THE UGLY DUCKLING

 

 

          By the side of a quiet pond, in a nest of reeds, a mother swan was waiting. One by one, her eggs cracked open.

          “Quack! Quack!” cried six tiny ducklings. They were small, fluffy, and bright yellow.  But the last egg was different. When it finally cracked, out came a larger duckling with gray feathers, long legs, and a strange beak.

          The mother blinked. “Oh… my little one looks different. But still, you are my child.”

The six ducklings laughed. “Ha… ha! Look at her feathers so gray!”

“Her beak is too long!”

“She looks ugly!”

The little duck lowered her head. She wanted to hide, but there was nowhere to go.

          When the ducklings played in the water, the six sisters swam together, splashing and laughing.

“Don’t follow us!” one sister shouted.

“You’re too ugly to be our friend!” said another.

         

The frogs giggled from the lily pads. The fish darted away whenever the ugly duck swam near. Even the birds in the trees whispered, “She doesn’t belong here.”

          The little duck sighed. “Why am I so different? Why won’t anyone play with me?”

Her mother stroked her gently. “Be patient, my child. Time will tell who you really are.”

          

Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. The ducklings grew.

The six sisters stayed small and ordinary, their yellow feathers turning brown. But the ugly duck kept changing. She grew taller. Her wings stretched wide. Her gray feathers slowly turned white, shining under the sunlight.

 

          One morning, the ugly duck walked to the pond and saw her reflection. She gasped. “That… that’s me?”

          Her feathers were now snowy white, smooth and glowing. Her neck was long and elegant. She was no longer clumsy, but graceful.

          The six sisters waddled over and froze.

“Is that really… our ugly sister?”

“She’s not ugly at all. She’s beautiful!”

          The frogs stared with wide eyes. Even the fish stopped swimming to admire her.
“She’s a swan,” whispered the mother softly. “She was never a duck at all.”

 

          The once ugly duck lifted her wings. She felt the wind beneath them. With one strong push, she soared into the sky, gliding over the pond. From above, she called out

“I was never ugly. I was just waiting for my time to shine.”

And from that day on, she no longer cared about the laughter or the whispers. She had found her true self. ( dodiindranotesaja@blogspot.com )

Tags: Cerita