Acceptance
Simran Kaur
Once upon a time there was a girl. She had wings and lived in a village by a forest. She could not fly. The other village children laughed at her. She was held to the ground by the hand of despair.
The stings of the girls words wounded her heart. She also loved the forest and her soul seemed to be weaved amongst the trees. Yet she suppressed this pull to the woods upon which she was mocked more.
One day, winter flew upon the wind and dressed everything with the raiment of downy white.
When morning dawned on the world, this girl walked among the village. The Winter Festival was being celebrated to greet winter. She walked among the people and she heard the sharpness of girls. She began walking towards the wood, her heart hardened to their derision. She stopped at the Last House and then she saw a girl with moonstone eyes gazing upon her.
“Hello, I am Svetlana,” this girl said.
The little winged girl was speechless. Nobody had tried to make friends once they saw her wings “Hello. I am Alya,” she said at last.
This was the start of their friendship. Soon Alya had a heart protected from the stings of the other girls’ words. Svetlana was the light in which guided her out of the darkening path of hopelessness.
One day, Svetlana led her to the woods. They went through the trees for the first time. They came to a oak tree that breathed secrets into the wind and in a hole of the tree an owl perched. This owl was larger than the girls and came down in front of them.
Then suddenly from the tree, a figure emerged from the trunk.
She said, looking at the Alya, “to be different is not a burden but a gift. I have seen your hardened heart, though softened by the hand of friendship. But I have also seen how some shadow still looms upon your soul. Once you learn to believe and accept yourself, you shall find who you are.”
And then the figure gone but Alya found she was not upon the ground anymore.
She was flying.
Belief and hope carried her in the wind.
The figure was the soul of the forest of which Alya had felt her own heart weaved within and she had turned that shadow in her heart into light.
She became her own best friend and learnt that it was only the ones that were close to her that she should listen to and so she was happy with the friends who were true to her, close to her heart and forgave quickly and never took notice to anyone’s unkind words.
That was her superpower. And so, dear reader, as I hope you have learnt, never listen and do not waste away your time and heart upon those untrue and unkind to you. Always listen to those who are true and keep them close to your heart.