The Magic Bow


Their once was a little girl. She was very beautiful even for her young age. Every where the girl went, people commented on her long locks of shiny hair, or her smooth soft skin. Her deep green eyes shone like emeralds. But, the little girl did not see beauty when she looked in the mirror. The little girl was always told how young she was, and when she was older, she could do other things. So when people commented her on her beauty, she thought they were making fun of her.



On day the little girl decided to go for a walk in the park near where she lived. It was a warm day out, and the sun was high in the sky. As she walked, she passed one of her neighbours who was working in the garden.
"Hello Neighbour." The lady yelled out from her flower bed.
"Good Morning," the girl replied. She stopped to admire the flowers that the lady was tending to.
"Beautiful day is it not? It is almost as beautiful as your pretty face." The lady commented. But the comment fell on deaf ears as the girl turned, and hurried towards the park.



At the park was a little boy, who was scattering breadcrumbs for the pigeons. Some lovely doves flew down to enjoy the feast also. The little girl walked over, and sat at the other end of the bench, watching the boy feeding them.
"Good Morning." he said quietly, continuing with his feeding.
"Hello, nice day today isn't it?" she said, her eyes on the pecking birds near her feet. The boy looked up at her hearing her sweet voice.
"Such a pretty voice for such a pretty girl." He grinned, looking the little girl over. The girl bites her lip, taking the compliment as a mock, and ran away from the park.



Eventually out of breath, the girl sat on the seat at the bus stop. An Old Lady sat down besides her, arranging her packages about her feet.
"whoa" she sighed, catching at her breath. "How I dislike shopping days." she remarked, sitting up. "Do you know when the bus is due?" she glanced at her watch, then back at her parcels.
"I am not sure, but they come fairly regularly" the little girl remarked, for in truth, she did not know how to tell time yet.
"Oh what a relief. I long to go home to a nice cup of tea. What brings you out at this time of day?" The Old Lady enquires, glancing again at her watch, then down the street. The little girl told the Lady her story, of how people mocked her calling her beautiful when all she was ugly.
"Well my dear, I think you are very pretty, and that is a compliment!" she said, fishing about in her bag. At length, she produced a crisp length of bright ribbon and tied it in the girl's hair. "Here," she said, "Something to compliment your beauty."
Before the little girl could reply, the bus screeched to a stop and the Lady climbed aboard and left.



On the way home, the little girl walked through the park. She bumped again into the little boy. He handed her a bag containing bread crumbs.
"I have to go home now, but could you feed them later for me? I think I can trust you." He yelled as he ran off. She looked into the bag, and noticed it was still near full. No one had ever trusted her with such a task before.



As she neared home, she saw the Lady still doing her gardening. The Lady poked her head up and smiled, snipping away with her pruning shears. "Here you go, something to brighten up your day" she said, pass her two beautiful roses, one pink, the other red. The little girl smiled and thanked the Lady before walking the short remaining distance home.



When the little girl got home, she thought about what had happened. "It is the ribbon" She thought, "Yes, it has to be the ribbon. It must be magical!" With her newfound confidence, the little girl glanced into the mirror. Yes, she was now beautiful, and it was because of her special magical ribbon.




Later that day, the girl remembered her duty to feed the birds, and returned to the park. She sat on the bench, and the birds flocked around her. She scattered crumbs all around for the birds to feed, watching them eat away their meal. Suddenly, a gust of wind ripped her ribbon from her hair and floated it up, up and away. The girl blinked away the tears watching her magical ribbon taken away from her. She thought of how ugly she would be again with out it.



The little girl ran home, and flew to her room, throwing herself on her bed and begun to weep. Her Mother heard the weeping, and came to check.
"What ever is wrong." She asked, concerned about her child.
The little girl told her Mother of the magic ribbon, and how beautiful she was when she was wearing it, and how it was now gone. Her Mother laughed, cuddling her close.
"My Child, you are still, and always have been beautiful." Gently her Mother guided her to the mirror. "Look, tell me what you see."
The girl looked reluctantly into the mirror. She saw two figures. One was her beautiful Mother. The girl had always thought her Mother to be the most beautiful woman anywhere. The other was a smaller version of her Mother.
She stared for a few moments. "It was not the ribbon that brought you those things my sweet heart, it was you." her Mother was saying.



From that day on, the little girl never again fled from a compliment, and took each to mean what the words said. She never again saw her magic ribbon, but she knew she didn't need it. For her beauty shone from within as well as from out.





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