Once upon a time there were two sisters. These sisters looked nothing alike, one fair, and one dark. They very often did not agree on any given subject, and they always had different solutions for the same problem. But these sisters were bound to each other by their love. They had grown up together. They had shared a room their whole life. The clothes of one of them were the clothes of the other. They had been playmates as children, running together through fields and forests. And as young adults they were companions. They took walks together. They consulted each other on their problems in life. They enjoyed each other’s company at anytime, regardless of their disagreements.

One day this pair of sisters went for a walk on a forested trail. This trail had hills and bends and other trails branched from it, causing it to be a confusing trail for those who did not know it well. And these sisters choice to walk this trail one day when the sun was high and the wind still. The birds were not singing, as it was the heat of the afternoon, and this trail was not of the kind that passes by a leisurely rolling brook. This trail was one that would pull one in and try to not let you go.

And the sisters walked. They walked along this trail for quite some time, talking quietly and enjoying the nature around them. Then they came to a break in the trail. There was a trail, well-worn and clean going one way. Another trail, this one smaller, harder to see and muddy, led in a different direction. It should here be mentioned that this particular pair of sisters were adventurers. They loved to go where there might be danger, loved to see what was on the other side of just one more hill. Due to this adventurousness present in these sisters, they choice the small, dirty, and unknown trail on this fine, sunny, clear day. And off they went into the heavy shrubbery.

The sisters walked, for the most part unaware of their surroundings as they continued to talk of their lives with each other till they looked up and noticed that they, in fact, were no longer in the midst of dense forest and were now in the open, on some sort of car road, the destination of which they did not know. And continuing in that sense of adventure, they chose to follow that road, giving no heed to the fact that they did not know where they were, and should they lose the placement of the trail they had come on, would not know their way back. And forth they went.

On this open road one would think that the high hot sun would serve to dry the land from the rains that had come the night before. But, alas, it did not. This situation, of damp and muddy ground being present, brought about the unfortunate dirtying of one of the sister’s shoes. In fact, the amount of mud and muck that found its way inside the shoe, covering the outside as well, was of a quantity and quality as it made both sisters wary of using such a shoe. So the adventure of this walk was now made difficult, as the fair sister found herself hopping along on one foot. One might ask the question of why the sister did not simply walk barefoot on this soft and wet ground. Ah, well, that would be a good question, but one easily answered by mentioning the numerous plants in this land that put forth very sharp thorns, which stepped on made it very difficult to walk on further. The mud only made the danger of the thorns greater, as it served to hide these thorny plants and make them difficult to detect.

Thus the sisters found themselves out in an unknown location, walking along, with one hopping about, and leaning heavily upon the other sister. This unsteady gate caused the dark sister to also suffer a minor calamity. She stepped upon the nest of what was to be found to be fierce, biting, red ants. These ants quickly covered the sister’s shoe, and seemed to begin building a nest inside with notable speed. So the dark sister stood, with one shoe on and one shoe off, in a great deal of pain. The sisters realized that the situation had come to the point at which they were completely unsure of how to go on. Neither of them could walk steadily, due to the incapacitation of two of their shoes, and the dark one was not in the best of spirits due to her minor injuries. So the fair sister saw it as time to devise a plan.

The fair sister, who was not physically injured, but instead simply lacking a piece of footwear, took her one shoe that was still in good condition, paired with the shoe of the dark sister that did not have new residents within, put them on, and carried her sister upon her back. To be sure this was no small feat. It was a laborious journey that the girls took home, and was in no way easy. They continued forward upon their unknown road, watching the sun, as it seemed to quickly move downward in the sky. Then, they heard a sound. A sound that was reassuring in many respects. It was the sound of a distant car. The sound did not grow as the girls moved, but was repeated over and over. Gradually it grew stronger and the sisters knew they much be a approaching a road. And the sisters were glad.