The ugly duckling

It's not easy to change, and the old ways often seem to be the best. there's a comfort in sticking to how things were done, how she looked at them and how she regarded them in her quietly beating heart which was still wounded...

she looked around, and she closed her eyes. it seemed to be able to dull the pain a little. so many things had happened since she first saw the great blue of the sky. the world seemed to be so bewildering, so frightening, so unwelcome of her. one by one, the images returned to haunt her. there were the other ducklings who had rejected her, and her mother who had an intensely pitying look as she regarded this daughter who lagged behind. the pity which soon turned into an outright rejection...and there were the hen, the cat and the old woman. oh she was kind! but what of the cat and the hen who had mocked her and teased her 'til she could almost cry? then there were the children, the large and clumsy beings who chased her and scared her... those alien and giant creatures...

she did not cry, not until she lay among the reeds. the reeds were a temporary shelter from the noise and rejection of this unfriendly world. and there as she saw the gloriously white swans lift their wings to the sky, she wept and wept for what she could not become. she was sure that when they looked at her, they would kill her at once. she knew no other truth.

so passed the winter. and spring came to the land again, bright and capricious spring dancing everywhere and bringing growth and new hope. the tender shoots smiled, and so did the first few buds. the people rejoiced, and the animals felt the newness of the season in their bones. even the ugly duckling seemed to feel a new lightness in her heart.

but she remembered the year past, and all its wounds. all its broken hopes. and after a moment of joy, her heart sank again. she had lost all hope of ever belonging, ever finding a home. her head sank down, buried under her downy, dirty coloured wings.

the tears did not come...she lay there for a while, and then the sparkling blue of the lake called to some inmost part of her heart. she answered the call, and moved to the waters. she swam with slow and steady strokes, hoping to lose some of the cutting sorrow she felt. she swam, beginning again to feel that something deep within her was stirring. a deep satisfaction swept over her. she began to forget her troubles.

suddenly a herd of swans came before her, and she drew back, preparing to run away. how surprised she was when they cried out hail the new princess of the lake. instinctively she looked around for someone else who might have fit the bill. but it was her they were looking at. she was shy. she was happy. she was grateful. all at once.

still a little unbelieving, she held her head up a little more. she stretched it up straight, and in the crystal clear waters, she saw her reflection. the reflection of majesty, beauty and strength in adversity. a snow white swan, graceful and slender.

it was not a day for crying, it was a day of rejoicing, and as she swam around her new kinsfolk, she reflected joyfully that she had a family now. she felt complete, and the broken pieces of a life came together in a new picture built with understanding and love. it had all been worth it.
with this came a big hearted forgiveness of those who had wounded her, a widened perspective and enough joy and love to last her life long.