Essay by: Kyla Novak

Roseau Community School

Mrs. Didrikson, Advanced English 11

Even in the womb, Jadyn and I were inseparable. So much so that I stole a bunch of her red blood cells and we both were sick when we were born. Although you'd think that she'd be the sicker baby, considering she looked like a ghost, I was actually doing worse. I was purple and had to be put in an incubator in the NICU, as well as phototherapy since I was born with jaundice. Since we were both seven weeks premature, we had to stay in the NICU for a little while. That also meant that our growth was stunted –– both mentally and physically. However, our mom worked very hard with us to get us to where she thought we should be. Turns out, we ended up ahead of other kids when we went to school. 

    In all of elementary and middle school, we were collectively known as "the twins". Most people couldn't tell us apart, and it didn't help that we didn't really have friends until second or third grade. Although we were outcasts, we were still happy together. We made up lots of words like "ovey", "nali", "plumpus", and "bumplelumpcrumps". They just made sense to us. And in a way, you really can't describe them without understanding completely what they mean. We also created a special game when we were young that started with Jadyn asking, "Kyla, do you wanna talk about?" We'd never discussed what exactly "talking about" was, but I knew exactly what she meant when she first introduced it. "Talking about" is basically where you're writing a story with someone else, except that it's all verbal. We created things on the go, as well as planning ahead. I remember how excited I was whenever I had a plan. I'd say, "I have a plan, Jadyn," and she would also get excited to talk about. We didn't typically talk about during the daytime unless we were at a really interesting point. It was always when we were supposed to be asleep. The majority of the time we were talking about using the characters from Reign. It's still a favorite TV show of mine to this day. 

    Ever since the movie was released, Jadyn and I fell in love with Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Our favorite character was Angelica, and we ended up getting two little toys from our grandma on our dad's side. Jadyn got an Angelica doll and I got Barbossa. Ironically, they were both supposed to be Jack Sparrow, but my grandma just didn't pay enough attention to see that not only were they not Jack Sparrow, but they were both different characters altogether.

I was so jealous of Jadyn because she got Angelica –– to the point where our mom made us share her for a while. We finally ended up getting a second Angelica, and I was ecstatic. Jadyn and I constantly played with our Angelicas. They'd be mingling with the Polly Pockets or trying not to be cooked and eaten by the Barbies. At some point, we got more Angelica dolls and named them both "New Anglica", which demoted the other Angelicas to "Old Angelica". The Old Angelicas had magic, but the new ones didn't because they'd have to go through an initiation first. Whenever magic was used, we made a sound that can only be described as a "chu-wsh!" In total, we ended up having 19 characters from Pirates of the Caribbean. At this point in time, my Old Angelica had lost her legs and Jadyn's Old Angelica didn't have her head. But it was okay since she could still see with her magic. We also had a nice toy pirate ship that was modeled after the Black Pearl in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. In addition to the nice ship and toy pirate accessories, Jadyn and I also drew, colored, and cut out paper mermaids to really make it like the movie. They often attacked the ship and used their sticky seaweed to drag a sailor into the water, creating a tense situation where the person almost drowned. We liked putting a lot of drama into our playing because it created a lot of excitement –– even if the situation was really unrealistic. 

    While Jadyn and I may have fought over silly things as kids, we've grown up to be closer than ever. Being raised together has given us a great variety of inside jokes and shared experiences that can't be replaced. I know that I will never have that sort of twin connection with anyone else in my lifetime. She's an irreplaceable part of my life, and I love her more than anyone in this world.