Words of Comfort

Once upon a time, there was a young girl who was very beautiful. She was such a ravishing beauty, with her long, curly black hair, skin as white as snow, and eyes as green as emeralds. Everything about her was just remarkable and flawless.

She was a good girl with a heart of pure gold and the brightest smile that lit up the whole world. Everyone loved her, and she loved everybody.

Despite her ravishing beauty, pure heart, and high intelligence level, she had only one flaw: her 12 fingers and 12 toes.

Four years ago, this young girl was born with all 12 fingers and 12 toes. Before she came into the picture, doctors and nurses were telling her mother and her father that they would bear a child who would possess a physical anomaly. They warned her mother that this child would not be considered “normal” by society’s standards. Frightened and anxious, her mother wondered if it was possible to either terminate the pregnancy or to give the child up for adoption once she was born. The young girl’s mother and father remained anxious during the nine months until the young girl was eventually born, and one look into her little girl’s eyes set the decision for her mother… She was going to keep this child after all. She no longer had any plans to give this beautiful child away. This was her own beautiful child, no matter what physical anomaly the child possessed. The young girl’s mother and father loved her very much, and they accepted her as she was, and they made a vow to take care of her for the rest of their lives.

The young girl’s mother and father did not have other children after this young girl, mainly due to the fear that they might bear another child who also had some deformities. So, the young girl was the mere apple of her mother and father’s eyes.

Now that she was four, the young girl was still as beautiful and healthy as she’d ever been. She was happy, and she loved others with all her heart and might. She loved to play with the other children, especially during the colder seasons where her 12 fingers and 12 toes were harder to notice because she would wear mittens on her hands and socks on her feet, so nobody else knew of her abnormality. During the warmer seasons, however… That was a bit of a challenge for others to not notice her 12 fingers and her 12 toes. Especially during the summer when she was at the beach… It was rather easy to notice this abnormality. The beach was the first place where she became ridiculed for the first time for her “flawed” features.

When the young girl was lining up with other people by the ice cream stand, a boy and his family came up behind her in the line. The boy approached her out of the blue and asked her, “What is wrong with your hands and your feet?”

The girl, reluctant to tell this stranger boy about her issues, replied, “There is nothing wrong with them.”

The boy then scoffed. “Yes, there is. You have an extra finger and an extra toe. Why is that? Are you a freak or something?”

The boy’s family did nothing to stop their son and brother from insulting this young girl because in a way, they were making fun of her as well. In a way, they were enabling this boy to make fun of this poor girl. That was the main reason that they wished not to get involved in this little confrontation.

“Leave me alone,” the young girl told the boy.

The boy shook his head. “No, I won’t leave you alone. You’re a weird-looking girl.” He and his family cut the young girl in line, and the boy’s insults were more than enough to make the young girl feel heartbroken. She was so glum that she ran out of the ice cream line. She no longer craved ice cream; her heart was too sad for her to enjoy her favorite summer snack. There was no justifiable reason for the boy to act so cruelly toward her. She ran up to her mother and father and told them that she wanted them to go back home, so they had no choice but to leave the beach immediately and head home so that the young girl could take time to herself and cry her heart out.

For the rest of that summer, the young girl isolated herself in her room, refusing to come out and interact with others. She was afraid to show her face–actually, her hands and feet–to the outside world. She was especially afraid of being referred to as a “freak” for the rest of her life. Her mother and father were relentless in trying to convince her to get out of her room for once so that she could attend school.

It worked, and when the girl’s first day of school came, she hoped that it was going to be a good day. A nice day where nothing could go wrong. After her mother and father dropped her off, she waved goodbye to them and they drove off. Then this young girl used that chance to run away from the school grounds before anyone else noticed her, and fortunately no one did. She was too afraid to go to school, afraid of what the other children would say about her 12 fingers and 12 toes. Glum, the young girl started wandering around town, with no particular place to go. She just wanted to go somewhere that no one would call her names or put her down. But there was only so much that she could do, and so many places that she could go. Running away didn’t help solve anything; her problems didn’t just magically disappear as she hoped. What was she supposed to do now?

The young girl continued walking through town until she unexpectedly bumped into someone… Her aunt. Her aunt noticed her young niece looking so down in the dumps, so she asked the child, “How are you, love?”

“I am feeling very sad today,” the young girl replied.

“Why are you so sad?”

“Because, Auntie, I am a freak,” the girl replied as tears fell down her face.

The young girl’s aunt carried her as they went across town to sit on a bench underneath the shades in the park. Then the child sat next to her aunt, who wiped the tears from her face. “Honey, you are not a freak. Who told you that you are one?”

“Everyone says that I am a freak,” the young girl replied. “And I think you know why. It’s because of my 12 fingers and 12 toes. They’re getting so much harder to notice. That is the first thing that everyone will always notice about me.”

“Oh, my love…” The young girl’s aunt wrapped her in a warm embrace. “You shouldn’t let the harsh words of others get to you. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You, child, are beautiful just the way that you are. You are beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside. You have a heart of pure gold, and you have a strong mind. You love to read and write, don’t you?”

The young girl nodded in response. She loved to read and write for fun, in her spare time.

“Exactly.” Her aunt smiled. “Unfortunately, we can’t say the same for other children your age. They don’t often spend as much time reading, writing or learning new things like you always do. That’s one way in which you’re different from them, sweetheart. You are very wise beyond your years, and that is one thing that nobody can ever take away from you.”

The young girl took a moment to consider everything that her aunt had just told her. “I suppose you may be right about that, Auntie,” she said. “But I still wish there was a way for me to remove my extra finger and toe, so that I have 10 fingers and 10 toes just like everybody else. That way, no one would consider me to be a freak anymore.”

Her aunt also considered that possibility. “I believe there is a way to remove the extra finger and toe, but I am not sure if your mother and father are able to afford it at this time. They are utterly devoted to caring for you and your well-being. They love you very much, don’t they, sweetie? Have they not been taking good care of you for the past four years since you were born?”

The girl thought about it. “Hmm, you’re right about that, Auntie.”

“Of course I am! I trust that my sister loves you very much because she is your mother. Your father loves you, too. You are our pride and joy, Love. Nothing can ever take that away from us, especially your mother. She had gone through so much to bring you into this world, and here you are, you lovely little child.”

“Thank you.” The young girl smiled, feeling a little bit better.

“Remember, love… You are beautiful, no matter what. On the inside as well as on the outside. You have a kind heart, and you care very much about other people. That is what makes you truly beautiful. It’s not just on the outside, my love. Do you understand?”

“I do,” the young girl replied. “But I know that you’re only saying these things to me because you’re my aunt, so I know that you’re supposed to say all these kind words to me.”

Her aunt chuckled. “Well, that may be so, but that’s also because I am your family. I love you, just as much as your mother and father love you, you beautiful little child.”

“I love you too, Auntie.” The young girl gave her aunt another hug.

From that moment, the young girl’s aunt promised to give her some gloves and socks that she could wear to school or out in public so that no one else would make fun of her extra fingers and toes. So, for this first day of school, this girl was not present at school but by the next day, she was. The girl always wore closed-toed shoes so that no one else would notice her 12 toes. And if the girl wore open-toed sandals, she would wear her socks with them. As for gloves, the aunt bought a dozen boxes of disposable gloves for the young girl’s house that she lived in with her mother and father. They were initially reluctant to allow their young daughter to wear gloves to school, but they eventually accepted that idea, as long as it made this young girl feel comfortable enough to go to school with her friends without being ridiculed for her 12 fingers and 12 toes.

This was the way it had been for many years until the young girl eventually turned 13. She was now a little older, but she was still a ravishing beauty. She was now a lot more confident in herself, despite her 12 fingers and 12 toes.