Brialee Turner

Daisy was a small duckling, with feathers the color of buttercups. Ever since the day that she was born, her mother taught her to look for the beauty of the world. She grew up surrounded by tall, luscious ferns and waddled through wildflowers the hues of a rainbow. Her favorite pastime was watching the sun rise and set over the lake where she lived.

Her mother would sit by her and nestle her close and whisper words of encouragement and advice as the rays of sun kissed their feathers.

***

“Sometimes, you have to break to find a new perspective,” she spoke one day. Daisy sat for a moment and then queried, “I don’t understand how that works. When my heart is breaking, I feel like I can’t see anything at all.”

Her mother replied, “There are many ways that we look at the world that hold us back. We may feel that we aren’t strong enough, pretty enough, or smart enough to do what we dream. But that is not true, we can break out of our shells and be who we were made to become!”

Daisy smiled, “That is kind of like when I was born! I had to work hard to break out of my shell. I felt confused, but after I emerged, I saw a whole new world.”

“Exactly.” Said her mother. And as the sun dipped below the horizon, Daisy fell asleep dreaming about who she was made to be.

***

The next morning, Daisy sat nibbling on a current bush near the edge of the water, the morning rays dancing on ripples created by the breeze.

“Look!” Exclaimed her mother with wonder, “A butterfly!!”

Daisy turned her eyes in the direction of her mother’s beak and there ahead of them was a butterfly painted with orange, yellow, and red.

“It’s beautiful,” she responded.

“Yes it is,” said her mother. “And there is no other creature exactly like it. All of the creations that we are given are different and diverse, but they are beautiful in their own unique ways. You will never be exactly like someone else and that is okay. You will always be so beautiful.”

***

That evening, Daisy and her mother went paddling around the lake to find moss and lily pads. Suddenly, a stiff breeze came up behind them and Daisy was thrown into a patch of twigs and leaves. Frustrated, she paddled away and blinked away tears. The current of the water continued to carry her into the lake.

Her mother paddled up beside her and and whispered, “Even when you find yourself in rut, just keep swimming.”

Daisy looked up at her mother and then looked away, trying to paddle faster.

Her mother kept speed, and spoke again, this time with a quiet and reassuring voice. “You can’t always pick where life throws you, but you will always stay afloat. Try not to fight where you are taken, but enjoy the journey. Your feathers are resilient and waterproof, and you are strong.”

Daisy stopped paddling, and let her webbed feet glide under her. She looked up at the sky and saw the stars glittering above her and she felt a sense of peace. “Life really is beautiful,” she thought to herself.

She turned to her mother and whispered, “Thank you for helping me to be strong.”

“Always,” she whispered back. “I will love you till’ the stars stop shining and forever after that.