Page 40 - The Muse 2019-20 Issue

Starfish Hotel near Pigeon Point Beach. The check-in process was easy, and the friendly front desk manager named Alfie helped her with a map and a cold fruit punch. Noor head to her room and put her bags down.
Once Noor was outside of the Starfish hotel, she felt the wet and humid Tobago air clinging onto her skin. The sun was blazing, and yet somehow the ocean breeze managed to make it all the more tolerable. As Noor walked along the small road that clung to the ocean, she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. She at first hit ignore on the screen, but then saw it was her aunt calling her on a video call.
Jehan’s picture appeared on the screen and she started with “Noor. I am glad you got to Tobago safely, but I am here with someone that has to talk to you immediately.”
Noor looked at the screen with some confusion, “Hi Aunty. Who would want to speak to me so urgently right now as I head out to meet my sister?” And with that, an older Asian-looking gentleman appeared on the screen.
“Noor. My name is Dr. Richard Lee, and I was a research partner of your parents for the better part of the last fourty years. There is something I must share with you that you don’t know. Your parents were Nobel Prize-winning researchers who forever changed genetics research. They were pioneers in a number of fields including cloning. Your aunt shared with me that you have in your possession a file called Project Ibeji.”
Noor responded to Dr. Lee, “Yes Dr. Lee, I know all about my parents, and yes I do have Project Ibeji with me. I have read all about it, and that is how I learned about my sister Noura.”
Dr. Lee’s face began to turn into a frowning motion, and he said, “Noor...Project Ibeji is a rogue project that your parents did outside of the knowledge of the entire scientific community except for me. I helped them with it because they were my friends and mentors. Noor, I don’t know how to break this to you, but the person you are looking for named Noura is not your sister.”
Noor looked back at the screen with a sense of loss. “What do you mean Noura isn’t my sister?”
Dr. Lee continued “You and Noura aren’t sisters. Noor... you are Noura’s clone. Your parents cloned Noura’s DNA and made you. Furthermore, you weren’t actually born sixteen years ago. You were printed in their gene sequencer eight years ago.”
Noor looked up to the screen in disbelief and could not even utter a response to Dr. Lee and her aunt. She simply turned the phone off. In that moment, every thought imaginable raced into her head. If she was sixteen years old, but only was brought into life eight years ago, then it meant her memory had also been a myth. Noor kept walking and got to the small cove that she had heard about from the hotel manager. As she approached the beach, she could see a small restaurant stand that looked more like an elegant shack. People were hanging around this small restaurant with the typical energy of any beach in the world. As Noor got closer to the stand, she could make out the name of the restaurant written in bold yellow letters “Noura’s”. The excitement started to build as she approached the restaurant as she thought of the idea of meeting the woman from whom she was cloned.
Noor walked up to the front of the restaurant as gleefully asked the kid working behind the counter if Noura was around. The young man’s face went from bright to sad quickly, and he turned to an older gentleman preparing some food. The older gentleman said, “Sorry darling, Noura died about eight years ago, and I bought this shack at her estate sale.” Noor was crushed at the ideas that after the journey she had been upon she had missed her chance to meet Noura. Noor took a long pause and then headed out to stare at the ocean for a few moments. After about twenty minutes, a man with a small cane started to walk up to her, and he started to wave to get her attention. Noor turned around and saw an older Afro- Trinidadian man standing and smiling.
The man extended his hand with a big smile and said, “Hello Noor. I am Gus.”
Noor seemed taken aback by this man and the fact he knew who she was. Noor replied, “How do you know my name?”
Gus responded, “Noor, I could just look at your face and know who you are. Plus, I was a very good friend of your parents a very very long time ago. I was also a good friend of Noura’s.”
Noor muttered back, “You knew my parents? You knew Noura!”
Gus said, “Noor, take a walk with me on the beach and I will explain everything.” Noor and Gus slowly started walking on the beautiful white sand and Gus began again. “Your Dad and I were dear friends, and I helped to look over Noura after your parents left. I was her guardian and would help your
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