Working Together

Once upon a time, not too long ago there were two twin sisters, one was named Aliza and the other was named Ahuva. They were in the same 4th grade class at school. They looked the same, they dressed the same, they even sounded the same. Everyone thought it was so cute! Well, everyone that is except for Aliza and Ahuva.

They did not like being the same at all! Instead, each sister would try to outdo the other one. If Aliza got a 100% on a test, then Ahuva would try to get 105%.
If Ahuva did a somersault in karate, then Aliza would do two somersaults. If Aliza hurt her thumb in the car door, then Ahuva would smash her whole hand!

"Girls!" said their mother one day when they were fighting yet again, "you need to work together. You'll get much farther in life than if you also argue with one another!" 

But the sisters didn't listen and kept on fighting.

A few days later in school, the girls were busy pulling each others hair during class. The teacher moved them to opposite sides of the room to separate them. Then they started throwing spit balls at each other!
The teacher stood them up and marched them straight into the principal's office.

"Oh no!" said Principal Weinberger, "not Ahuva and Aliza again!"
"You girls need to work with each other and stop fighting! You are twin sisters after all. I know, for your punishment, you both are going to have to help the janitor. Then you'll see that you need to work together!"

So the girls went and found the janitor.
"Principal Weinberger says we need to help you." said Ahuva.

"Okay!" said the janitor. "My name is Mr. Schlamazale!"
"We have to go to the basement because there is a leak from a pipe, let's go!"

The entire way down the steps the sisters kept fighting.
"I go first!" said Ahuva. "No, I go first!" replied Aliza.

"Girls, please stop fighting." begged Mr. Schlamazale.

"OK, now you see that leaky pipe, I need one of you to hand me the wrench please."

"I got it!" said Aliza as she dashed to get the tool. 
"No! I'll get it!" said Ahuva grabbing the wrench out of Aliza's hands.

"Girls!" said Mr. Shlamazale, "you really need to stop fighting. I'll just get the wrench myself. Sheesh!"

Mr Schlamazale wasn't the best plumber in the world. In fact, he really didn't even know how to fix a leaky pipe at all!

"Hmmm" thought Mr. Schlamazale to himself "do I turn the wrench to the right or to the left...?" He decided to turn it to the left.
At first, the pipe was very hard to turn, but then he gave it a strong hard turn, and the pipe started moving. Then he turned it again, and this time he heard a 'whoosh' sound. Suddenly, the pipe burst and water started pouring into the basement!

In a matter of moments, the basement was almost half filled with water! The girls ran higher up the steps to get out of the way. But the water kept creeping higher and higher.

"Help!" cried Mr. Schlamazale, "I can't swim! Please save me!"

"I'll save you!" said Ahuva.
"No way! I'll save you!" said Aliza. The girls began fighting and pushing each other out of the way. All the while, the water was getting higher and higher, and was almost up to Mr. Schlamazale's neck!

"Please," begged Mr. Schlamazale, "stop fighting and save me! This is worse than Hurricane Sandy!"

Ahuva turned to Aliza and said: "We need to work together. Otherwise we won't be able to save Mr. Schlamazale." 
"You're right!" replied Aliza, "I'll hold onto the railing. You grab my hand and reach as far as you can and grab Mr. Schlamazale."

So the sisters starting working together. With Aliza holding tight to the railing, Ahuva leaned as far as she could until she grabbed Mr. Schlamazale's hand. Then with both Ahuva and Aliza pulling, they dragged Mr. Schlamazale to the safety of the steps! 

"Thank you girls! Thank you!" Mr. Schlamazale kept repeating.

Principal Weinberger had to  hire professional plumbers to repair the damage and get rid of all the water. Mr. Schlamazale is still the janitor, but he doesn't do any more plumbing.

But mostly, the sisters learned an important lesson that day. It's better to work together than to fight. They can achieve much more by working as a team. 
They started helping each other with the homework, practicing their karate together, and from that day on, they never fought again.

 THE END