Two Brothers

          Once upon a time there was a girl who loved her brother very much.  From as far back as she could remember, she looked up to him and believed everything he told her because he was older and wiser.  One day her brother went away to find his fortune in the world.  The girl was very sad, and she missed her brother and she thought about him every day.  She missed talking to him and she especially missed listening to him.  She missed his gentleness, his humor, and his wisdom.  She didn't hear from him for a long time and she worried about him.
          After being gone for a few years her brother came home but he was different.  He looked different and sounded different, and the girl was sure he didn't think about things in the same way.  The girl was very sad that the brother she remembered and loved was gone, but in time she came to love this new person and soon called him by her brother's name.  He seemed distant, fragile, and vulnerable, in a world so mean and unforgiving.  She loved him for his innocence and his vulnerability and the unassuming way he lived his life.
          Then one day, quite suddenly her brother became ill and he died.  And afterward, when she searched through his few belongings, she found that a trick had been played on her.  She discovered that he had been the same wise, patient, funny, kind, loving brother all along.