The Ugly Duckling

A mother duck sat on her nest, waiting for her eggs to hatch. One by one, they cracked open. Out came fluffy yellow ducklings, chirping and waddling.

But the last egg — the biggest one — took longer. When it finally cracked, out tumbled a duckling that looked... different. He was bigger than the others. His feathers were gray instead of yellow. His feet were too big. His neck was too long.

"What an ugly duckling," the other ducks whispered.

The ugly duckling tried to play with his brothers and sisters, but they waddled away. He tried to swim in the pond, but the other ducks splashed him. He tried to eat with the group, but they pecked at him until he left.

"Nobody wants me," he said sadly, and wandered away from the farm.

He spent a cold, lonely winter hiding in the reeds by a frozen lake. He was hungry. He was tired. He thought he would never belong anywhere.

Then spring came. The ice melted. The flowers bloomed. And one morning, a group of the most beautiful birds the duckling had ever seen glided across the lake. They were white as snow, with long graceful necks and wings like silk.

Swans.

The ugly duckling watched them, heartbroken. "I wish I could be that beautiful," he whispered.

Then he looked down at his reflection in the water. And he gasped.

He wasn't an ugly duckling anymore. His feathers were white. His neck was long and graceful. His wings were magnificent. He was a swan. He had always been a swan.

The other swans swam over to him. "Welcome," they said. "You're one of us."

And the swan who had once been called ugly spread his beautiful wings and knew — at last — exactly where he belonged.