Interview a Character
Bea & Raffy
Q: So, Bea and Raffy, you kids have been inseparable since birth. How did this start?
A: (Bea) Well, being twins, and little kids with big imaginations, naturally we each considered the other to be somewhat our clone. We started dressing alike trying to confuse our mummy, daddy, friends, and teachers. Of course, him being a boy and me being a girl, it didn't work, but we kept trying, and soon enough we had started finishing each other’s sentences. It seemed it trying to become alike, had somehow make us indistinguishable.
Q: You say you were little kids with big imaginations. You imply you aren't anymore. All those dress-ups, make-believe games, you don't find that imaginative?
A: (Raffy) Well, you think we have big imaginations now, when we were three our brains should have exploded. Of course, Bea’s obsession with princesses has neither increased or decreased practically since birth, when we were ‘rescued’ after the floods, she almost died because there were no princess costumes or anyone to play make-believe games with. That’s not to say I'm not obsessed with Superman.
Q: Do you have any other obsessions other than dressing up, playing make-believe and princesses and Superman?
A: (Bea) Not really. It’s just those. After all, what else do we have to play with?
Q: What happened to your parents?
A: (Raffy) We don’t know exactly. All we know is that they were on the list for ‘dead/missing persons’ and both home and where mummy and daddy work got hit pretty badly, so we didn’t, even from the beginning, have high hopes for their survival.
Q: When you were 'rescued' after the floods, you say the authorities told you both 'there are so many orphaned kids needing home, you can't possibly ask people to take care of two'. Don’t you think if there were so many children needing homes that would be all the more reason to have at least two kids in each place, or before long orphanages will have to start opening and would fill up quickly?
A: (Bea) You’d think so wouldn’t you? I think they just wanted everyone to want a child, and they maybe thought if they started pressuring people with two, others wouldn’t volunteer at all in dread that they would have to open their homes to a number of children.
Q: But what would happen if a couple wanted to raise two or more kids?
A: (Raffy) Well, I guess they would have volunteered from the beginning. The government probably would fill those houses up before the family could change their mind about wanting more than one child, even if the children didn’t know each other. As you know, the government isn’t very considerate of people’s opinions. Who would we be to think they actually would organize something?
Q: During the time you were ‘rescued’, did you see each other whatsoever, at the park or school or anything?
A: (Bea) No. Never! Of course, we were both with very different families. My family spoilt me rotten, sending me to a private, all-girls school, whilst Raffy’s family couldn't care less, sending him to a run down, overcrowded public school, giving him rags as clothes and hardly feeding him one substantial meal a day. As you can image, my family was the exact opposite. We never went to the park because the backyard was double the size of one!
Q: If you never saw each other, how did you plan your escape?
A: (Raffy) Well, one day, I was sleeping on my hay pile bed, and the next thing you know, Bea was tapping my shoulder trying to waken me. I almost had a nervous breakdown! It took Bea almost ten minutes to calm me down. It was then we tried to escape the first time. No plan, no strategy, no backup, no nothing. It was spur of the moment. Unfortunately, my ‘parents’ had heard the noise, came to check it out. In seconds, our hopes of a better, free life went down the drain. I was taken ‘home’, and Bea’s ‘parents’ came to pick her up. We tried the next time the same way, spur of the moment but this time without my nervous breakdown, but my ‘parents’ were on the lookout for anything suspicious so soon after our first attempt, so it went downhill pretty quickly. The third time we met half way between the houses, but I got lost on the way over, and it never happened. The fourth time, we planned it well, midnight at a place we both knew, ran quickly and got away.
Q: What happened when you first escaped?
A: (Bea) For the first few days we were exhausted, lost and starving. Wandering the streets with no intent or purpose, not even knowing for sure we were in Grimsdon. After about a week, we started to find some food, scavenging from the houses we could find around close.
Q: How did you find Isabella and Griffin?
A: (Raffy) Isabella and Griffin were in the same house scavenging at the same time Bea and I were. Isabella and Griffin were about to attack us, and Bea and I were just standing there, petrified and suddenly they lowered their weapons and asked us to join them. I guess we look our part: lost strays with nowhere to go, wandering the streets in desperate hope of survival.
Q: Do you know why they didn't consider you two a threat?
A: (Bea) Raffy and i were a couple of dead-scared, starving kids about half the age of them. They knew we couldn't do any harm!
Q: Was Fly with Isabella and Griffin at that point?
A: (Raffy) No, that was later on. As you know we found her on a rooftop with a suitcase spelling 'Dragonfly'. It was actually Bea's idea to call her that!
A: (Bea) Well, being twins, and little kids with big imaginations, naturally we each considered the other to be somewhat our clone. We started dressing alike trying to confuse our mummy, daddy, friends, and teachers. Of course, him being a boy and me being a girl, it didn't work, but we kept trying, and soon enough we had started finishing each other’s sentences. It seemed it trying to become alike, had somehow make us indistinguishable.
Q: You say you were little kids with big imaginations. You imply you aren't anymore. All those dress-ups, make-believe games, you don't find that imaginative?
A: (Raffy) Well, you think we have big imaginations now, when we were three our brains should have exploded. Of course, Bea’s obsession with princesses has neither increased or decreased practically since birth, when we were ‘rescued’ after the floods, she almost died because there were no princess costumes or anyone to play make-believe games with. That’s not to say I'm not obsessed with Superman.
Q: Do you have any other obsessions other than dressing up, playing make-believe and princesses and Superman?
A: (Bea) Not really. It’s just those. After all, what else do we have to play with?
Q: What happened to your parents?
A: (Raffy) We don’t know exactly. All we know is that they were on the list for ‘dead/missing persons’ and both home and where mummy and daddy work got hit pretty badly, so we didn’t, even from the beginning, have high hopes for their survival.
Q: When you were 'rescued' after the floods, you say the authorities told you both 'there are so many orphaned kids needing home, you can't possibly ask people to take care of two'. Don’t you think if there were so many children needing homes that would be all the more reason to have at least two kids in each place, or before long orphanages will have to start opening and would fill up quickly?
A: (Bea) You’d think so wouldn’t you? I think they just wanted everyone to want a child, and they maybe thought if they started pressuring people with two, others wouldn’t volunteer at all in dread that they would have to open their homes to a number of children.
Q: But what would happen if a couple wanted to raise two or more kids?
A: (Raffy) Well, I guess they would have volunteered from the beginning. The government probably would fill those houses up before the family could change their mind about wanting more than one child, even if the children didn’t know each other. As you know, the government isn’t very considerate of people’s opinions. Who would we be to think they actually would organize something?
Q: During the time you were ‘rescued’, did you see each other whatsoever, at the park or school or anything?
A: (Bea) No. Never! Of course, we were both with very different families. My family spoilt me rotten, sending me to a private, all-girls school, whilst Raffy’s family couldn't care less, sending him to a run down, overcrowded public school, giving him rags as clothes and hardly feeding him one substantial meal a day. As you can image, my family was the exact opposite. We never went to the park because the backyard was double the size of one!
Q: If you never saw each other, how did you plan your escape?
A: (Raffy) Well, one day, I was sleeping on my hay pile bed, and the next thing you know, Bea was tapping my shoulder trying to waken me. I almost had a nervous breakdown! It took Bea almost ten minutes to calm me down. It was then we tried to escape the first time. No plan, no strategy, no backup, no nothing. It was spur of the moment. Unfortunately, my ‘parents’ had heard the noise, came to check it out. In seconds, our hopes of a better, free life went down the drain. I was taken ‘home’, and Bea’s ‘parents’ came to pick her up. We tried the next time the same way, spur of the moment but this time without my nervous breakdown, but my ‘parents’ were on the lookout for anything suspicious so soon after our first attempt, so it went downhill pretty quickly. The third time we met half way between the houses, but I got lost on the way over, and it never happened. The fourth time, we planned it well, midnight at a place we both knew, ran quickly and got away.
Q: What happened when you first escaped?
A: (Bea) For the first few days we were exhausted, lost and starving. Wandering the streets with no intent or purpose, not even knowing for sure we were in Grimsdon. After about a week, we started to find some food, scavenging from the houses we could find around close.
Q: How did you find Isabella and Griffin?
A: (Raffy) Isabella and Griffin were in the same house scavenging at the same time Bea and I were. Isabella and Griffin were about to attack us, and Bea and I were just standing there, petrified and suddenly they lowered their weapons and asked us to join them. I guess we look our part: lost strays with nowhere to go, wandering the streets in desperate hope of survival.
Q: Do you know why they didn't consider you two a threat?
A: (Bea) Raffy and i were a couple of dead-scared, starving kids about half the age of them. They knew we couldn't do any harm!
Q: Was Fly with Isabella and Griffin at that point?
A: (Raffy) No, that was later on. As you know we found her on a rooftop with a suitcase spelling 'Dragonfly'. It was actually Bea's idea to call her that!