“Hubert, come down the stairs. I’d like you to meet someone !”
Being woken up by my mother yelling my name isn’t something I’m fond of. I was expecting some sleep-in due to the day being Saturday. I turned in my bed to look at the clock on my nightstand. It’s 8 AM, what’s the matter? Who am I supposed to meet at 8 AM on a Saturday? All these questions and only one way of finding out. I get out of the bed and change from my dinosaur pajamas to some denim jeans and a t-shirt with the text “Home” covering the chest.
As I open my door out to the hallway, my mother hears the creaking door.
“Good you’re up, I was just about to go up and get you”
I scuff at her and begin my walk to and down the stairs. Each step creaking more than the other, I could start to smell the newly baked scones halfway down the stairs. I could see my mother standing at the main door.
“Come, there is someone I’d like you to meet”
I go and stand behind her back, watching as she opens the door. Anxiety and fear start filling my body when I see who it is standing behind the door. Is it me? I know I’m here inside, with my mother. But I’m standing outside as well. Silently standing behind the door is a social worker with a kid that is a one: one copy of me. He even has the same birthmark on his forehead, and he even has the same clothes as me. My mother sometimes acts as a foster home for lost kids with no parents picking them up. She usually tells me if we are about to receive a child in need of a foster home.
The social worker begins talking to my mother about how this kid Hugo got lost last night and they need someone to take care of him until they find his parents. Whilst the social worker talks to my mom, Hugo and I just stare at each other. His eyes are filled with tears, but they don’t run down his cheeks. After the social worker and my mother are done talking, my mother takes his hand, instead of grabbing her hand he smacks it and gives her a hug. I see her confused face whilst hugging him back.
She then notices that we are wearing the same clothes, not noticing the reassembly of our faces and bodies. Weird I think to myself.
“Would you two like some scones? I just got done baking them”
We both nod, not saying a word to her or each other. We walk to the dining room, adjacent to the main hallway where the main door is located. While eating the newly baked scones, she then asks Hugo
“After we’ve eaten up, would you like to see your room for the coming nights?”
Hugo, still not saying anything, promptly nods to answer her question. I’m sitting here, feeling like I’m being replaced by some dumb foster kid that got lost. We all just sit there quietly, eating, embracing the awkwardness. Hugo just sits there and looks sad, he doesn’t look up for eye contact with me, only looking at my mom for a brief moment and then looking down again. I still can’t fathom that he looks like my long-lost twin and my mom is not noticing it, or she is, but not acknowledging it.
After we’ve eaten up she takes us upstairs, walking on the creaking floor towards my room. Is he going to sleep in my room? Why can’t he take the guest room? She opens the door to my room.
“Here, you’ll sleep here Hugo and you Hubert will sleep in my bed while I fix the guest room”
I’m speechless, is she really going to give away my room with my bed, my clothes, my toys? I’ve learned my lesson from speaking up to her decisions, either I do as she says or I’m sleeping outside on the patio.
“Why don’t you and Hugo go to the park and play basketball while I start fixing the guest room?”
We both nod, go downstairs, put on our shoes, grab a basketball, and head to the park. Before I close the door I look at the clock. It’s 3 pm, I’m confused as it felt like the time took forever. I brush it off and I close the door. The walk to the park takes 15 minutes, these were the quietest 15 minutes of my life. Both not saying anything and just walking, Hugo seemed to know what park she was talking about, weird. Maybe he grew up in the area, but surely I would have noticed Hugo earlier in my life.
We arrive at the park and start playing basketball, we both have the same form while handling the ball. I want to say something, but no words come out of my mouth. It would be weird to say something now that it’s been this quiet for so long. We played basketball for what felt like an eternity. It’s starting to get dark. The forest next to the park is getting scarier by the minute and of course, the dumb foster kid misses the hoop and the ball went flying into the forest. I let out an audible moan and the first words I said to him was
“Don’t worry I’ll get it”
Hugo stalls when I said it and just look at me, I can’t tell what he was thinking but he looks like I just said something offensive that made him really uncomfortable and upset.
I head towards the forest and can’t for the life of me find this ball, I go deeper and deeper into the forest. Finally, I found it. But where am I? I could feel drops of rain trickling on me. I could barely see four meters in front of me. As I’m walking, trying to find my way back I finally see my footsteps from before. I follow them, but… I can’t seem to find the park. I see an opening in the forest, as I’m walking towards it I feel panic and anxiety fill my body. It’s just.. plains? There is no park anymore, it’s gone, and Hugo is gone. I’m just lost. It’s dark and it’s cold. That’s what I get trying to be brave for the dumb foster kid, he probably went to my house and my mom probably doesn’t notice I’m gone.
As I’m heading towards the plains I feel how exhausted I Am, the deeper into the plains the more exhausted I begin feeling, until I just fall asleep. I didn’t even want to sleep, I just couldn’t resist the urge to do it.
It’s all dark, I feel a shine of light onto my eyelids, it’s warm and bumpy and the smell, it smells just like a car? I open my eyes and realize I’m in a car, and the driver is the social worker from before. I look out of the window, this is my street, finally, I’m home I think to myself. We arrive at my house, she parks the car and asks me to exit it. I do as she says and we walk towards the door.
It takes a while, but then the door opens. It’s my mom and Hugo, finally, I’m home I think to myself. Hugo just stands there, staring at me in shock and fear. I could feel the smell of newly baked scones, I looked at the clock inside, it was 8 am. The social worker and my mom begin talking about how I, Hubert, got lost last night and how they need someone to take care of me while they try to find my parents. Tears started filling my eyes, but they won’t run down my cheeks. I want to say something, but words won’t come out of my mouth.