Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2001 15:28:09 -0400
From: C. E. Jordan <c.e._Jordan@MailAndNews.com>
Subject: ELI AND EVA 2

ELI AND EVA
c.e. _jordan@mailandnews.com

Copyright by c.e. Jordan


(from   E&E 1)

As he spoke in hesitant, but precise English, a few locks of hair fell over
his face obscuring his eyes; impulsively, Eva reached up and pushed
them back brushing her fingers against his face. Instantly mortified at her
boldness with a boy she barely knew, she blushed. But Hans just smiled,
then mused solemnly, "My hair does that a lot, maybe it's time to cut it."

     Alarmed, Eli blurted out,  "No, no...don't, it's...it's beautiful, don't
cut it."

     "O.k. If you  say so, then I won't." And Hans laughed again because this
time both twins blushed.
  _____________________


                                        ELI AND EVA 2


     After arranging for Hans to come over to their house the next afternoon,
the twins headed home. As usual they were alone. Helga, a stout, efficient
matron with a cloud of short, fuzzy, grey hair and a permanent air of
preoccupation, was their new maid whom they ignored, and who
generally ignored them. She left a note scribbled in English taped to the
refrigerator door: dinner was in the oven and she would not be working
tomorrow, something about having a dentist's appointment. The children
had no idea where their father might be; he pretty much ignored them too.

     Leaving the dinner untouched, they decided to have a snack instead:
chocolate milk and what was left of a delicious, crumbly, cheesecake.
They went to Eli's room which they were sharing temporarily. Repairs
were still being done on the east side of the house where both Eva's
room and a guest room were located. They sat on beds opposite each
other with paper-plates on their laps and milk glasses on the floor beside
them. 	Suddenly, Eli started laughing and pointing. The foamy chocolate
milk had made a neat brown Charlie Chaplin mustache on his sister's
upper lip.

     "You look so funny E."

     "What?...Why?"

     Instead of replying, Eli walked over and sat next to the bewildered girl.
He put an arm around her, leaned over as if to whisper an answer, but
impulsively licked the sweet mustache from her lips. Eva blinked, startled
for a moment, but the warm, wet tongue on her lips felt--interesting, nice.
A rush of embarrassment mixed with excitement caused them to break
into an uncontrollable fit of giggles. Caught up in the lightheaded
tomfoolery, Eva set her plate down on the floor and attacked.

     "Oh stop E., pleeease stop . . ." cried Eli, wriggling, laughing, and
twisting about as the girl's busy fingers relentlessly teased and tickled the
sensitive places under his arms and at his narrow waist.  They tumbled
onto Eva's bed as they wrestled playfully together. Subsiding, they lay with
their slender limbs entwined.

     "I guess you got your revenge." Eli whispered, still panting a bit.

     "I sure did."

     "We should get up now."

     "Yeah, we should."

     But neither of them moved. The twins were perplexed yet strangely
comforted by their sudden intimacy.

     Cascading from the bed where Eli lay on his back, the yellow
bedspread with its busy pattern of tiny flowers formed a bright heap on the
floor. Eva sprawled face down, her body resting partially atop her brother.
In their roughhousing the girl's short, bleached denim skirt had bunched
up almost to the waist uncovering a small tight rump. Her slim left thigh
was caught between Eli's jean-clad legs. Slowly moving her left arm to
rest a hand lightly on his shoulder, she sighed and buried her face into
the soft, downy nook between Eli's neck and shoulder. His heart beat fast.
The boy made an attempt to rise but Eva's body went rigid, her hand
clutched at his shoulder and she pressed down on him.  Eli relaxed.

     Lying there, he could feel a warm breeze rush in the open window and
push at his hair. He heard the intermittent purr of a car engine close by,
the distant beat of unfamiliar music, and from a great way off, the faint
rising wail of a child crying.

     Not so long ago, they were oblivious to their physical state as
individuals; they ran and jumped; they ate, played, and went to the
bathroom.  But change is constant--relentless.

     Given the prevailing emotional turbulence within their family, the
children had to work out for themselves this unanticipated differentiation;
this assertion of their physical bodies from within their own
claustrophobic relationship. Eli understood instinctively how much they
needed each other if they were to remain whole.

     To his great disgust, Eli felt one tear escape the corner of his eye.
Quickly wiping it away, he thought of the times he found himself struggling
away from the seductive embrace of that peculiar emptiness which had
claimed their mother. Only the vital and positive attitude children have to
life sustained his carefree facade and kept him from the abyss. He even
had a name for it: `The Big Nothing'. Eli sensed in his sister their inherited
fragility. There were times--odd, unresponsive moments, when the
burgeoning darkness threatened to snuff out the fluctuating light in her
eyes. He was frightened for them both. `The Big Nothing' had got his
mother, but he wasn't ever going to let it get Eva, not if he could help it.
He'd never be like Dad, that's for sure! His cold father abandoned his
children as surely as he had abandoned his wife. Overwhelmed by a
series of un-nameable emotions---swift anger, and something like hate,
Eli quit thinking. He felt Eva move slightly.

     Unbidden, another sensation invaded his young body. Lately, no matter
what he was doing, it lurked there just below the surface, urgent, insistent,
like constant hunger. It demanded delightful, unknowable things of him.
He was barely a teenager and the driven, polymorphous nature of human
need, that ache of confusing desires was largely beyond his
comprehension, but still it threatened to sweep him away. Could it be that
his twin had these same feelings?

     Eli closed his arms protectively around Eva and began gently stroking
her hair. Turning his head he encountered a delicate curve of pink
exposed ear. He brushed his lips against it. Eva made a sound or said
something he didn't understand, but stayed where she was.

     Amidst this sensual lethargy, the girl became aware of a quickening
where her leg lay bare at Eli's crotch. Puzzled, she pressed tighter against
him only to feel the lump grow and harden. Then, deliberately, she moved
hard against the boy causing him to groan softly. It was fascinating, this
new power of hers. She smiled and turned her head towards him. Eli
looked into his sister's eyes, the clear blue had darkened as if hiding
some unfathomable mystery. Tenderly, his fingers caressed the angelic
face that was so like his own reflection. Long hair, silver and pale gold
flowed together around their faces now only an inch apart.

     "You got a boner!"   Eva stage-whispered, abruptly breaking the mood.
The children were seized by another onslaught of the giggles at the
naughty word. When they were quiet again Eva said wistfully, "I can't wait
`till Hans comes tomorrow, I'm so glad we met him."

     "Yeah, he seems real nice."

     That night Eva's collection of teddy bears found refuge on Eli's bed,
while he slept wrapped up in the protective warmth of his sister's tight
embrace.

(to be continued)