Once upon a time there were two brothers – the older brother was called Jack and the younger one was called Tom. Jack was a calm and thoughtful boy, while Tom was an energetic mischievous one. One day, their parents went out of town, leaving the two boys alone.

Jack was very eager to take on the responsibilities of grown-up and he was determined to make sure that his younger brother behaved himself in their parents’ absence. He declared himself as the acting ‘commander’ of the house, and gave Tom strict instructions on how to behave himself. However, Tom had no intention of following Jack’s orders and used every opportunity to disobey.

Seeing the mischievous boy’s reluctance to be obedient, Jack humiliated Tom by calling him names and punishing him for not following his orders. Tom was resentful of this and tried to retaliate, but Jack was always one step ahead. He would set up ever-increasingly difficult tasks for Tom, expecting him to follow his orders. Whenever Tom failed, Jack would scold him and remind him that he was the commander of the house and Tom should obey his orders.

This authority struggle continued for days and it seemed Jack was finally winning when Tom suddenly announced that he was tired of Jack’s punishing orders and decided to take matters into his own hands and ran away from the house.

Jack was shocked and worried and decided to go out and look for his younger brother. He searched for days, but there was no sign of Tom.

Days turned into weeks and weeks into months, until one day Jack received a letter from his parents saying that they were coming back and bringing Tom with them.

To Jack’s surprise, Tom had learned a lot during his journey. He had become independent and responsible, he had learned to take care of himself. Although Tom was still mischievous, he had learned to be more obedient and respectful.

Jack was very proud of his younger brother and realized that it was not right to try and control him with his orders. He apologized to Tom and learnt an important lesson about respecting others and understanding their capacity instead of imposing his own beliefs.

Moral of the Story : Respect others and understand their capacity instead of imposing your own beliefs.