Two People Can Only Be Exactly Alike in Stories
It’s only in stories like this one where two people are exactly alike. Even identical twins, like the two brothers Now and Later, have differences. For example, in real life, identical twins might be born with birthmarks that are different or one might be allergic to soap.
But this is a story, and the twins Now and Later were exactly alike. They were both tall but not too tall. They were both handsome but not too handsome. They were both smart but not too smart. They both wore a red hat, but the hat wasn’t too red.
And they were both princes.
You might have wanted to be a prince (or a princess) and not known how to be one. It’s simple really. All you have to do is make sure when you’re born that your father and mother are king and queen. At least, that’s what Now and Later did.
When they were little (they weren’t so tall then), they did everything together. They played in their royal crib together, swatting at their royal mobile. They sat in royal highchairs next to each other and ate royal strained peaches.
When they were a little bit older, they went to royal Kindergarten together, and were the only royal students. They made royal painted macaroni frames and had royal hat parades.
When they were even a little older than that, they went to royal elementary school together, where they went on royal field trips to the aquarium together and sang in the royal holiday pageant together.
Then, life got a little more serious for Now and Later. After royal elementary school, it was time for Prince training. In Prince training, Now and Later had to learn the basics of how to be a Prince. If they didn’t learn these things well, one day the kingdom would suffer in some horrible way. Kingdoms need strong men and women who know what to do when Horrible Things appear. Without people who have defeated one or two Horrible Things before, Kingdoms are hard to keep and all the people end up living in tents in the woods again.
