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Image Information: Stephen's Tears, CrimsonAcquittal

Episode I

Roses are Red: The Jealousy He Would Regret

Roses are Red:

The Jealousy He Would Regret

Bibliography

Public Domain Edition: Vali's Death from "Ramayana, The Epic of Rama, Prince of India," Episodes 42-44

Author sources: Romesh Dutt

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Their names were Vincent and Stephen. At birth, they spent every moment together. They were identical twin brothers. Their father left before they were born, and their mother was juggling work, struggles, and other responsibilities as a single mom. To accommodate for the broken family environment, as the boys grew up, they would give one another words of advice and encouragement, leaning on each other's previous mistakes and experiences. Once a year, the boys would meet where they would make and tie a bracelet around each other's wrists as a symbol of trust and brotherhood. They taught each other how to be strong, respectful men. The boys were independent, determined, and strong-willed.

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Despite their grounded upbringing, Stephen began to feel a sense of jealousy for what Vincent had. However, to Stephen, from the outside, it seemed that Vincent received all the attention and bonus attractive traits— greener eyes, thicker hair, and taller by one inch. What Stephen didn't realize was although he did not have these things, he was extremely gifted in other aspects of life— mathematics, science, and writing. And these were the exact traits in which Vincent held the same type of jealousy. This jealousy brewed in the brothers' hearts, and manifested itself as pent-up anger. 

 

For two years, Stephen was in love with a woman named Trinity. He spent endless time and effort trying to win her attention. So, it came with great heartache when Trinity instead approached Vincent, professing her love for him. Fully knowing how Stephen felt about about her, Vincent betrayed him and started a relationship with Trinity. Vincent felt he was not smart enough, like his brother, to win any other woman over. Stephen felt he was not attractive enough, like his brother, to date anyone as beautiful as Trinity.

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This was the final straw. Stephen was at wit's end. "I am never good enough. I do not deserve to be treated like this by my own brother. He is supposed to be my biggest supporter not my biggest enemy." Stephen then mumbled the following words that would change his life forever:

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"My life would be so much better without Vincent. I wish he would just die."

 

BOOM!! Then, silence fell.

 

It was at that moment, the world heard a gunshot echoing from a dark alley. Two robbers ambushed Vincent from behind in an attempt to steal his money and all of his belongings. As he struggled to hold onto the woven bracelet Stephen gave him at the start of the new year, a shot went right through Vincent's chest. He died immediately.

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Was this really what Stephen wanted? Was this the revenge he needed to overcome the hurt and betrayal his brother caused?

"No! NO! NO!" Stephen would cry this to himself answering these questions every night for years to come. He felt he would never be able to forgive himself.

Trinity lost the love of her life, but more significantly, Stephen lost himself, his other half, when his brother was killed. 

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With pain, however, comes wisdom.

 

When going through Vincent's belongings, Stephen learned powerful lessons that he would be able to use and pass on to his future children he would eventually have. Vincent's journal displayed the internal dialogue revealing his insecurities, and Stephen came to reflect upon his own previous thoughts and writings of envy. They both wanted what each other had. The boys failed to realize that the reasons for jealousy and anger they held was a result of them gaining their individuality through their own strengths and unique qualities. They were identical twins, but this did not mean they had to have identical souls.

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Stephen and Vincent, Flickr

Trinity and Vincent, Pinterest

Stephen's Pain, Header Information

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This is a retelling of a tragic love story. This story was inspired by Episodes 42 through 44 in Ramayana surrounding the death of Vali. In the original story, Vali and Sugriva were once close brothers. Vali used his power to take away his brother and kingdom, leaving Sugriva with nothing... until Rama comes along. After being betrayed by Vali, Sugriva was out to get revenge by using Rama to kill him. Vali's wife begs him not to challenge Sugriva, because she knows the degree of strength and power Rama possesses. He ignores her, and plans on fighting Sugriva's party. However, before he can even face them in battle, Rama sneaks up and kills him, leaving Vali no chance to make a fair fight. Tara and even Sugriva, the cause of his death, mourn the loss of Vali.

For this retelling, I wanted to focus on the mourning that Sugriva felt after wishing for the death of his own brother; I found his emotion to be extremely ironic considering the circumstances of the death. This modern story about the twins, Vincent (Vali) and Stephen (Sugriva), exemplifies the characters possessing pent up energy, aggression, and anger. This is similar to the relationship between Vali and Sugriva. Stephen says something he doesn't truly mean that stemmed from anger, and as a curse of fate, Vincent is eventually killed.

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