It was summer! The sun was shining bright, and the air was warm and breezy. Evelyn loved summer! Everything seemed cheerful and colorful, as if the sun was always smiling! Evelyn had bright red, wavy hair, and sparkling brown eyes. She was a joyful little girl who loved to draw.
Evelyn’s family had recently moved from their house in Seattle to a nearby farm. They wanted to be closer to nature and live a simpler life. Evelyn loved the move! She had so much space to play, especially with her special superpower: painting with rainbow colors!
There was a beautiful, peaceful stream running through the farm, and a sparkling lake where Evelyn could swim. She loved playing in the water with the farm animals. There were so many animals on the farm! Cows, pigs, chickens, goats, and even a family of storks with their long, graceful legs. Evelyn loved watching the storks as they walked around the farm. She would try to imitate their walk, giggling with joy.
One day, Evelyn was playing with the ducklings in the lake when she noticed a duck sitting on a nest of eggs. It was so exciting! The eggs started to crack, and tiny ducklings began to hatch. But one egg, the biggest of all, didn’t hatch. The mother duck seemed worried, but she kept sitting on the egg.
Days later, Evelyn returned to the lake, and the mother duck was gone! The big egg had finally cracked, and there was a new duckling. He was much bigger than the others, with different colored feathers and a different beak. He looked sad.
Evelyn, who was always kind to animals, went over to the strange duckling. "Why are you so sad?" she asked. "There’s a whole farm and a beautiful garden to explore! You can play with all the other ducklings!"
The duckling looked down at his feet. "I’m different from the other ducklings," he said. "They laugh at me, and I don’t feel good about it."
"Don’t worry!" said Evelyn. "I’ll be your friend! We can play together." She told the duckling about her secret hiding place, Rainbow. It was a place where she could paint with her rainbow colors, and it was a perfect place to play and be happy.
Evelyn promised the duckling that she would return the next day. But when she came back, the duckling was gone. He was so sad about being different that he had decided to leave and find other friends. He traveled far and wide, but everywhere he went, the other ducks made fun of him.
It was a difficult journey. The seasons changed, and the duckling had to keep moving. He never felt like he belonged. He only felt accepted by nature.
Evelyn played by the lake every day, but she never saw her duckling friend. She would draw pictures of the farm and all the animals, and she thought about the little duckling who was so sad.
Spring arrived, and the duckling loved spring, just like Evelyn loved summer! He was tired of running away and decided to go back to the lake where he was born. He walked up to the edge of the water, scared that his siblings would laugh at him. But when he saw his reflection in the water, he gasped! He wasn’t an ugly duckling anymore. He was a beautiful swan!
That day, Evelyn went to play in the water. She saw her duckling friend, now a beautiful swan, and she was so amazed. She laughed with joy and ran up to the swan. They played together in the water, and Evelyn was happy that her friend was finally happy.
Evelyn and the swan learned a valuable lesson that day. Being different wasn’t a bad thing; it was just being who they were. Being different meant being unique, and everyone was unique in their own way! And isn’t being different just being who we are?
