ONCE UPON A TIME there was an ugly brown Bug. He had been an 'extra' from a vendor, sent with 8 other smaller and more delicate insects to a Mistress who preferred their colors and dainty looks over his robust and plain demeaner. He was quickly relegated to a deep and long, dark and cluttered drawer. His Mother, a truly 'Wise Insect', who loved him dearly, had told him when he was quite young: "Always hold true to your dreams, and even dark drawer's will not hide your splendor!" and this now he held tight in his heart.
One day, a couple of years after his arrival to his new home, his Mistress was playing with colored powders - colors of jewels, as rich and luxurious as any he had ever imagined. Seeing him peeking out of his drawer, she invited him to come play, thinking how funny it might be to see this ugly Bug sitting amongst the glorious powders. Well, brown Bug didn't hesitate for a moment and jumped up on the table, so quickly in fact that he landed right in the middle of a pot of bright green powder, the color of Emperors jade. At first he was quite startled, having never seen himself in color before, but then the glory of the situation struck him, and he quickly decided to swim in the lapis-blue and sapphire-violet powders as well! His Mistress was shocked, was this really the ugly brown Bug, one she had once called "Gross" when he first arrived? He looked grand now, even noble in his fine new colors.
Brown Bug could hear his Mother's voice in his heart and remembered his dream. He wanted more than anything to be special, and to be loved for who he was, and he wanted to travel. He told his Mistress he had always admired Miss Snails 'House' on her back, thinking his own back - flat and fairly useless. She thought about this for a while, and then remembered a lovely barnacle 'chair' sitting in the window-sill, and gently placed it on Bugs back. Within minutes the chair attached itself to Bugs back, like a saltwater shellfish to a rock. Tiny pearls grew along the seamlines adding to his beauty. "Splendid Indeed" he said, "but how shall I travel with such weight on my back?"
Mistress, a fairy-godmother of sorts, had an idea... Deep within another dark drawer lay wings, dropped by a careless fairy eons ago, that might just fit Bug perfectly. With a splash of powder here and a pinch of glitter there, and a wink of an eye - Bug now had not one, but two sets of wings to take him where his heart desired... A large pair, strong enough to lift his 'chair' to great heights and far distance's, and a smaller pair to navigate 'fair tropical winds' - for she had a mission for him now!
She had been struck by his charm and touched by his humility and decided that he, the once unfavorable brown Bug, should be "Thumbelinas Royal Coach". A few more royal and majestic touches were all that was needed and Bug was sent on his way... now more stylish and grand then he ever could have imagined!
THE MORAL OF THIS STORY IS: Even an ugly brown Bug can become a splendid swan!
