Two Sides of One Coin | Teen Ink

Two Sides of One Coin

December 13, 2016
By SSaenz01 BRONZE, Franklin Lakes, New Jersey
SSaenz01 BRONZE, Franklin Lakes, New Jersey
4 articles 0 photos 0 comments

There once was a town shrouded in light. Every inch of the town was lit, from the tip of the tallest building, to the streets down below. It was called Luminocity, and the people were as bright as the town. Everyone knew everyone, no matter what part of the town you were from you knew everyone’s name. The people dressed in the finest white linens, and wore accessories so bright that they reflected the sunlight with a harsh glow. The people’s skin were a pale snow white, and their iris’ were so light they almost matched the whites of their eyes.
“Hello Charles, how are you doing this fine sunny day?” the man asked, flashing a toothy white smile.
“I am doing quite well today Richard,thank you for asking. How are you doing on this fine day?” Charles answered with the same smile.
“I am doing good as well! Have a nice day Charles!”
“And you as well!” he replied as he walked away. This town seemed like the perfect utopia, where everyone was smart, proper, and pleasant to talk to.  The one thing that was odd about this town, was the complete lack of darkness. People didn’t cast shadows when they walked down the streets, and the light stayed on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The sun never moved from its place up in the sky. This darkness was saved for place that could be considered the opposite of Luminocity. In the exact same place, at the exact same time there existed a mirrored version of this town. It occupied the same space, yet the towns seemed to be on different planes of existence. Never did they merge, and neither town knew of the others existence. However, they were connected, and only the one’s who could see the other side were those that were filled with both the light and darkness. This other town was named Somburg. Darkness crept its way around every corner of the town. The people were mere shadows of their light side counterparts, but never could they return to the light world. Long ago there was a war between the light and the dark, and the dark was defeated. As punishment, the people of the town banished the shadows to Somburg where the darkness and impurity was caged. The town elders cast a spell that said whenever a child of the light was born, it’s darkness manifested into a being that was sent down to the darkest parts of the Earth for eternity. The shadows would wander the vast expanse of darkness trying to pass the time. Never had they seen the light, until now. In one of the many white mansion, a peculiar girl of the light lived.
“Now hold still Aura while I tie your dress or else I will mess it up,” a mother in a big white dress retorted.
“But mother! I don’t want to attend the dinner, it’s boring and a waste of my time,” the young girl answered coldly.
“Oh do not say that. Only the most important town’s people get to this dinner, you should be grateful!” The mother continued to tie the dress. Aura took a sharp exhale causing the dress string to completely unwind.
“Aura I told you to stand still!” her mother chastised.
“I can’t help that I couldn’t breath! Aura screamed back. She angrily ripped the dress from her mother’s hands and ran out of the door of her room. She made her way around the gigantic white house until she came out into the garden outside. She sat on the bleached grass and stared into a pond resembling melted vanilla ice cream. Aura wept from the built up anger that had boiled inside of her. Her tears turned a dark charcoal color and they fell into the colorless pond, and the black tears tinted the pond to a silver metallic color. Aura was taken by shock, for she had never seen such a color other than white her whole life. She crept towards the pond and looked in. Her eyes grew wide in fear, because she saw a face darker than she’d ever seen before.
In the dark shadows of Somburg, a boy of similar age resided. “Get out of here you good for nothing halfwit!” a voice yelled out of a run down building. A boy came flying out the front door and landed face flat on the cold dark pavement. This boy was named Bruno, and he’d just been fired from his 12th job in the past month. In Somburg, food was scarce, so working was the only way to fend for yourself. No one cared about rules down there, and the conditions constantly reminded the citizens of how miserable they were. The boy walked down the shadowy streets rubbing his sore leg from the fall. He made his way to the small little park area where he always went to calm down. He sat down by a nearby pond and stared into the dark abyss that faced him. He sat there for a second until finally he wept. He cried for his struggles and his life, he cried out of anger for being like this. He wondered why his life had turned out this way. As his dark tears fell into the pond a silvery texture appeared over the water. Slowly the dark pond turned into a pure silver liquid. Bruno’s eyes burned as the brightness from the silver overwhelmed his eyes. He’d never seen anything like it before. All he’d ever known was darkness, and this light felt so foreign to him. He peered into the pond and saw nothing but brightness, and then a girl with the whitest face and snow like hair looked back at him. They stared at each other, their eyes wide. Their arms extended in perfect unison, and their hands touched on the silvery pond water. Instantly, they felt each other's emotions and feeling like a fire burning in their souls. They felt their lonely hearts merge into one, they felt whole again. The pond glowed a bright gold, and the both sides felt as their worlds merged into one.
The city became a mixture of light and dark, and the people who had felt a loneliness they couldn’t describe was filled when they were reunited with their other half. Everyone felt whole, and there was happiness for the first time in both people. They were no longer separated, and they free to live their lives together. The light needed the darkness, and the darkness needed the light just as much because neither could exist without the other.


The author's comments:

This story talks about the separation of people, and how it can affect both sides negatively. Everyone should be equal and together, not separated.


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