The Rainbow Fish and the Two Fairies

Once upon a time there was a little girl who felt very proud of all the things she could do. She was a great painter and a great singer and always had good grades in school. She felt blessed with so many gifts in her life and she felt like she was destined for greatness.

As she grew up, she noticed that her classmates did not like her very much. They would pick on her in the playground and they would not want to play with her, which made her very sad and very alone. She did not understand what was going on, why did the other kids not like her and tease her so much?

One day, as she was cycling to school, she passed by the same lake she passed every day, but this time, she heard somebody crying. She went for a closer look and saw a big grey fish close to the shore, with its head above the water and tears streaming down his face. She felt for the creature, sat down next to it and asked: ‘What is wrong, fish? You can tell me, maybe I can help!’

‘I used to be a Rainbow fish,’ the fish sobbed, ‘with scales of every color of the rainbow, but because I felt so alone and nobody wanted to play with me, I went to the Big Eel to ask for advice. The Eel told me that I needed to give my scales away and that this way, all the fish would have a colorful scale and everybody would want to play with me, but that is not what happened..’

‘What happened then?’ the little girl asked gingerly.

‘There were too many fish that suddenly wanted a scale of mine, and so I did not have enough to give one to everyone, even though I gave away every last one… When my scales were gone some fish wanted to play with me, but I felt so empty and cold without my scales, that I just wanted to swim away from everyone and be by myself. Please just leave me alone and go away.’

The fish swam deeper into the lake until the little girl could not see him anymore and she was left mesmerized. ‘Is that what I should do as well?’, she thought, ‘give away my gifts? That sounds ridiculous and it has not worked out very well for the fish!’

She suddenly realized she was late for school and hopped on her bicycle and hurriedly made her way to class.

‘Maybe I should just hide my gifts, and not let anybody know how talented I am and what a great life I have, that must be the answer!’

And so the little girl started hiding her own colors, not trying so hard at school anymore, not telling anybody about the beautiful new doll she got for Christmas and not showing off the beautiful drawings she made.

She grew up and when she left school she got a job at a big company in the big city and had many friends. After a few years of working, she had forgotten all about the fish she had met when she was little, and she had forgotten about her dreams of achieving great things. She just wanted to fit in, even though she felt like somehow, something was missing. She just felt like she had lost something, but could not remember what it could be. ‘I feel like I am looking for something, but I don’t know what it is’, she said to a colleague one morning at work. ‘Maybe you need to see a shrink,’ the colleague replied. Years passed and the feeling the little girl had kept growing.

One day she decided to go cycling since cycling always helped her think. As she passed by a pond, she heard laughter and she decided to go for a look. To her amazement, two creatures that looked like fairies were playing by the shore, both so colorful that the girl had to blink a few times before her eyes adjusted.

‘Who are you?’ she asked.

‘We are just like you!’ they giggled.

‘You sure look different.. You are magical, with beautiful wings and you can fly!’ the girl replied.

‘You are magical too, and you could fly as high as you would like, but you are hiding who you are and we are showing it!’ they sang in unison and started laughing.

One of the two fairies came closer and put her hand on the heart of the little girl. She smiled and whispered:

‘I even know what you are looking for!’

‘Please tell me, I have been looking everywhere!’

‘No you have not,’ said the fairy cheekily, ‘if you had, you would have found it already. You are looking for yourself, because you hid yourself so well that you do not remember who you are.’

‘You are right..’ cried the girl, ‘I have no idea who I am! I feel like I am just trying to fit in at any cost! How can I find myself?’

‘Just stop hiding your colors. Do you remember the fish you met when you were little? You decided right there and then that you would hide who you are to have friends, and that has brought you here. Start showing yourself to the world again and your life will change as well.’

‘But won’t I be lonely again? People did not like me very much when I was showing myself…’ the girl asked.

‘Let me tell you a little secret.. everyone feels the same like you inside. Trust that if you show yourself, people around you will find the trust to show themselves to you, and you will not be alone, you will have more people in your life than you could ever imagine.’

The little girl smiled as she went off into the sunset on her bicycle, she followed the advice of the fairy and started showing her colors to everyone she met, and she met so many people, many of them showing their own colors to her. With one of them she started a family and with others beautiful friendships, and together their colors painted the most beautiful life, happily ever after.

The end.