- 6 hours ago
Misplaced Fate of Twins - Full HD
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🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00After I died, everyone realized the countdown above my sister's head was mine.
00:05Everyone in the pack could see the death mark above my sister's head.
00:09They all knew.
00:10She would die on her 20th birthday.
00:12We were twins, wearing the same face.
00:15And yet, only she had that countdown hanging over her.
00:18So Stella became the most precious person in our household.
00:22The good snacks were hers.
00:23The pretty dresses were hers.
00:25Even the bedtime stories mom and dad told belonged to her.
00:29I pitied her.
00:30And I resented her for having all of it.
00:33Then, her 20th birthday finally arrived.
00:36Afraid I would cause trouble, my parents locked me in the storage room.
00:40They had forgotten I'd been sick for a week.
00:43Mom, let me out!
00:44My head really hurts!
00:46That's enough.
00:47Your sister is dying today.
00:49Can't you manage for just one day?
00:52But I feel terrible.
00:55Outside, the entire pack had gathered around the house,
00:58keeping silent vigil.
01:00From somewhere deep in the woods came the sound of howling.
01:03The clan sending Stella off.
01:06In the storage room, my wolf was fading with me.
01:40My body went suddenly weightless.
01:42Through the old wooden door, I could see the warm glow of the living room lights.
01:47Mom and dad were pressed close to Stella on the couch.
01:49Mom, dad, is Ivy really okay?
01:54I heard her say her head hurt.
01:57Don't worry about her.
01:58Exactly.
01:59She's not really sick.
02:01She's just putting it on for sympathy.
02:03Stella pressed her lips together and said nothing more.
02:06But the crease in her brow only deepened.
02:08I knew.
02:09She'd always felt she owed me something.
02:12For as long as either of us could remember,
02:14every bit of warmth in that house had been piled onto her.
02:17We were born on the same day,
02:19but we might as well have grown up in two different worlds.
02:22I had to watch and wait even for a bowl of hot vegetable soup,
02:26let alone new clothes or new toys.
02:28I was an adult now, but as thin as a 15-year-old.
02:32But Stella would always sneak her snacks and new clothes to me.
02:36Whenever mom and dad came down on me,
02:38she was always the first one to step in.
02:40She always said,
02:42Ivy, I'm sorry.
02:44It's because of me that you get treated this way.
02:46But our parents saw it differently.
02:48Right now, in fact,
02:49Have you already forgotten what happened on your 18th birthday?
02:52Stella's 18th birthday.
02:54That was the day our family,
02:55against all habit,
02:57splurged on a cream cake.
02:59Mom had lit the candles with careful, trembling hands.
03:03Dad held up the old camera he'd had for years,
03:05trying to capture one of the few birthdays Stella would ever have.
03:09I watched from behind the door.
03:11The candlelight caught Stella's face.
03:13She closed her eyes to make a wish.
03:15My parents blinked hard against their tears.
03:18And then I ran out.
03:20Maybe I just couldn't bear losing the one person
03:22who'd always been gentle with me.
03:24I grabbed the cake and overturned it.
03:26Cream smeared across the floor.
03:28I don't want to see you throwing her a birthday party!
03:31I still remember the look on my parents' faces.
03:34Stop! Dad, stop hitting her!
03:37It's my fault!
03:39This is my fault!
03:42That night, Stella crept into my room
03:44and pressed a small piece of chocolate into my palm,
03:47one she'd been saving away.
03:49There was a red welt on her wrist
03:51from where a chair had caught her when she got between us.
03:55Ivy, I'm sorry.
03:58I was already dead,
04:00staring dumbly at my own transparent fingers.
04:02The storage room door was still shut
04:04and saw myself curled among the clutter inside.
04:07My death had come before Stella's countdown memory came flooding back.
04:12When I was very small,
04:13before I knew the countdown to Stella's death had already begun,
04:16I had truly hated her.
04:18There was only one piece of candy in the house.
04:21It was Stella's.
04:22The only apple got sliced in two.
04:24The bigger half for Stella,
04:26the smaller for me.
04:27New clothes always went to Stella first.
04:30By the time they reached me,
04:31they were worn thin and patched over patches.
04:34Bedtime stories too.
04:36Hers.
04:37I would crouch outside the door with my arms around my knees.
04:39Why couldn't they read one to me too?
04:42One summer when I was five,
04:44a neighbor brought over a chicken.
04:46At dinner,
04:47mom carefully lifted both drumsticks
04:48and placed them in Stella's bowl.
04:51Why does Stella get both drumsticks?
04:53I want some too!
04:55I want some too!
04:56Ivy!
04:57What is wrong with you?
04:58Don't you know Stella isn't well?
05:00Don't you...
05:02Don't you know...
05:03Stella...
05:04I didn't know.
05:05All I knew was that Stella's face was always pale.
05:09Why don't you just die?
05:11Give me back all my things!
05:15Let her learn.
05:17Let her understand what she can and cannot say.
05:20Fifteen more years.
05:22The next morning,
05:22I eavesdropped on my parents talking.
05:24I know.
05:25Mom's voice was wet with crying.
05:30That was the moment I understood.
05:32Stella was really going to die.
05:34That number above her head,
05:36visible to every wolf in the pack,
05:38was her death mark.
05:39Now,
05:40mom and dad guided Stella back to her room.
05:44Maybe...
05:44Maybe we should let Ivy out.
05:46Let her wait a little longer.
05:49After Stella goes,
05:50we'll make it up to her.
05:51We will.
05:54He walked to the kitchen,
05:56took a small piece of bread from the cupboard,
05:58and carried it toward where I was.
06:08and she comes back to her papney from the picnic,
06:10to the next day goin' to her room.
06:27And when she sets down to her room,
06:27See what she went with,
06:32she went back to Maria and gave her to,
06:36that newly they
06:37side and check on me ivy i reached out to touch his face fine still pouting just stay in there
06:47a bit longer and stop making a fuss once stella's gone dad will make it up to you i promise
06:57it's all right dad you don't need to make anything up to me
07:01you never will get the chance then came a faint sound from the living room
07:06i wanted to see stella where's ivy ivy is she's sulking i put her in the storage room to think
07:13things over you did what you locked ivy in the storage room
07:23ivy is your daughter too yes i know stella has had a cruel fate since birth that terrible death mark
07:29i know you grieve for her but what about ivy is ivy's life worth nothing
07:35they were born on the same day what has she ever been given mom i never meant to night fell
07:44stella's door stayed closed never mind she put her lips close to the gap never mind ivy grandma's
07:53right here with you don't something's wrong what mom didn't understand and stepped forward to cross
07:59the threshold he said it in a hush like something fragile might break dad put a hand out and stopped
08:04her wait he stood in the doorway without moving stella leaned around mom ivy can you hear me
08:14sister's okay sister's not gonna die
08:20in the corner my body didn't move there was no rise and fall of breath the smile on mom's face
08:27went rigid
08:27no that's not right
08:34be right that can't be right
08:56dad dropped
08:56up to his knees beside me he reached toward my face checking for breath
09:00linda come feel just come and feel mom sat on the floor and didn't move one second two three
09:10that's not possible she was pounding on that door yesterday i heard her
09:15stella stood in the doorway with one hand braced on the frame she watched it all happen and went white
09:21all the way to nothing her mouth opened no sound grandma grabbed the door frame to steady herself
09:28dad finally raised his head he looked at mom and his voice came apart
09:45she scrambled up and threw herself down beside me
09:49ivy wake up mommy's here mommy's right here
09:53open your eyes mama will make you a steak mama will buy you a dress we'll go to the amusement
10:00park
10:00you always wanted to go we'll go right now this very second you're scaring me ivy mama was wrong
10:07mama never should have locked you in there mama knows that
10:11just open your eyes yell at me hit me do anything you wanted me just open your eyes
10:19dad pressed his fingers to my neck again held them there for a long time
10:25she's gone ivy is gone
10:30the hand stella had on the door frame was shaking her whole body was
10:36when stella came to it was already noon mom sat at the edge of the bed eyes swollen nearly shut
10:43you're okay stella you're right stella looked at the ceiling for a long time where's ivy
10:48mom's tears came again ivy she mom couldn't get the rest out stella sat up and threw back the covers
10:56stella don't you just fainted you need to stay where is she
11:02where is ivy
11:05in the living room your father is with her
11:08stella pulled free and ran
11:11in the living room dad was still on the floor with me in his arms
11:15he'd stopped crying he just sat there his eyes not focusing on anything
11:20stella stopped in the middle of the room she looked at dad she looked at me
11:24she stood very still
11:26very still
11:27very still
11:27very still
11:27I don't know.
11:57His eyes were empty.
11:58Ivy has a fever.
12:00Her head hurts.
12:01I'm trying to cool her down.
12:03His voice was calm in a way that was frightening.
12:05His eyes were empty.
12:07See, it's come down.
12:08The fever broke.
12:10She's going to be fine now.
12:11His face did something strange when he smiled.
12:14Stella's tears finally came.
12:17Dad, look at me.
12:19I'm Stella.
12:19He looked at her for a long time.
12:22Ivy's fever broke.
12:23She'll wake up soon.
12:24Dad, she's dead.
12:27Ivy is dead.
12:28Can you hear me?
12:29She's gone.
12:31He pulled me tighter.
12:33Stop saying that!
12:35Dad.
12:35Get out.
12:37Get out.
12:38Let Ivy sleep.
12:39Stella sat down on the floor and put her face in her hands and couldn't breathe.
12:52Grandma came out of the kitchen carrying a cup of water.
12:56She knelt in front of Dad and held it out.
12:59Drink something.
13:00He didn't take it.
13:02She set the cup on the floor.
13:03Let go, Frank.
13:04Let her lie down.
13:06He was choking on it.
13:07Mom.
13:08His hands shook, but he held on.
13:10She's not dead.
13:11She's only-
13:12She's dead!
13:13Frank, your daughter is dead.
13:15You kept her in that room all day.
13:16She was sick.
13:17She died.
13:18She died.
13:20No.
13:21No.
13:21I just wanted her to be quiet for a bit.
13:24I didn't want her disturbing Stella.
13:25I didn't know she was sick.
13:27I didn't know.
13:28You knew.
13:28Grandma's voice was heavy with it.
13:30She called out.
13:31She said her head hurt.
13:33You heard her.
13:34Linda heard her.
13:35You just decided not to believe it.
13:38Mom came running from the hallway and collapsed at Grandma's feet.
13:41I'm so sorry.
13:43Hit me.
13:44I'm the one who killed her.
13:49Grandma looked at the three of them.
13:51Linda on the floor.
13:52Frank shattered.
13:54Stella against the wall.
13:55She raised her head.
13:57She could see me?
13:59But she looked away just as quickly.
14:01She pressed her cheek to my forehead and closed her eyes.
14:05One tear, burning hot, fell onto my face.
14:12The sound of crying drew the neighbors.
14:14Karen pushed the door open and looked at Grandma holding me,
14:18then at my parents and Stella on the floor.
14:21All this weeping.
14:22Don't tell me it's actually...
14:23Get out!
14:26Get out of this house!
14:27Karen stepped back, but her curiosity won.
14:30It's Stella.
14:31Well, what a cruel thing fate is.
14:34Poor Ivy will be left all alone now.
14:36That isn't Stella.
14:38Grandma's voice cut through the room.
14:40Mom was on her feet.
14:42She went for Karen's face.
14:43Say one more word and I'll tear your mouth off!
14:47I'm just saying what's true.
14:49It was always supposed to Stella.
14:50Your whole family lived like it was Stella.
14:52Best of everything for Stella.
14:54And now the one who dies isn't the one who was supposed to
14:56and the one who wasn't supposed to...
14:57Shut up!
14:57Stella's voice ripped across the room.
15:00She was on her feet, right in front of Karen.
15:02Don't you say another word about my sister.
15:05Not one word.
15:08Karen went quiet.
15:09She grabbed her bag and left.
15:15She grabbed her bag and left.
15:49The room went silent again.
15:51Just the sound of crying.
15:53Muffled, broken off, and starting again.
15:55Grandma got slowly to her feet, still holding me.
15:58We need to make arrangements.
16:00No feeling in her voice at all.
16:02Mom's head came up.
16:04No!
16:05I won't!
16:06She shook her head and reached for me.
16:08Ivy isn't gone.
16:09She isn't.
16:11Give her to me.
16:12I want to be with her.
16:13I need to watch over her.
16:15Linda, Ivy is dead.
16:18You locked her in that room with your own hands.
16:20How long are you going to keep doing this to yourself?
16:25Mom sank to the floor, hands over her face.
16:28The kind of crying that takes everything.
16:30I'm so sorry, Ivy.
16:33Dad was on his knees, driving his forehead into the floor over and over.
16:38A dull fudding sound.
16:39His forehead was bleeding.
16:41Dad, stop.
16:44It was me.
16:45It's all my fault.
16:48Grandma watched them.
16:50She closed her eyes.
16:52I'm going to buy burial clothes.
16:56Mom!
16:57She said, and walked toward the door.
16:59Don't take her, please.
17:01Don't take Ivy.
17:03Grandma looked down at him.
17:04Let go.
17:06Mom, please.
17:08Let go.
17:28My funeral was a simple thing.
17:31A small plain coffin.
17:32A burial dress Grandma brought back from town.
17:35I had never worn anything so fine.
17:37The fabric was soft.
17:39A pale blush pink.
17:40Tiny flowers stitched at the collar.
17:43Grandma dressed me slowly, carefully.
17:45Mom tried to help.
17:46Grandma sent her out of the room.
17:48You don't get to touch her.
17:50Her voice was flat and cold.
17:52Mom stood in the doorway with her face in her hands.
17:55Dad knelt in front of the coffin.
17:57Stella sat in the corner with her arms around her knees, eyes swollen to slits.
18:01She hadn't spoken since that morning.
18:03She just looked at me in my pink dress.
18:06On the day of burial, it rained.
18:08Fine, dense needles of rain that pricked the skin.
18:11Mom threw herself at the coffin and tried to climb in.
18:15Ivy, don't go.
18:16Mommy will come with you.
18:17Several relatives pulled her back.
18:20She fought them.
18:21Her voice wrecked past recognition.
18:23Dad knelt before the grave and put his head to the earth.
18:26Again and again.
18:27After the funeral, Grandma took my ashes.
18:31Where are you taking her?
18:33Dad stepped into her path.
18:35Home.
18:37Holding the urn against her chest, Mom rushed over and grabbed for it.
18:41No!
18:42Ivy is my daughter.
18:43She stays with me.
18:45I want to be with her.
18:47I want to look after her every day.
18:49And do you deserve that?
18:51Grandma looked at her without flinching.
18:53Linda, what does any of this mean now?
18:56When Ivy was alive, did you give her a single good day?
18:59Mom went slack.
19:01She sat on the ground and wept.
19:02I want to make it up to her.
19:05Make it up to her?
19:06Grandma's laugh was short and bitter.
19:08She's dead, Linda.
19:09How exactly do you plan to do that?
19:12I am telling you right now, Ivy's ashes are not staying here.
19:16You don't deserve to have them.
19:18Mom!
19:19Dad was on his knees.
19:21Please, leave her with us.
19:23We understand what we did.
19:25We'll do better.
19:26Do better?
19:27Grandma's voice was shaking now.
19:28There is no more doing better.
19:30Ivy is gone.
19:32She died because of what you chose to do.
19:35Frank?
19:36Linda?
19:37You will carry that for the rest of your lives and there is no way to put it down.
19:41She turned and walked.
19:42Mom!
19:43Mom!
19:43They went after her, both of them, and she pushed them away.
19:47Get back!
19:47She was shouting now, her eyes red.
19:50Don't touch my granddaughter.
19:52You gave up that right.
19:53She walked through the gate and into the rain, carrying the urn.
19:57She didn't turn around.
19:59My parents collapsed in the courtyard.
20:01Stella stood under the eave and slowly folded herself down, arms wrapped around her knees.
20:18Grandma boarded the train back to the countryside.
20:20The urn held in her lap.
20:22I drifted alongside her and watched the world stream past the window.
20:26It was dark by the time we reached the old farmhouse.
20:29She set the urn on the table and straightened it.
20:31She stood before it for a long time.
20:34Then she turned and looked directly at where I was floating.
20:39Ivy?
20:40I went still.
20:41The word came out before I could think.
20:43And then I remembered.
20:45I was dead.
20:46I couldn't make sounds anymore.
20:48But she nodded.
20:50Grandma can see you.
20:51The tears hit me all at once.
20:53She could see me.
20:54After everything, someone could still see me.
20:57She reached out toward me.
20:59Her hand moved through the air and stopped where my face would be.
21:03You've had it so hard, child.
21:05I lunged toward her, trying to hold on and pass straight through.
21:09I hung in the air, looking at my transparent hands and at her old, tired face.
21:14And I finally let myself cry.
21:29I hung in the air with my face.
21:29I hung in the air.
21:55Come here, Ivy.
21:57Come to Grandma.
21:58Her voice was quiet and warm. I drifted into the space of her arms.
22:03Grandma, I'm here. I'm right here, sweetheart.
22:08Tears poured down her face.
22:09Grandma's right here. Ivy doesn't need to be afraid.
22:14We stayed like that for a long time, one of us holding empty air,
22:18the other resting in an embrace she couldn't feel, and we cried.
22:22Eventually, Grandma loosened her arms and wiped her face with her sleeve.
22:29Ivy, tell Grandma, these last few days, how have you been?
22:36I stopped. How had I been? What was there to say to that from a dead girl?
22:42But I tried. I touched my chest with one hand,
22:45then pointed up and let my fingers drift like something weightless.
22:49Floating? She understood.
22:51Nothing to hold on to, is that it?
22:54I nodded. She sighed and lifted a hand toward my hair, then let it fall back.
23:04I know. I know.
23:05She got up and found an apple in the cabinet.
23:09Eat. This one's sweet.
23:11Looking at that red apple, something in me ached.
23:14I had never eaten a whole apple to myself.
23:17Not once. Not while I was alive.
23:20Now I was dead, and Grandma had given me one.
23:23I drifted close and crouched beside it.
23:26I couldn't eat it.
23:29Is it good?
23:30But the scent was there, that faint, clean sweetness off the skin.
23:34I nodded as hard as I could, even knowing she couldn't see me do it.
23:38She smiled.
23:39And then, still smiling, she began to cry.
23:42Good.
23:43She turned away and scrubbed her eyes with her sleeve.
23:46That night, Grandma told me stories.
23:48About when I was small, and she used to come visit in the city.
23:51And I would climb into her lap and stay there.
23:54About the fever I had when I was three.
23:56How she sat up with me night after night,
23:58cooling me down with a damp cloth, humming until I fell asleep.
24:01About my first trip to the countryside when I was five.
24:05Chasing the chickens, going down face first into the mud.
24:08Her voice grew quiet.
24:09Ivy, are you getting ready to go?
24:12I looked at her and nodded.
24:13She was still for a moment.
24:16That's alright.
24:18Then she raised her face and smiled at me.
24:20Wherever you're going, there's no more of this.
24:23No more of any of it.
24:25She stood and came toward me with her arms open.
24:28Next time around, find yourself parents who know how to love you.
24:32Be a happy little girl.
24:34Can you do that for me?
24:35I nodded hard, crying freely.
24:39Grandma.
24:40Right here.
24:41She answered, her voice thick.
24:43Grandma will always remember you.
24:45Always.
24:46The light came.
24:47The first thin ray of morning reached through the window and lay across my body,
24:51which was growing fainter.
24:53I reached out one last time toward her face.
24:56As always, I touched nothing.
24:58In the growing light, I dissolved.
25:00Bit by bit, going transparent.
25:02My wolf stirred beside me.
25:04It lifted its head and looked at the world.
25:06For the first time, and the last.
25:09I turned toward the light and let it take me.
25:11Up and up.
25:13Further and further.
25:14Grandma's voice faded behind me.
25:16The old farmhouse disappeared below.
25:19Everything became a soft and gentle white.
25:21I closed my eyes.
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