Clearing the Table

Janet Slo and Janice King met at the Walmart in Springfield, Missouri. Noting immediately that they could be identical twins, the two went for coffee in the nearby café to get one another’s particulars and see if there was any shared DNA. At the end of the day, finding no connections, they shared contact information and said their goodbyes, still startled by their uncanny resemblance.

Once she got home, Janice noted that she had Janet’s wallet, and vice versa. She contacted her by email, and the two set up a time to exchange identification again after Janet returned from a hiking expedition to Southern Illinois’s Shawnee Forest. The two planned to meet at Janet’s home in Branson. The home was a winter getaway for a wealthy woman with too much time on her hands. No husband or children, she only had an ex, Kyle, a good-looking, good-for-nothing hacker that kept tabs on her. She had recently kicked the snooping Kyle to the curb. “I am totally unencumbered” had been Janet’s joyous phrase.

Returning to Springfield, Illinois from Springfield, Missouri, Janice was relieved her cheating husband Stan was gone.  A note shared, “It’s over, I’m leaving you for Margo Banks, she’s a real woman. Cleaned out the bank accounts, you owed me!”

Janice, facing homelessness and unable to pay rent, turned on the TV hoping for a glimmer of hope in her bleak situation.  The news exploded with the story of excessive flooding in the Shawnee Hills. Casualties from hikers included a Springfield woman, Janice King.  “What!” she shouted at the TV.

Realizing that it was Janet Slo who had her ID, Janice began to plan.  She could start over. They looked identical. There was nothing here to leave behind. Thankfully she had canceled her life insurance to that leech of a husband when she couldn’t pay the bill. He would only walk away with the pittance of her savings.

With Janet’s wallet in hand and a key card to the Branson condo, Janice left immediately to begin her new life. Finding clothes at the condo that fit perfectly, she learned everything she could about her new savior. She packed Janet’s lovely clothes, ate her wonderful food, and cleaned out her enormous bank account before heading to climes unknown to start a new life where no one knew the old Janet.  “Unencumbered,” she whispered to a photo of Janet that looked so much like her that she was still stunned.

The next day before the sun came up, she heard a rap on the door. When she opened it, there stood Kyle, the snooping hacker. “Where are we going?” he asked intently. She looked him up and down and liked what she saw. She could share; she wasn’t greedy. He might not have been good for the old “Janet”, but he could add a bit of brawn and fun to the new “Janet”.

“Flip a coin,” she said, taking his hand.

Cindy Ladage