My Brother Is Not Dead

One-shot
1861

Saoirse fell ill with malaria the day before and her mother Aofie went into the room.

"Saoirse....." She said.

A family friend that came in.

"Tá Seosamh marbh (Joseph is dead)" She said in her native Irish tounge.

" (No, he's not dead, he isn't!)" Saoirse said.

Saoirse was very unwilling to believe her twin brother was dead.

An officer came in prior.

Aofie never forgot the words.

"Your son is dead." Played over and over again in her mind.

Joseph's body was returned to the family in a coffin.

When she looked at his dead body, he was emaciated, she could see ribs, Joseph was very chubby around the cheeks and that wasted away, leaving his head skull-like.

The next day, Saoirse's condition worsened, she stopped eating, then she vomited blood,

She died hours later.

She wrote to her husband, the message in Irish was "Saoirse agus Seosamh a fuair bás" meaning "Saoirse and Joseph are dead"

The twin's coffins were buried in the backyard, their gravestones said "Pvt. Joseph McNamara from the Confederate Army, died aged 27 and his twin sister Saoirse McNamara, died aged 27, The Emperor and Empress, together in death" and their birthdates and deathdates "June 6th 1834" and "October 4th/5th 1861" and a message carved on both "Together again"

2017

The twins looked down on modern-day Florida, Joseph was still in his uniform, 156 years after his death.

”Saoirse.” Joseph said, Saoirse responded by gently ruffling her brother’s hair.