[Fiction] Tending the garden

[Gentle Giant]

Carlos Gemeos was enjoying the sunshine and the cool breeze as he worked in his back yard. Spring had finally arrived, and he and his brother were working in the large garden behind their shed-like house.

Carlos was a small man, less than five feet in height, but with a stocky build and tireless arms. He moved with efficiency, but not grace, and he would often accidentally step on the seeds he had just sewn.

Ramone, his twin brother, was in many ways his opposite. Where Carlos was short, Ramone was taller than average. Where Carlos had a rather homely face, Ramone was true Don Juan. His hair was tied neatly behind his head, and he moved with an almost feminine grace.

They worked silently, enjoying the work as much as the breeze. They worked until late afternoon, when the garden was mostly finished. Ramone broke the silence by pointing to the roof of their house and saying, "Hermanito, I'm going to clear those old branches off the roof. Hold the ladder?"

Carlos shaded his eyes and looked at the setting sun and the clouds forming in the sky. He shook his head, and replied, "No, Ramone. Wait for tomorrow. It's getting dark out."

Ramone laughed as he pulled out their ladder and laid it against the roof. "I've got work in the morning, you know that. And I'm not going to let you do it, you would just trip and fall off the roof. I'll be done before it's dark out. Now hold the ladder." The last was said as Ramone began climbing.

Dutifully holding the ladder, Carlos watched his brother clamber onto their roof. As his brother threw down old branches, he collected them and put them on the rubbish pile. The Carlos looked up as his brother called out to him, "See, nothing happened. I'm going to come down now."

Ramone bent down to pick up the last branch, just as a sudden strong gust of wind hit them. Ramone straightened up, but too quickly, and he fell backwards on the peak of the house. Even from where he was standing, Carlos heard the sickening snap, and then watched as his brother began rolling from the roof like a thrown rag doll.

"Madre de Dios! Ramone!" Carlos cried in anguish. Fear gripped his heart, and he began to wish, harder than he had ever wished before. He wished to be bigger, big enough to catch his brother before he fell. Strong enough to carry him to the hospital. Fast enough to get him there in time.

And someone must have been listening, because suddenly, he was.