Ember

By Scott Reddoch

A while back my friend’s tween daughter quit the school swim team. Everyone was shocked because she is good. That kid regularly gets first or second place. Her mom did some digging on this. She found out that her child quit because some of the other girls were blossoming and she wasn’t. She wasn’t being bullied or anything, she just didn’t look like them.

I completely understand. Not even talking about my condition now. I was on the smaller end of my classmates until high school. I remember asking my dad if I was ever going to grow. My growth spurt did arrive, but a lot later than the others.

Many people don’t want to stand out from the crowd. Nowadays I couldn’t blend in if I tried.

In my case I let comparison of size, job, house, car, money turn what I had to mud. I wrote this parable for her but it was really me who needed it.

In a sunlit meadow, there was a colt named Ember. She had a beautiful brown coat and a white star pattern on her head. Ember loved to run in the meadow. She quickly became one of the fastest in the herd.

One day, a zebra named Zephyr arrived from a distant land. The horses gathered around him to see his bold stripes.

Ember approached and said “your coat is amazing.”

Zephyr replied “thank you, I have seen you running and your coat shines like copper in the sun.” But Ember barely heard him. She was staring at his stripes.

Ember quit running that day. She didn’t want the others to see her plain brown coat. The white star on her head felt like nothing compared to Zephyr’s stripes. After a few days, her mother found her hiding behind a thicket.

“What’s the matter?” Ember’s mother asked.

Ember replied “I don’t want anyone to see me. I will never be as beautiful as Zephyr.”

Her mother sighed and said “come with me.”

They walked to the meadow.

Her mother then says “close your eyes and listen.”

Ember tells her “I hear nothing.”

“Exactly,” says her mother.

“The wildflower doesn’t complain that it’s not a rose.”

Then she added “not having stripes isn’t the tragedy, not running is.”

Ember said nothing.

The next morning Ember spent her time running in the meadow.

“You look happy,” said Zephyr.

Ember replied “I am now. I was keeping myself from being so.”