It is not uncommon for siblings to develop personalities opposite from one another, and Ruby and Sapphire (or ‘Fire’ as she is known”) were no exception, but that did little to break the bond between them. The sisters never knew their parents, being raised in the system. Ruby refused to commit to a reason why they were left in foster care, but Fire was convinced it was because the two were conjoined.

Ruby had done the research once. They were joined in Omphalopagus formation, meaning they were joined at the tummy. In their case, it looked as if they had a pregnant belly between them that both were connected to. This formation in particular was a 1 in 1,890,000 chance but thankfully, they didn’t share any organs or important arteries, mostly skin and fat, so separation should have been simple, but such surgeries were expensive and the foster care system simply didn’t have that kind of money.

After they had aged out of the system and had to strike out on their own, Fire and Ruby were determined to one day separate, but getting the money to do so was going to be tough with no college education and few jobs that could be worked as they were. It was on the subway ride home from one of Ruby’s job interviews that an argument broke out.

“Would it have killed you to smile during the interview?” Ruby asked, “Or at least shake the interviewer’s hand?”

“Why? I wasn’t the one she was interviewing.” Fire spat back, “Besides, I don’t like the idea of you being a security guard.”

“Oh, not this again. I’m not a little kid anymore, Fire! I can take care of myself. Besides, it’s not like I’m fighting bad guys: it’s a desk job monitoring cameras.”

“I know! But I don’t want you finding some excuse to shut yourself away every night and not talk to anyone. What, are you afraid people might stare at us?”

Indeed, people in the subway were staring. How could they not; two beautiful Middle Eastern women, sharing an unusually large and exposed belly, were arguing in a public space. Their different personalities were evident in their appearances alone: One had on heavy makeup and many spiked piercings. Her dress was a black gothic piece and her long hair was dyed blood red at the tips. The other dressed in a white polo and slacks. She wore no makeup and her naturally dark hair reached her shoulders. It was like a living yin yang. The girl in white, Ruby, took notice.

“Heh heh…uh…sorry, people. Um…don’t mind us; just usual family squabbles.” Ruby said with a blush and a smile. When some of the people turned away, she hissed at her sister.

“Why do you always have to be so mean and confrontational?”

“Because you don’t have a spine and someone has to look out for you.”

“I can take care of myself. Now let’s just get home.”

Back in their little house, the two women stormed in, not speaking to one another. Fire had her earbuds in and was engrossed in watching videos on the internet while Ruby put the keys away and sorted through the mail. Internally, Ruby wondered about the future, when they would have enough money to finally separate: would this help Fire’s overprotective nature, or exacerbate it? They would probably still live together, but the ability to go to separate rooms would be a godsend. Of course, the sisters normally get along better than this, so Ruby was looking forward to when the two of them made up.

Then something caught her eye.

“Hey, sis! Look at this”

“Hm?”

“Take your earphones out.”

“What is it?”

“Test subject job. Good money too.”

“What? Let me see! Umm… chew gum and record your thoughts? Yeah, sounds good. Sign us both up.”

A week later, the girls got their gum in the mail. The instructions were simple enough; chew the gum and enter their top three guesses for the flavor. Once the girls were situated on their green couch, Ruby popped hers in immediately.

“Oh, that’s strawberry without a doubt!” she said as she entered her data. Fire, however, was having some issues with hers.

“I don’t know what mine is” she said, “Tomato? Blackberry? I’ve never tasted this flavor before.”

“Uh…sis?” Ruby asked with growing concern

“What?”

“Look in a mirror”

Upon grabbing and looking at the hand mirror she kept on the side table, Fire gasped in shock; even under all her heavy makeup, her nose was bright blue, and that blueness was spreading to her cheeks, resembling a blue blush!

“Oh, shit! Do you think that was blueberry flavor?” Fire asked, spitting out the gum. The girls were always warned by their doctor not to consume blueberries, although he never elaborated why, beyond allergies. “Don’t just stand there... call the doctor!”

“Uh, right! Save that gum by the way, he may need a sample.” So Ruby pulled out her phone and dialed the doctor’s number. As the phone rang, the blue coloration spread to the rest of Fire and she began to swell up like a balloon; a water balloon specifically as every part of her seemed to slosh and wobble with each movement. By the time the doctor picked up, Fire was pushing 300 pounds.

“Y’ello?” he said

“It’s Ruby! Sapphire ate some gum and now she’s blue and swelling up!”

“Is she breathing?”

“Yes, but she’s huge! We think the gum had blueberries in it.”

“All right, well she’s going to continue to swell. Best let it run its course.”

“Okay…and when will the effects wear off?”

“Oh, they won’t.”

“WHAT!?”

“We can drain her however, once the swelling stops. That will restore her to normal. Of course, that will have to be a house call, so that on top of the procedure cost, plus your lack of insurance... if you want to do that, your total will come out to-”

Suffice it to say, as strapped for cash as Ruby and Sapphire already were, they were just going to have to live with the effects…somehow.