Other Half

Trevor Ward is six years old when the letter C starts to appear on his wrist. The feel of needles against his skin startles him and he climbs into his mother’s lap to ask what’s wrong.

“Sweetheart,” she says quietly, stroking his blonde hair. “It’s supposed to happen when your name starts to show up. It means everything’s normal.”

“Did your arm hurt too?” He asks, squirming in her lap until his legs are draped over the side of the armchair.

She frowns slightly, but Trevor doesn’t notice. The doctors hadn’t known Trevor’s name would ever show. Uncommon as it was, there were a few people in the world who had nameless wrists. She had no idea what it meant, for Trevor’s name to be so late in forming.

“Yes, Trevor. Everyone’s does. Some people just don’t remember, because they’re so little when their names show up.”

“Little like Tyler?” He asks and looks over at his little brother, playing with blocks in the middle of the living room.

“Yep, little like Tyler. Even littler sometimes,” she tells him.

“Okay,” Trevor responds and pokes at his wrist. “C, that comes after B.”

Trevor grins at his mother when she nods in confirmation, and climbs off her lap to help his little brother create a castle with his blocks.