A Snowy Owl's Wish
Arsi the owl was white. All white! He lived in a big tree. Lila and Benny were his friends. Lila had yellow and blue feathers. Benny was a white rabbit. Arsi sighed. "I want colorful feathers!" he mumbled. He looked at his white feathers. He felt very sad. He always wanted to be different. "Being all white is boring!" he whispered to himself. The sun was bright that day. Arsi still wished for color. He watched Lila fly. Her feathers sparkled in the sun. He wished his feathers would shine too. He was very dissatisfied with his plain feathers.
The Messy Pond
Lila arrived. "Arsi! Let's clean the pond!" she hooted. Benny hopped behind her. Arsi frowned. "Cleaning? But I want colors!" Lila smiled. "The pond needs help. We can find colors there!" Benny wiggled his nose. "Frogs need a clean home!" Arsi thought. Maybe the pond had colors. He agreed to help. They walked to the pond. It was muddy and messy. Green slime covered the water. It looked like a forgotten place. Arsi felt a little worried. It was not a colorful site at all, but a lot of work to be done.
Scooping and Scrubbing
They started to clean. Benny found a big leaf. He used it as a scoop. Lila flew to get small sticks. She used them as brushes. Arsi sadly picked up a slimy rock. It was heavy, and he dropped it with a splash. He complained: "I like making things perfect . This is hard work!" But he kept scooping. They worked hard and fast. Lila scrubbed algae off the stones. Benny scooped out the leaves. Arsi carried away the mud. He tried not to drop it. He wanted to do a very good job. All together they had accomplished small bits of cleaning.
A Wiggly Friend
Suddenly, something moved. It was a tiny frog. It was trapped under a leaf. The frog was green and small. Arsi carefully lifted the leaf. "Hello!" he said softly. The frog looked up. It blinked its shiny eyes. Benny hopped closer. "It needs help!" he said. Lila gently pushed the frog towards the water. The little frog hopped into the pond. It swam away happily. Arsi felt a happy feeling. He was happy he saved the frog. He named the tiny frog 'Gigo'. Gigo was very small!
Colors in the Pond
The pond looked different now. Sunlight shined on the water. Lila pointed with her wing. "Look, Arsi!" she hooted. Arsi looked closely. He saw colors! Blue sky reflected in the water. Green plants grew near the edge. Yellow flowers bloomed nearby. He saw the wonderful reflection of his friends reflected in the pond water. 'You can be beautiful and colorful when you are good friends', said the trees that bordered the pond to Arsi. Arsi had never smiled like that before in his life. He smiled! He felt very happy. He liked the colors. The green plants and the blue sky and of course Gigo.
Arsi Learns to Shine
Arsi smiled again. He didn’t need colorful feathers. The pond had shown him. Color was everywhere! He liked the way he was. His friends liked him too. Lila nudged him gently. "You shine, Arsi!" she hooted. Benny hopped happily. "You are special, Arsi!" Arsi felt warm inside. He thanked his friends. He thanked the pond. He learned something new. He did not need to change. The most important thing was to have good friends and a clean pond. Lila, Gigo and Benny celebrated in the beauty of the natural world. From that day he loved his snow colored fur above anthing!
Moral and theme of Arsi's Colorful Summer
- Moral of the story is True beauty and happiness come from within and from appreciating the world around you, not from changing who you are.
- Story theme is Self-acceptance and friendship
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