"Alfy, Alfy! Tell me the story 'gain!"
With a very audible groan and a frown, the young man standing in front of the bright-eyed boy threw his arms up and announced to whoever might have been around, "Again?! Albert, that's the third time today!"
The boy kicked his legs back and forth, allowing his heels to hit the large, metallic bucket on which he sat. He sing-songed, "Soo-o-oo? I wanna make sure yer not forgettin' a thing! Tell it 'gain!"
Unable to deny the boy's wishes, the elder male took a seat on the dry, cracked ground and scratched the back of his head somewhat nervously. "Oh fine…" He sighed and crossed his arms. "Uh, well…y'see, it all started July 4th, 1776…"
As he retold the tale, the older boy's younger brother, Albert as he was called, widened his blue eyes in astonishment as though it was the first time he had heard his brother's amazing story. He continuously pushed his blonde hair out of his face as the wind tried to blow it back in front of his eyes. A wide grin stayed plastered on his face revealing a set of nearly perfect teeth save for the two holes where his front teeth should have been.
His older brother, Alfred, waved his arms around as he told the story of his independence. His blonde hair that matched his younger sibling's bounced as he talked and moved around. His identical blue eyes lit up with every battle mentioned, every sentence said, and every word spoken. No matter how many times he was asked by anyone, specifically Albert, to tell the story of the Revolution, Alfred would retell the story with more vigor than the previous time, and even more after that and so on and so forth. But every time there would be one similar ending:
"…and we won," he would say. "We did something no one else dared to do and we actually won." He would always top this off with a smile.
Albert's reaction would always be the same: "Woah, Alfy! Yer like…like…" He scrunched his nose in thought as he struggled to find the words. "…like th'greatest person t'ever live! Like…a hero!"
"A hero?" Alfred's expression quickly morphed from that of confused to one of complete pride. Laughing, he reached forward and mussed Albert's wheat-colored hair.
Albert laughed as well and playfully swatted at his sibling's hand. "Yeah! Th'coolest hero!" He hopped off of the bucket and flailed his arms around. "And y'know what? I'm gonna be jus' like ya, Alfy! I'm gonna be a hero, too!"
It took him a moment, but Alfred beamed and chuckled as Albert bounced around chanting "hero! Hero! Hero!"
But even as he watched, there were three words that continued to echo through his head: Just like you.
He, he thought, should have been flattered but this, those three simple words, frightened him the most.