Dark and Sunny

The brothers were close in age, identical twins, in fact, born two minutes apart. This was a source of pride and pain as the “older” twin was always saying “Respect your elders!” The younger twin didn’t like that teasing much, but his frowns were not long-lived.

People usually had some difficulty telling the boys apart; they seemed to be exact physical copies of each other, but these boys did not grow up with the fun of pranks exchanging places as some twins do. For as identical as they were physically, whenever they spoke it was apparent that they were completely opposite in attitude.

The “older”  complained a great deal. He saw the defects in anything. A spring cloudless day was “a little cold.” A person’s friendly gesture caused him to wonder “What does he want?” When the family was making plans, he often said things like, “Let’s consider the worst case scenario,” which sounded strange when he was six.

His brother’s disposition was completely opposite. He expected good from everything and everyone. On a day dark with rain clouds he would say,  “I think the sun is poking through.” When it poured, the youngest twin would say, “It’ll be over soon, I fact, I think it’s stopping.”

The neighbors called the boys “Dark” and “Sunny” though those were not their names. When unsure of something they would jokingly say, “Let’s ask Dark and Sunny and then pick what’s in between, that’ll be closest to the truth.” Everyone would laugh.

Once when the boys were eight years-old, they overheard a group of neighbors tell.one of these jokes. Dark was unhappy. “They like you better than me. They think I’m depressing. Why do they call me Dark?” Sunny tried to comfort his brother, “Come-on, bro, they’re only joking, let’s go walk the bridge railing.” “Too dangerous moaned, “Dark.”

The parents grew concerned about their boys. The twins ninth birthday was coming up and the parents hatched a plan. The adults had always given their boys gifts that were the same or complementary, similar toys, games they could play together, matching clothes, with small differences so they could tell them apart in the wash.

This year they decided would be different.

The birthday came. The parents took Dark into a room with nine brightly wrapped presents that contained toys, and clothes.

They handed Sunny an old shovel ad told him to clean the manure from the barn.

The birthday wore on. Dark opened each present. He thanked his parents for each one, but he did find fault with all. This toy “/poorly made”. That one had “sharp edges.” This sweater was an inconsistent color. He hesitated to play with toys that might break or wear clothes because he might ruin them. 

The parents despaired, but decided to check on Sunny.

They found the younger twin at work on the load of manure that they parents had delivered. The dung pile filled the barn  and the boy worked furiously. He was sweating, but smiling as he shoveled. “How’s it going?” They asked.

“Great!” the boy enthused. “I figure with all this manure, there’s gotta be a pony in here somewhere.”

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