A Family Mystery Uncovered [FICTOID]

“Why did you tell the newspaper that Aunt Sally died?” Dad asked.

“She was 134 years old,” said Bobbi.  “That’s a record old age.”

Dad pinched the bridge of his nose.  “She wasn’t 134,” he said.  “And ‘she’ was a he.”

Ted blinked in surprise.  “But we thought -- “

“Your Great-Aunt Sally -- your real great-aunt -- died in 1969,” said Dad.  “Your Uncle Ray -- my father’s brother -- swapped places with her.”

The twins looked startled.  “Okay, you have our curiosity,” said Bobbi.  “Why did they do that?”

“There was a war on,” Dad said, tossing a notebook in front of them.  “Your great-grandmother didn’t want him to go.  When her sister died unexpectedly, Ray pretended to be her.”

“And he kept this secret all this time?” asked Ted.  “That’s deception on a marathon scale.”

“He was afraid to admit it,” Dad said.  “He was afraid they’d send him to Alcatraz Island.”

Bobbi looked through the notebook.  It was Aunt Sally’s diary -- or rather, Uncle Ray’s.  The last entry was on the previous Sunday, the day before she -- or rather, he -- died.

“I was going to hide it behind the new wallpaper,” Dad said.  “Let some future generation find it.  Now there’s no point in doing that.”

“He didn’t need to lie,” Ted said.  “We just read about the Vietnam War in school.  President Carter pardoned all the protestors and draft dodgers fifty years ago.  Aunt Sally -- or Uncle Ray -- could have stopped pretending.”

“I don’t think he -- or she -- was pretending,” said Bobbi.  “Reading this diary makes me think Ray really believed he was Sally.”

© Buzz Dixon