The Story of a Sad French Lilac
This story happened one summer at camp, in the Arts&crafts room. The girl named Emma who worked there discovered one day that the supply of the lilac paint was running low. About half a small bottle left. No wonder, she noticed that this paint was very popular among kids who came to the Arts room to paint. Many of the girls who were painting would usually asked for lilac along with pink. And even though Emma always thought of lilac as a girl's color, a few boys came to the art room and they obviously loved lilac and used a lot of it. Emma herself loved lilac, it was one of her few favorite colors.
Seeing that the supply of lilac was dwindling and the summer camp was only half way done she asked Remi, the head counselor, to buy more lilac paint. The next day Remi brought her 2 bottles of paint. He said it took him a while to look for lilac color and the only lilac that he found was French lilac. Emma looked at the bottles with fancy name and her heart sank. This was not the lilac color that she was used to and loved. She wondered if other kids would like it. She pushed her negative thoughts aside and decided to see what would happen to the French lilac paint.
During the following week as she was pouring different colors for those who wanted to paint she offered French lilac to a number of kids but no one felt like using it. Even the boys preferred the more familiar lilac color. On a weekends Emma went to the craft store and purchased the more familiar lilac color. Unlike French lilac she didn't have to offer it, kids were drawn to the "regular" lilac just like Emma was. In the remaining few weeks of camp Emma looked at the bottle of the French lilac paint that was still sealed and felt bad for it. She could feel how lonely and sad the French lilac felt standing there unopened and unneeded, whereas many other bottles of paints were used almost every day. By the end of camp the two bottles of regular lilac were used. And the French lilac still stood there, feeling miserable that no one even wanted to open and try it.
Emma finished working at camp and went home. As she was packing to take some materials home she took one of the bottles of French lilac. She felt that the French lilac doesn't deserve to spend the whole year standing sealed on a shelf with no one to appreciate it. She took it home and put it together with her set of other paints. A few weeks passed, Emma was busy with other things. She painted a few rocks but she didn't feel in a mood for French lilac.
Finally, one day she learned that the principal of her school was celebrating his birthday. She felt this was a good occasion. Finally she opened the French lilac and set to work. She chose a medium size rock and painted it a background with French lilac. It looked good! Except that she was a little bit in a hurry, dried the rock a little too fast and didn't give it any time to dry in the air. The result looked rather sad.
Emma told the French lilac not to get discouraged, took off the damaged layer and covered the rock with another layer of French lilac. This time she was more patient and the resulting layer was smooth and even. She then decorated one of the sides with their school name, and the other side was supposed to be sparkly to match the message on the rock. Emma already created one such a rock before, however, she forgot how exactly she did it. As she sprinkled too many sprinkles over the side she realized it didn't look pretty.
It was getting late, and she was tired. She decided that she doesn't have any more time and energy to work on that rock, so she sealed it and decided to take it to school like it is the next day. In the morning, though, as she took a fresh look she knew it looked way too upsetting. That's not how she wanted the first paint job of the French lilac to look. She knew if she presented the rock the way it is she would then remember it later on and think about why she didn't put a little more effort and made it look nicer. Besides, she remembered the right way of doing the sprinkles so it would look good.
And when it came to giving presents, Emma was rather shy . She loved to give presents, but sometimes it took a lot of mental effort to find the courage and give the present. So, it was really important that a hand-made present from her looked perfect in Emma's eyes, otherwise her shyness may take over.
In the evening Emma took out the bottle of French lilac again. This time she mixed it with sparkles and covered over the too-sparkly side of the rock. Emma also made the letters look much better by using rainbow colors. The time the result looked delicious! Emma found the courage to give the present to the principal. He was very enthusiastic and said he really loved it.
Emma was happy. And so was the French lilac. It wasn't sad any more. Now it stands proudly on Emma's shelf together with other opened paints. It knows that it can do a fine painting job and can even be used to make presents. French lilac feels proud and sure of himself.
Seeing that the supply of lilac was dwindling and the summer camp was only half way done she asked Remi, the head counselor, to buy more lilac paint. The next day Remi brought her 2 bottles of paint. He said it took him a while to look for lilac color and the only lilac that he found was French lilac. Emma looked at the bottles with fancy name and her heart sank. This was not the lilac color that she was used to and loved. She wondered if other kids would like it. She pushed her negative thoughts aside and decided to see what would happen to the French lilac paint.
During the following week as she was pouring different colors for those who wanted to paint she offered French lilac to a number of kids but no one felt like using it. Even the boys preferred the more familiar lilac color. On a weekends Emma went to the craft store and purchased the more familiar lilac color. Unlike French lilac she didn't have to offer it, kids were drawn to the "regular" lilac just like Emma was. In the remaining few weeks of camp Emma looked at the bottle of the French lilac paint that was still sealed and felt bad for it. She could feel how lonely and sad the French lilac felt standing there unopened and unneeded, whereas many other bottles of paints were used almost every day. By the end of camp the two bottles of regular lilac were used. And the French lilac still stood there, feeling miserable that no one even wanted to open and try it.
Emma finished working at camp and went home. As she was packing to take some materials home she took one of the bottles of French lilac. She felt that the French lilac doesn't deserve to spend the whole year standing sealed on a shelf with no one to appreciate it. She took it home and put it together with her set of other paints. A few weeks passed, Emma was busy with other things. She painted a few rocks but she didn't feel in a mood for French lilac.
Finally, one day she learned that the principal of her school was celebrating his birthday. She felt this was a good occasion. Finally she opened the French lilac and set to work. She chose a medium size rock and painted it a background with French lilac. It looked good! Except that she was a little bit in a hurry, dried the rock a little too fast and didn't give it any time to dry in the air. The result looked rather sad.
Emma told the French lilac not to get discouraged, took off the damaged layer and covered the rock with another layer of French lilac. This time she was more patient and the resulting layer was smooth and even. She then decorated one of the sides with their school name, and the other side was supposed to be sparkly to match the message on the rock. Emma already created one such a rock before, however, she forgot how exactly she did it. As she sprinkled too many sprinkles over the side she realized it didn't look pretty.
It was getting late, and she was tired. She decided that she doesn't have any more time and energy to work on that rock, so she sealed it and decided to take it to school like it is the next day. In the morning, though, as she took a fresh look she knew it looked way too upsetting. That's not how she wanted the first paint job of the French lilac to look. She knew if she presented the rock the way it is she would then remember it later on and think about why she didn't put a little more effort and made it look nicer. Besides, she remembered the right way of doing the sprinkles so it would look good.
And when it came to giving presents, Emma was rather shy . She loved to give presents, but sometimes it took a lot of mental effort to find the courage and give the present. So, it was really important that a hand-made present from her looked perfect in Emma's eyes, otherwise her shyness may take over.
In the evening Emma took out the bottle of French lilac again. This time she mixed it with sparkles and covered over the too-sparkly side of the rock. Emma also made the letters look much better by using rainbow colors. The time the result looked delicious! Emma found the courage to give the present to the principal. He was very enthusiastic and said he really loved it.
Emma was happy. And so was the French lilac. It wasn't sad any more. Now it stands proudly on Emma's shelf together with other opened paints. It knows that it can do a fine painting job and can even be used to make presents. French lilac feels proud and sure of himself.