“What do you mean?” Leona asked. Pearl said, “I’m not beautiful like they are. I look different.”
Leona said, “Oh, my precious little Pearl. You are beautiful, and never let anyone tell you, or make you feel like you’re not. We all look different. Imagine how dull the world would be if everyone looked the same. We all have our own special kind of beauty. You must embrace yours with vivaciousness, but you must never have a haughty spirit.”
Pearl said, “well, no one has ever said that I’m not beautiful but, I just don’t look like them. I’m always the last one picked when we have intramural sports, and once we had to dance with the boys, and no one picked me.”
Leona said, “Sit down and let me tell you something. When I was in school, I was what most people would call…very plain. The captain of the football team never asked me to go to the prom, and the basketball star never asked me out on a date. They asked the beautiful girls. I wasn’t one of the beautiful girls. But mind you, some people can be beautiful on the outside, and very ugly on the inside. You, my precious little Pearl, are beautiful on both sides.”
She smiled as she said, “I might have been plain, but look at my life. I’m married to the most wonderful man in the world, and I have been given the greatest gift God can bestow…you, my precious little Pearl.”
Leona cupped Pearl’s face in her hands and said, “Feel better?” Pearl smiled and said, “yes.” Leona said, “You have always told me that you are going to be famous. What have I always told you?”
Pearl cupped Leona’s face in her hands, and said, “Reach for the stars and they will be mine. A pearl is one of the most valuable gems in the world.”
Leona looked at her and said, “And what else?” Pearl said, “Oh. You said that I can do anything I want to do, and I can be anything I want to be, and the world is my oyster, and I am its’ Pearl.”
Leona said, “You’ve always dreamed big, and you must never lose sight of your dreams”
A few months later, it was time for graduation. Amid the hustle and bustle of preparing for commencement and gown fittings, Pearl was ready to meet the world head-on.
Sporting her royal blue attire, she walked across the stage and received her diploma. She quickly flipped her tassel to the left side of her cap, and boldly took the microphone from the valedictorian. “One day, I’m going to be famous,” she said.
Leona and Norman were a bit surprised by her daring move, but they beamed with pride as they watched.
Later that day, Pearl strolled into the living room, and cavalierly announced, “I’m going to enter the Miss America Pageant, and I’m going to win.”
To be continued_________________
My Journey Into The Dark and Twisty World of Short Stories, Murder Mysteries, Stories of Revenge and Days Gone By 