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Sia was a four-year-old girl who loved the beach. She would go with her mother to the beach every evening. She loved to carry her small bag of toys to the beach.
One evening, as she was sitting on her favorite yellow beach towel, her eyes widened. She noticed a purple glazed stone a few feet away from her. She got up and excitedly picked up the stone. And then she saw another and another stone, and she collected all of them and put them in her pocket. She counted the stones as she slowly took them out of her pocket and placed them next to her on the yellow beach towel.
There were eight stones of different sizes, in shades of purple! Some were small and round, some were large with rough edges. She picked up a stone, held it in her hand, and threw it as far as she could - 'plunk' it fell into the water. Then she picked up another stone and threw it and it fell on the hot sand, and then another and another, till the last stone was left.
Suddenly she heard a voice say- 'Wait!'
Sia stopped her throw in mid-air. She looked around.
Sia again lifted her arm and was going to throw her last stone, when suddenly she heard a voice again. 'Please don't throw me'.
Sia looked again. It was her stone speaking. The stone again said, 'Please... please don't throw me, I have something to tell you'.
Sia really wanted to throw the stone. She took the stone in her hand and threw it quickly, but it fell on the hot sand, instead of the water.
'Ouch I'm hurt, Ouch I'm sad' - said the stone.
Sia got up, looked at the stone, picked it up in her hand, and threw it harder again.
'Ouch I'm hurt, Ouch I'm sad' - she heard again.
Sia then said, 'Little stone what are you trying to say?'
The stone replied, 'My dear friend Sia, I know you like to throw me and my other stone friends, but there is something I would like to tell you. We all feel sad and we get hurt when you throw us.'
Sia looked at the stone. 'Oh, I did not know you feel hurt and sad. I'm sorry, said Sia.
She did not want anyone to get hurt or sad because of her. She liked everyone to be happy.
'It hurts, does it?', asked Sia. 'Yes very much dear sweet girl', said the stone.
'I will not throw you or your friends ever again', she happily told the stone.
The stone felt so good. 'You can play with us if you like, but don't throw us when you play', said the stone, as it smiled at Sia.
Sia was happy to see the stone happy. 'It's a deal', she said, as she gathered all the stones she had thrown and collected them next to her.
From that day, Sia never threw any of the stones. In fact, she gave them all names of jams and kept them in a safe place near the bookshelf in her room. Their names were Mulberry, Strawberry, Orange, Cherry, Blueberry, Peachy, Blackberry, and her favorite one who was her friend now, Mr. Gumdrop.
The next day, Sia was playing with her toys in her room. She took her treasured pet monkey out of the toy box. His name was Mopy. Her eyes widened again with glee.
She picked him up and threw him down on the floor when she heard something familiar.
'Ouch, I'm hurt, Ouch I'm sad' - said Mopy the Monkey.
She looked into his eyes. And what was here, she was seeing? The monkey was shaking and looking at her with fear. It was almost as if he was going to cry.
If the stones gets hurt when I throw them, then even my toys must be getting hurt when I throw them', she thought.
Then Sia realized that she did not want to hurt her toy monkey or make him sad. She picked him up and held him close. She heard a little sniffle. Sia looked into his eyes and said, 'Don't worry Mopy Monkey, you are safe with me. I'm sorry I threw you down and you got hurt and felt sad. I shall never do it again. She touched his face and wiped the tear from his eye.
Mopy Monkey smiled slowly and gave Sia a hug and a kiss. 'Thank you for not throwing me on the floor' he said. Sia was happy because she wanted to see all her toys happy.
From then on she noticed her toys were all bursting to come out of the toy box whenever she would open it. They all knew that she would play nicely with them, and never hurt them by throwing them ever again.
And the best part is that she gets hugs and kisses from Mopy Monkey every day.
Xoxo
The Storyteller_Mumbai