The Tale of the Clothing

There once were step-sisters who fought all the time.  Lucy was overbearing, hypercritical, and impossible to please.  

She picked on pretty much everyone, and especially took delightful glee in harassing poor hapless Charles.  He was sweet but naive, and she was cruel to him ever since he was a little pup.  Second to her desire to control everything, Lucy wanted to be liked, which is ironic since she ruined all of her relationships.  Because she was such a bitch.  Charles got so fed up with the treatment that he eventually ran away for the big city.  Life was rough in that dog-eat-dog world, but he managed to get a bone or two.

Lucy's step-sister, Patty, was super nice.  Always warm and generous and understanding and open-minded and appreciative of others.  She was pretty much the opposite of Lucy.  Even if Patty wasn't your cup of tea, you could easily get along well with her, unless you were someone like Lucy who only liked themselves.  She had always been good to Charles, but at one point Lucy blocked Patty from seeing Charles for a few years.  That made everyone but Lucy sad.  (Lucy was already sad).

So one day the two girls were sorting through some laundry and Lucy decided to pick a pick a fight.  It was almost always Lucy.  Not always.  Just almost always.

"That's my laundry," she exclaimed, much louder and aggressive than necessary.

"Mom and Dad got this for both of us from Goodwill," Patty reminded, gently, trying to defuse the situation, yet again.

"No, Dad got it from Salvation Army for me and me alone," screamed Lucy, which was really not called for.

"And besides," sneered Lucy, wanting to rub salt into the wound, "now that you've touched it, the laundry needs to be washed.  Probably three times."

Lucy was always so hurtful, and for no good reason.  There was never any reason to be so hurtful, good or not.

The girls pulled on the clothing until it started to tear.  Upon hearing that, Patty, who always cared more for others than herself, let go.  She would rather Lucy have the clothing than for it to be torn beyond repair.

"Look what you've done," screamed Lucy.  She was always screaming.

"I'm letting you have it," Patty pleaded for peace.  She knew that Lucy would outgrow it soon it enough.  When she did, she would throw it away.  And when she threw it away, Patty could rescue it from the trash can, sew it back up, and take good care of it.