Once upon a time in a land not TOO far away (but far enough to be completely and totally fictional), there lived a slender, willowy brunette princess named Amber. Princess Amber was fair of face and stunningly attractive, possessing all of the physical attributes that make females desirable to the opposite sex, but modest and kind enough to be a friend to all the damsels in the realm, too.
I did say it was fiction, yeah? Good. Let's carry on.
Princess Amber had not been an easy child to raise. As a baby, she was unwilling to be held and expected her dear Mother to dance constant attendance on her else she would let forth with a banshee-like cry that would wake all of the servants and the townsfolk alike. She grew into a teenager who frequently snuck out of the house at night to do...um, things. (I won't go into detail. My Mom might actually be reading this.)
At any rate, Princess Amber's Mother, being a clear candidate for sainthood, survived the long, hard years, raising her glorious daughter into adulthood. On the day Princess Amber left for college (in a land even farther away than our story began in!) there was much celebrating in the castle.
Eventually, all things being equal, Princess Amber settled down, learned a few things and realized that her Mother was always right. About everything.
This is where our story begins. Princess Amber one day met her true love, Prince Eric. In the due passing of time, Princess and Prince were married in a beautiful ceremony by a stunning lake. Before their first anniversary had passed, Princess Amber learned that she was expecting the couple's first child. Amid the plethora of well wishes and the love and delight expressed, Princess Amber's Mother uttered one sentence sure to rock the foundations of the very earth.
"Oh, I hope that she's a girl, Princess Amber, and I hope she's JUST LIKE YOU."
GASP! The collected family and friends could not believe that the Mother would place such a heinous curse upon the Princess! But she had, and it was destined to come true.
The baby, young Peyton, was indeed a girl, and she was born smiling and happy and content. She enjoyed being snuggled and giggled and cooed and made everyone's life merry and delightful. Princess Amber smugly thought she had beaten her Mother's curse.
"Drat" thought the Mother. "What have I done wrong? Did I use too much Eye of Newt? Not enough Tongue of Frog? Perhaps my rhyme or meter was off." and she muttered and grumbled to herself as she paced her spell room.
Eventually, Peyton became a lovely toddler, then a gorgeous child. Each year that passed, Princess Amber breathed anew a fresh sigh of relief.
When Peyton was 4, Princess Amber gave birth to the second daughter, Charlotte. The Mother was SURE that this would be the child to challenge Princess Amber in the way that she had challenged her mother before her.
But, no. In fact, the tiny Charlotte was even more engaging and delightful than her sister had been before her--cuddlier, too! The Mother hung her head, sure her curse had failed.
And then Peyton turned five. And, geez, Mom...did you HAVE to make her JUST like me? Grief.
