.” Avaline sucked her teeth and turned her back on him, heading down the hardwood corridor and into her bedroom. Oliver followed her to the door, and just as he began to speak, was met with a door slamming inches from his face.

While they fought like dogs at times, Oliver knew that his sister depended on him to be himself. Ever since she had gotten out of the psychiatric unit at SUNY Upstate, all responsibility fell on Oliver’s shoulders. He had to be the strong one, and he embraced this new role that he would have to take on following the untimely death of their parents. They had died in a car accident while on the way to pick up Avaline after discovering she had snuck out to attend an underage rave party last winter.

It didn’t take a psychiatrist, or anybody with any kind of certification to draw the conclusion that she blamed herself for the tragedy. Money wasn’t an issue, as their father had left behind a trust fund that could only be opened upon the event of their untimely death, or Avaline’s 22^nd birthday, with the former obviously coming first.

As much as he hated to be the one to challenge her crippling depression, he knew that he had to be the brother that she had always known. Her doctor made it clear that her environment needed to be as familiar and comfortable as possible, and he made every attempt to do that.

Oliver bounced the tennis ball off of her bedroom door, over and over again, until the door swung open and his sister was looking him in the eyes.

“You ever think of shaving it all off? Britney pulled it off.”

Avaline showed a forced smile before returning to her twin sized bed, complete with velvet comforter and pillow cases. She picked up her day planner and lime green iPod and leaned back against the pillows. Oliver joined her at the edge of the bed.

“Look, I know today is tough for you. I know every day is. It’ll be ok. Let’s do something to take our mind off of it. I have my shaving kit…”

She succumbed to his persistence and let out a genuine giggle that made him light up inside. Avaline looked over at him, and asked a question that had never crossed her mind up until this point.

“What if we aren’t twins, and were like, switched at birth?”

Despite being opposite genders, there was no denying that they were identical twins. If Oliver grabbed a brown wig and threw it on, and he’d pass for Avaline, and vice versa. Their hair was a perfect match, a dark brown that complimented their eyes.

Bewilderment overcame his face, “huh?”

“Like that movie we watched on Lifetime last week. The babies were switched at birth by accident, and nobody knew for like, twenty years.”

“You know I don’t pay attention to those things right? Whenever you put that crappy channel on, I grab my headphones and tune it out.”

“Who are you trying to impress? You were totally into that movie.”

Oliver began to blush, realizing yet again that he couldn’t get anything by his sister.

“Yeah, whatever, if you say so,” rising up from the bed, he paced around the room, playing catch with the tennis ball. “Let’s go to the zoo.”

“The zoo? What are we, 12?”

“No, I’m serious,” Oliver remarked, “when’s the last time we’ve been to the zoo?”

“…Probably when I was 12,” Avalina responded with deadpan delivery.

“Go get ready, we’re going. It’s free in the winter.”

Oliver hustled out of the room to grab his denim colored winter hat and to spray on his cologne. Avalina grabbed her and Oliver’s jacket, meeting him at the front door before putting on her own violet wool hat.

Oliver had the car keys in hand, but Avalina objected and suggested that they just walk instead. Oliver agreed, seeing that as a rare opportunity to pick his typically reserved sister’s brain as they walked through the wintery surroundings, complete with whistling wing and light snow fall.

“It looks like a snow globe,” said Avalina.

“Yeah, it kinda does it, doesn’t it? Hey so, how are you holding up? With me finishing up school and all, we don’t really get the time to connect anymore.”

They came to a stop at the crosswalk, allowing for all traffic to drive by before crossing the street and entering the gates leading to the zoo.

“Well, I killed mom and dad, so.”

She saw the look of despair overtake her younger brother, and knew that he didn’t read her sarcasm.

“Oh, no, Ollie, it was a joke. It’s a part of healing. I have to find humor in the darkest things. It helps me, it really does,” she told him as she put her arms around the back of his neck, pulling him forward and into her chest for a much needed hug.

“Ollie, I love you. You’re the strongest person I know, and I couldn’t ask for a better brother. You’re the only reason that I’m still around today, and I mean that.” Avalina took her brother by the back of his head, and gently turned his head to hers to be certain that he fully comprehended the praise that she had just lended to him. “Now come on, let’s see some animals.”

As they walked up to the entrance, they encountered a sign on the sprawling green steel gate that read, “SORRY, WE’RE CLOSED!”

“Ollie, did you really not know that it was Sunday?”

He smiled and looked down at the ground, then back up at her.

“I knew it was Sunday, I just really needed to hear that from you.” He pulled the tennis ball out of his pocket, and sat down with his back against the gate.

“Let’s talk.”