I don't even HAVE a twin sister! Where does this come from??
I'm a bit of an insomniac. Not the kind that lays awake night after night after night. But the kind who doesn't ever sleep soundly. I have epic-long dreams that last all night long, and I wake up feeling not the least bit rested.
Last night my dream was a period piece. Seriously.
My twin sister and I lived with our widowed mother. She took in this woman who was to live with us, cook, clean, care for us. This woman had an older daughter who lived in the city. We didn't see the daughter as often, but my sister and I loved her. She was fun but not very attractive. Plus, she lived in the city, which enthralled us.
My sister and I did not much care for the woman who lived with us though - she instituted too many rules and changes and we resented it a bit. Our mother gave us regular lectures of how important it was to our livelihood to listen to her and do as she instructed. My sister was more agreeable than I was. She was the good twin and I was the rebellious one.
Then a handsome single man moved in next door. My sister and I immediately developed huge crushes on this man. He was charming and delightful and visited our home often. My sister and I spent the next few years vying for his attentions and hoping to win his love. He adored us, but we were, of course, too young to appeal to him that way.
Eventually, he returned to live in the city. Skip forward a few years and handsome gentleman returns to our home to visit. And who is with him? The woman's daughter! And she looks beautiful! We all know that they must be engaged, though no one says it yet.
But then handsome man begins individually asking the other women in the house for dinner dates. Which didn't seem too odd with the older woman - a courtesy, perhaps. But then he asks my sister to dinner, and seems to show a keen interest in her. And now it appears that perhaps he and the woman's daughter aren't to be married after all.
But he has asked everyone for a date save me. Which upsets me greatly. I believe that he is in fact in love with my sister. She is, after all, the good twin.
Only...it appears that he has asked everyone but me, because he is saving something for me. And I suspect that perhaps he is arranging time with each of them to profess his love for me and ask their permission to request my hand in marriage.
And then my alarm went off.
Which would have never happened to Jane Austin.
