Week 3 Story: The Love of Siblings

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It was not uncommon for the siblings to fight and argue. Their mother found herself trying to calm the children down on a weekly, sometimes daily basis. She knew that being the mother of two kids; a boy and a girl; that were so close in age were going to be a challenge but she never anticipated how frequently she would be breaking up fights. 

It was just another day when she heard her kids yelling at each other from the kitchen. She walked over to find out what the commotion was about and was not surprised to see them fighting over a toy. She was shocked, however, to hear her daughter scream about how much she hated her brother. This was something she had never said before and it upset the mother greatly. The mother knew she had to do something and quick because she could not let this get any worse. So she decided that the best way to work this out would be to sit them down and have a talk. 

When she asked her daughter why she said she hated her brother, her daughter replied almost instantly. 

“He’s mean and he’s always taking my stuff!” She yelled loudly. 

This caused the boy to become upset and he began to yell about how his sister was lying. 

While the mother could understand her children’s frustration; she was after all the youngest of three daughters, she knew that she needed to make sure that her children would never grow to resent each other. 

“Let’s calm down now and let me tell you a story about why siblings are so important.” The mother began to tell her children a story about two siblings who fought often but soon realized their love for each other when one was in danger. 

The story began with a young girl and her younger brother. They were very close in age so they fought over toys and games constantly. It was not uncommon for their mother to hear them yelling but she almost always let it continue, thinking they will work it out on their own. 

One day, while playing a game of medieval dress-up, the sibling began to argue over who got to use the foam sword and out of pure frustration and anger, the young girl exclaimed her hatred for her annoying little brother. 

Her brother was shocked, he had never heard her say this to him before. Filled with his own anger and sadness, he quickly ran from the room and out the front door. The young girl watched him leave and was satisfied for the time being. But it wasn’t long before she began to wonder where he went, so she set off to find him. Thinking he must have gone to their treehouse, she headed outside. When she got to the top of the ladder she was shocked to see that he was not there either. Panicked, she ran back inside to find her mother but was even more shocked to find that her mother was missing as well. 

By now, the young girl was really worried so she began to search all over the house. When she got back to the playroom, where she last saw her brother, she was surprised to find all of their dress-up toys and clothes were laid out. As if they were ready to wore and played with. Next to her favorite princess dress was a cat. The young girl knew that they didn’t have a cat and she wondered what it was doing there so she asked the small creature why it was in the playroom. 

Surprisingly, the cat responded. He told her that he was sent by the queen of a kingdom nearby. The queen had her little brother and was going to keep him as her own son unless the young girl came to get him. She quickly asked the cat how she could get there because she wanted her little brother back. The cat pointed to a map and told her that the only way the queen would return her brother as if the young girl broke into the forest troll’s house and stole a piece of jewelry. If the young girl did not show up with the jewelry before midnight, then the queen would be keeping her brother. The young girl did not hesitate and she grabber her foam sword and the map and set off to rescue her brother. 

It did not take long for her to find her way to the trolls house. It was large and surrounded by dark trees. The young girl was very scared and nervous but she knew that she had to save her brother. She snuck into the room through an opening in the window. Everything in the house was massive compared to her so she knew that the troll much is large as well. The young girl wasted no time searching for the jewels and soon she stumbled upon them. They were two massive diamond earrings, each the size of a loaf of bread in the girl's hands. She quickly hid them in her backpack but soon heard the loud footstep of the troll approaching and she hid under the large bed in the room. 

Once she heard the troll in the kitchen she snuck back out of the window and ran as fast as she could toward the kingdom. It was dark out so she knew she was running out of time. Soon enough, she approached the castle and ran inside to deliver the jewels to the queen. 

She set the large diamonds on the ground in front of the queen and asked for her brother back. The queen seemed very surprised that such a young girl could have completed this task. Regardless, she returned the boy as promised and they walked out of the castle. 

The young girl kept apologizing to her brother and begged her forgiveness. She knew that it was her fault and that she should have never said such things to him. Her brother forgave her and thanked her for caring enough to save him. 

The young girl learned that day that she should cherish her sibling and that it was their job to help and take care of each other. 

As the story came to an end, the mother asked her kids what they thought of the story. They began to tell her that they enjoyed it and that they now realized that saying such mean things to each other can be harmful. From that day on, the children might still get in the occasional disagreement but they always knew that at the end of the day they always had each other’s back. 

Authors Note: 

This story was inspired by the trail that Psyche had to face in the sotry of Cupid and Psyche. I wanted to incorportate the challenge because I really enjoyed that these characters had to face such tasks in order to prove their love. I changed it by making it about siblings instead of a love story because I love reading about the relationships between siblings. This was partly inspired by the movie Labyrinth with David Bowie (one of my all-time favorite films). I am the youngest of three daughters and while my sisters and I may fight sometimes, I know that they will always have my back. 

Story Source: Apuleius's Golden Ass, as translated into English by Tony Kline (2013).