The Parent Trap

Brother?

    Alfred couldn't believe it. Not only did he lose in fencing contest, but he was also now moved to a different cabin because he got into a fight with the guy who beat him. To top it all up, he was now rooming with the boy who beat him.

    Matthew was sitting in on his cot which he had pushed on the other side of the small cabin that they were in. He knew that his papa and uncle would be mad at him because he got into a petty fight. He should have used words instead of his fists.

     "My mama is going to ground me," Alfred started pouting.

     "My papa is going to disappointed." Alfred just turned to his comic book and started to read. Matthew went to read one of his favorite books and started to read out loud. He was taught by his uncle that reading out loud made the words to come life. He didn't notice that he had eyes on him when he stopped reading.

   "Why ya stopped?"

   "My voice was hurting."

   "My mama is like that.."

   "What do you mean?"

   "My mama's voice hurts her lots, she doesn't talk because of it."

   "Papa is worried that I will lose mine..that's why I talk quietly and don't read out loud when he's close."

    "Your papa kinda sounds like my mama, she gets worried about me."

   "All parents do that."

   "Yeah, but she does it for two. My papa left and no one talks about him." Alfred stated as Matthew snuggled Kuma.

    "My mama is gone too when I ask my papa about her, he goes into the wine room."

     "Wine room?"

    "My papa is a grape grower, he makes wine."

    "My mama used to be a singer..now she helps my grandma with dresses."

   "Dresses?"

    "Grandma makes wedding dresses."

   "Wow."

   "Yeah, wanna see a picture of my papa."

  "I thought you didn't know him."

   "I don't, I found a torn picture."

  Matthew's eyes went wide, and he told Alfred he had a picture of his mama, also torn.

  "But mine, he's on a boat."

  "Me too, and there is writing on the back."

  "On three, we'll show each other."

  "Okay."

  The two boys counted and showed their pictures. They were shocked when the saw that the pictures fit together. Matthew's piece was a woman with winter blond hair and blue eyes like Alfred. While Alfred's piece was a man with red hair curly like Matthew with green eyes and thick eyebrows.

  "That's my mama," Alfred stated pointing Matthew's picture.

  "That's my papa," Matthew replied pointing the man.

  "You know what that means?"

  "We're twins." They said together.

  After that, they started to speak about their lives with the parent that they were with. Alfred explained how they lived in a big house in the country. He and his mama lived with their grandparents: Astrid and Tino. There was also an uncle who mama told him was an unwanted guest named Matthias. Finally, there was Ludwig, the butler who was more like an older brother to Alfred.

  Matthew talked about the vineyard that their papa owned. He lived there with his brother, Arthur who was a publisher who worked on Young Adult books. Feli was their housemaid, even though he was a boy.

  "Papa says it's because Feli is so feminine."

    "Hey, you know what we should do?"

   "What?"

   "Let's switch, then we can bring our parents back together and we can live as normal brothers," Alfred replied with a smile.

  "Are you sure it will work?"

  "Yeah, all we have to do is act like each other."

  "Okay," Matthew replied, wanting to see his mama.

  "Alright, now let's start." A few days laterMatthew was heading to a house in Sweden. While Alfred was heading to avineyard in California.