May and Ella: two twins, two whims...

It isn’t often that a wandering minstrel happens upon two twin souls just as the old year is shaking hands with the new one.

They were playing with Mega, their robot friend, when the stranger, tired after a long journey, said: “Sorry, I can’t make heads or tails out of this?”

At that an enormous robot, a full four feet high, came sauntering into the kitchen muttering: “May I be at your service?” He (or it) repeated the phrase several times, as if uncertain whether human beings were able to capture the significance of the question.

“It’s Mega!” shouted Ella.

“Our giant,” added May.

The robot was a bit awkward, perhaps embarrassed or timid, yet managed to swallow his shame by muttering in a 'here I am, it's me' kind of voice: “My name is Mega Mech.”

Well, no sooner did he say that than he (it, she) began a backward movement, you might even say it,he she tottered towards the living room, warning: “Watch out! I am backing up!”

The wandering minstrel wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, dropped his body into a chair and said: “Woh! That was a close one! Let’s take a breather…this is a bit more than I expected...ah...well...I’m sorry but I’m not sure if I can tell your voices apart.”

“I’m May and I was born on March 24th at 8:40 a.m.and I want to talk about New Year’s Eve. We have been playing heads and tails with Sofie.”

“How do you play that?” the minstrel wanted to know. “Well, if you win you get a froggie and both of us got froggies!”

“That sounds great!”

“And my name is Ella and I’m a little older than May. I was born at 9:02 a.m. I’m going to stay up to midnight to watch Sponge Bob.”

“Hmm...That must be a TV program.”

“Yea. But now it’s New Year’s day and grandma and grandpa are going to come for supper.”

“That’s sounds cool...ah…tell me something: do you like school?”

May said she liked Math, Ella expressed her preference for free time activities: “I like to play soccer, baseball, tennis, golf and basketball,” she said.

“I bet you guys like music. Who’s your favorite singer?”

They both responded in unison: "Ella Enchanted and Elvis Presley!" Then they began to dance around the table in absolute glee. And then, as if magic really existed, well, not just in story books but in real life, a gentle eyed teddy bear suddenly appeared out of nowhere and landed on the table singing a song about himself:

“…I don’t want to be a child…” (Actually, that was a stanza from a song by Elvis the Pelvis) The teddy bear broadcast the song several times. Then the conversation turned to Christmas.

“I got a giant!” the minstrel twitched his cheek muscles a bit, unsure which of the twins actually got the giant. Anyway, the scene abruptly changed again when the Mega-mech returned, marching triumphantly into the room. The minstrel explained that he couldn't stay there talking for ever and that he had some other visits on his list. Nevertheless, he figured it would be appropriate to ask one more question:

“What’s your favorite story?” Ella was the first to volunteer:

“One Christmas Eve my stomach ached and so we went out and saw Santa Clause eating a cookie at grandma’s house. She added: “I wanted to get lots of presents, so I didn’t talk to Santa.”

“That's reasonable,” replied the minstrel, the suggestion of a smile quivering at the edges of his rosy lips, but what about the story?”

May: “I was sleeping and I wanted to tie my shoe, so I asked my mother to help me because I didn’t know how to tie a shoe, and that’s the end of the story.”

Ella: “My friend Mattie and I like sweets. I told her I liked sweets and she said she did too and a sweet fairy came. Then we got all the girls in the class to play sweet fairy.”

At that the minstrel beat a retreat, offering his apologies for mixing up names and voices, and went out the door accompanied by a gust of cold air that ushered in 2008.