Story time:

Natali learns a lesson

I have a friend named Natali who is about two years younger to me. She lives in our neighbourhood, so we know each other well. Once, when her parents had to go out, they left her at our place. Well, she really was a nuisance! She thought she was the richest and the most beautiful girl around. As you know, no one likes this type of person, and she had no special friend.

As usual, she started telling me about her fancy goods. By then I was really tired of her. Then, for my luck, one of my friends named Rochelle came to play. She also lived in our neighbourhood and was my age. She was not like Natali, and a good thing too! She at once understood the problem I was facing, and told me that she'll do something about it. She started relating a story to me and Natali.

"I have a cousin named Malisha. She is an only child. So, she received a lot of attention and thus became a spoilt child. Around this time, she had to change her school because her parents moved to another area.

"On the first day at her new school, she started telling everyone about her wealth and her beauty without a hint of embarrassment. At first, everyone listened.

"Once, a group of children, who weren't from well-to-do families asked her to be friends with them. But she said, "Oh! you have to understand this situation. You know, I'm very rich and you are not. How can I be friends with you? What would the others think?"

"The other girls felt hurt. Soon, this story started getting around and nobody wanted to be friends with Malisha. When Malisha started to talk, they all ignored her. Malisha wondered why this was happening; usually, when she talked, everyone listened. Not only that, her classmates started making jokes about her.

Some girls would mimic Malisha and say, "You know, last week, my mother gave me a make-up set, which was brought from Italy. It was very expensive. Malisha blushed when she heard this," said Rochelle. By now, Natali was blushing too. Rochelle continued with her story. " This went on for about a week, and Malisha was tired of it. She had no friend to talk with and was feeling lonely.

So, she went to her mother and told her all about it. Her mother felt sorry for her daughter. So the next day, her mother went to meet Malisha's class teacher and told her about Malisha's problem.

"The next day, the teacher asked the class whether they were friendly with Malisha. They said "No, and one girl stood up and explained the reason.

The teacher said, "Oh! I understand. But don't do this in the future. You just have to tell me. I will decide what to do," To Malisha, she said, "And Malisha, you must apologise to your classmates". "So Malisha apologised to the whole class. Her classmates forgave her and became friends with her.

Malisha herself told me this story," Rochelle concluded. "Wow, what a nice story!" I said, looking at Natali. She had got the hint and was really ashamed of herself. From that day on, Natali changed completely and became a really nice and humble girl.

Sent by:
Dulmini Kavindya
De Silva,
Grade 7 , Sirimavo
Bandaranaike Balika
Vidyalaya, Colombo 7.