should be pleased with us, Uncle Jack and Aunt Judith,” Allan said. “You’re always talking about the value of education. Well, today we taught a bookseller a valuable lesson about literature.”
“There’ll be no new books for you today,” Uncle Jack announced as he steered them out of the store.
“What?” they moaned. (The truth was, while reprogramming the computer, they’d checked the inventory and discovered the store was out of the books they wanted. But they kept this news to themselves.) They looked at each other, their eyes puppylike and sad. “NoTrue Stories of Horror?” they muttered. “Gee, Uncle Jack. You’re so mean.”
Uncle Jack stood a little taller and nodded as he held open the door for his wife and nephews. “You got
that
right. Now, how about some lunch?”
“Chinese?” Allan suggested.
“Why not?” Now that Uncle Jack had been “stern” enough, he could afford to be generous.
Chinese was the twins’ favorite, not so much for the food but the fortune cookies. Or rather, the fortunes inside the cookies.
The Poe family walked across the parking lot to the Jade Dragon. There, they ordered spicy-hot beef, orange chicken, fried rice, and the Buddhist’s Delight vegetable plate. The food proved forgettable. But the identical message each boy discovered in his fortune cookie proved otherwise:
Of course, that meant the Gale Farm and OZitorium.
Uncle Jack and Aunt Judith received ordinary fortune cookie fortunes: “You will share the gift of friendship” and “Your hard work will be rewarded.”
“Did you boys get identical fortunes again?” their uncle inquired, looking over their shoulders.
They nodded. They
always
got identical fortunes. Why wouldn’t fortune cookies predict the same future for two boys who were virtually interchangeable?
“Twin messages again for our twin boys,” said Aunt Judith. “Isn’t it amazing how that always happens? What a coincidence!”
Allan and Edgar didn’t believe in coincidence.
Rather, they believed in fortune. Particularly when it was packaged in a cookie….
Most people don’t take fortune cookies so seriously. But the boys’ fortunes had always been accurate. For example, at age five, they each received a fortune that read:
This proved true a few days later, when they found themselves involved in a new enterprise called kindergarten.
At age eight their cookies read:
And within a week, both boys were banned from Little League for their inability to hold on to their baseball bats when they were up at home plate. Oh, how the spectators in the stands dodged for cover.
At age ten they read:
And two days later when the boys “borrowed” Uncle Jack’s car for an experiment, they discovered that pressing on the gas pedal instead of the brake indeed renders obstacles such as fences, walls, and plate-glass windows passable. Yes, they sped right through.
And there were many other instances.
Now this:
The farm is a brilliant trip….
The boys had thought they were just retrieving their cat, but perhaps a few pleasant surprises awaited them.
WHAT THE POE TWINS DID NOT KNOW…
FROM A LETTER WRITTEN NINE YEARS
EARLIER BY THE BOYS’ MOTHER, IRMA POE,
TO HER SISTER-IN-LAW, JUDITH
…the twins remain the great joy of our lives, even if neither Mal nor I truly understand what makes them tick. Doctors agree they’re quite unusual. It’s not just that they’re such accomplished talkers—lots of three-year-olds talk a blue streak. And it’s not just that they’re reading every grown-up book they can get their little hands on. What’s unusual is that they both write in complete sentences. At three years old! Recently, they’ve begun experimenting with various poetic forms, like the sonnet. Where does that come from? And stranger yet is that even Mal and I still can’t tell them apart. It’s not for lack of attention. Believe me, we love our boys. But they confound us. That’s why we’ve agreed to let a
“There’ll be no new books for you today,” Uncle Jack announced as he steered them out of the store.
“What?” they moaned. (The truth was, while reprogramming the computer, they’d checked the inventory and discovered the store was out of the books they wanted. But they kept this news to themselves.) They looked at each other, their eyes puppylike and sad. “NoTrue Stories of Horror?” they muttered. “Gee, Uncle Jack. You’re so mean.”
Uncle Jack stood a little taller and nodded as he held open the door for his wife and nephews. “You got
that
right. Now, how about some lunch?”
“Chinese?” Allan suggested.
“Why not?” Now that Uncle Jack had been “stern” enough, he could afford to be generous.
Chinese was the twins’ favorite, not so much for the food but the fortune cookies. Or rather, the fortunes inside the cookies.
The Poe family walked across the parking lot to the Jade Dragon. There, they ordered spicy-hot beef, orange chicken, fried rice, and the Buddhist’s Delight vegetable plate. The food proved forgettable. But the identical message each boy discovered in his fortune cookie proved otherwise:
Of course, that meant the Gale Farm and OZitorium.
Uncle Jack and Aunt Judith received ordinary fortune cookie fortunes: “You will share the gift of friendship” and “Your hard work will be rewarded.”
“Did you boys get identical fortunes again?” their uncle inquired, looking over their shoulders.
They nodded. They
always
got identical fortunes. Why wouldn’t fortune cookies predict the same future for two boys who were virtually interchangeable?
“Twin messages again for our twin boys,” said Aunt Judith. “Isn’t it amazing how that always happens? What a coincidence!”
Allan and Edgar didn’t believe in coincidence.
Rather, they believed in fortune. Particularly when it was packaged in a cookie….
Most people don’t take fortune cookies so seriously. But the boys’ fortunes had always been accurate. For example, at age five, they each received a fortune that read:
This proved true a few days later, when they found themselves involved in a new enterprise called kindergarten.
At age eight their cookies read:
And within a week, both boys were banned from Little League for their inability to hold on to their baseball bats when they were up at home plate. Oh, how the spectators in the stands dodged for cover.
At age ten they read:
And two days later when the boys “borrowed” Uncle Jack’s car for an experiment, they discovered that pressing on the gas pedal instead of the brake indeed renders obstacles such as fences, walls, and plate-glass windows passable. Yes, they sped right through.
And there were many other instances.
Now this:
The farm is a brilliant trip….
The boys had thought they were just retrieving their cat, but perhaps a few pleasant surprises awaited them.
WHAT THE POE TWINS DID NOT KNOW…
FROM A LETTER WRITTEN NINE YEARS
EARLIER BY THE BOYS’ MOTHER, IRMA POE,
TO HER SISTER-IN-LAW, JUDITH
…the twins remain the great joy of our lives, even if neither Mal nor I truly understand what makes them tick. Doctors agree they’re quite unusual. It’s not just that they’re such accomplished talkers—lots of three-year-olds talk a blue streak. And it’s not just that they’re reading every grown-up book they can get their little hands on. What’s unusual is that they both write in complete sentences. At three years old! Recently, they’ve begun experimenting with various poetic forms, like the sonnet. Where does that come from? And stranger yet is that even Mal and I still can’t tell them apart. It’s not for lack of attention. Believe me, we love our boys. But they confound us. That’s why we’ve agreed to let a
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